BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation have further strengthened their relationship by announcing Telemos as the name of the programme that will deliver their joint response to meet the United Kingdom and French Governments requirement for a next generation Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

In Greek mythology, Telemos was the prophetic son of Eurymos, known for having the vision and foresight to warn Polyphemus about an attack by Odysseus.

The two companies will jointly present the capabilities that underpin the Telemos programme at the Paris Air Show from June 20th – 26th.

Following the signing of an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two companies earlier this year, the Telemos programme will ensure that the considerable end-to-end systems capabilities of both BAE Systems and Dassault are successfully brought together to deliver a joint proposal to the UK and French Ministries of Defence for the design, development, production and support of a MALE UAS that will help safeguard the sovereign capability of the UK and France in the future.

Eric Trappier, Executive Vice President International at Dassault Aviation commented: “We believe that Dassault Aviation and BAE Systems are the only companies with the experience, skills and capabilities to meet the requirements of our two Governments and the strong Telemos team will ensure that we provide the capability they are looking for, whilst assisting the sustainment of sovereign industrial capabilities which both governments have invested in developing. The key thing we need now is the political decision to transform this process into the first firm activity under the franco-british treaty on defense co-operation.”

Peter Richardson, Strategy and Technology Director for BAE Systems Military Air and Information said: “Since the signing of the MOU earlier this year we have continued to work together to ensure that, as soon as the two governments formally launch their requirement, we are well placed to develop the future frontline capability they require. We have already set up a joint team and will look to strengthen this with other leading industry players to ensure that the Telemos programme will develop a cost-effective autonomous system in the required timescales.”