Airbus has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to work on a Japanese anti-submarine warfare variant of the U950 Eurodrone , Europe’s long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS).
The Eurodrone, a 4-nation program of Germany, France, Italy and Spain, led by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), is currently under development and is scheduled to take its first flight in 2029.
The system can cover a wide range of missions – from airborne intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance to early warning and signals intelligence, as well as maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare.
With a mission payload (excluding fuel) of up to 2.3 tonnes, it can stay airborne for up to 40 hours. It will be fully integrated in civil airspace and thanks to its high levels of safety and redundancy, it will be ideal to operate over the open sea, according to Airbus.
The Eurodrone is being considered for roles involving the monitoring of large maritime areas. Compared to similar systems, it offers long endurance and the ability to carry mission payloads, including sonobuoys and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare operations.
In this role, it could complement Japan’s existing crewed anti-submarine warfare fleet and support maritime surveillance requirements.
In the next phase, Airbus will hold discussions with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to explore design, development, and potential commercial options for a Japan-specific maritime variant of the Eurodrone.
This includes possible system configurations, integration of Japanese sensors and effectors, and industrial participation by Japanese companies in production and sustainment.
The objective is to enable potential sovereign operation of the system in Japan, should procurement proceed.
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