French aerospace manufacturer Daher has announced the successful completion of a key flight demonstration of its EyePulse Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) uncrewed aerial system, marking a significant step in France’s fast-track effort to expand its drone capabilities. The proof-of-concept demonstration was held on November 27 at Daher’s facility in Tarbes, with senior officials from the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) in attendance. The company disclosed the milestone publicly on December 2, underscoring the project’s rapid development timeline and growing importance within France’s defense modernization agenda.
Developed in just six months in partnership with Thales, EyePulse is based on multiple modifications to Daher’s TBM turboprop aircraft. The demonstrator integrates Thales’ SkyFlyt avionics suite, a secure data link, and a ground control station designed for autonomous flight profiles. The initiative was launched under a DGA call for rapid drone-capability proposals unveiled earlier this year, aimed at accelerating France’s access to low-cost, attritable surveillance platforms amid evolving military threats.
Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert highlighted the unprecedented pace of the project, noting that the first demonstration for DGA officials occurred less than half a year after the signing ceremony. Although the DGA initially granted up to 18 months to deliver a functional prototype, Daher and Thales compressed the full development cycle into roughly one-third of that time. AviationWeek reported that the company conducted six test flights before presenting the aircraft to the DGA.
“This MALE drone demonstrator prototype—developed in under six months—confirms our capacity to respond swiftly to defense needs and to deliver meaningful capability at speed,” Daher said in its statement. The rapid turnaround, the company added, demonstrated the maturity of Daher’s industrial ecosystem and the benefits of leveraging proven civil-aviation platforms.
The demonstration attended by the DGA was designed to showcase the aircraft’s autonomous flight characteristics, a core requirement for future MALE systems. Alexandre Lahousse, Senior General Engineer of Armament (IGCEA) and Deputy Director General at the DGA, personally activated the autonomous phase of the flight. According to AviationWeek, once in the air, the aircraft autonomously executed a full sequence including cruise, descent, approach, and landing. An electro-optical turret on board locked onto a fixed ground target during the sortie to simulate basic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) functions.
For safety reasons, two pilots remained on board as a precaution and resumed manual control only after landing, taxiing the aircraft off the runway. The inclusion of an onboard crew is typical during early-phase demonstrations where uncrewed systems are derived from manned aircraft structures.
The EyePulse project forms part of a broader DGA strategy to evaluate existing platforms from across France’s aviation sector to address an urgent capability gap in unmanned surveillance and light-attack roles. Daher was selected in June alongside four other companies—Aura Aero, Fly-R, SE Aviation, and Turgis Gaillard. France’s objective is to determine how quickly domestic industry can field affordable MALE drones using certified, commercially proven technologies and modular architectures.
The DGA has described these initiatives as essential to adapting the French military to emerging operational realities, where attritable, semi-autonomous aircraft are increasingly central to contested-environment missions. In modern conflict zones where communications may be denied or heavily jammed, drones capable of switching into autonomous modes without human input provide a vital advantage. They offer persistence, reduced risk to personnel, and the ability to rapidly scale numbers in response to battlefield attrition.
Daher has emphasized the scalability and adaptability of the EyePulse concept. In its envisioned military configuration, the TBM-based demonstrator could incorporate longer wings for improved lift and cruise altitude, internal modifications for extended fuel storage to increase range, and redesigned payload bays for various ISR sensors. For missions demanding higher payload capacity or STOL performance, the company suggested its Kodiak utility aircraft could serve as an alternative base airframe for future drone variants.
The company also stressed that EyePulse’s modular design allows for flexibility in integrating avionics and flight-control technologies beyond the Thales suite demonstrated during the initial flights. This adaptability aligns with the DGA’s stated goal of promoting competition and “emulation among complementary industrial players,” ensuring the final architecture of France’s MALE drone ecosystem is shaped by both performance metrics and cost-efficiency targets.
The original contract signed in July, during the Paris Air Show, was driven by France’s need for a rapid, low-cost stopgap to fill unmanned aerial surveillance and light attack shortfalls. The DGA noted that drones have become “essential” in modern conflicts and that accelerating domestic production is central to maintaining operational relevance.
Daher credited its Tarbes-based Fly’in technology center for enabling the project’s rapid integration cycle. The center specializes in prototyping, artificial intelligence, embedded systems, and flight-control technologies—areas that were crucial in adapting a civil aircraft platform into a semi-autonomous defense demonstrator within months. The company believes these capabilities position it well to ramp up production should the DGA move toward procurement.
Chabbert said Daher plans to mobilize additional resources to prepare for serial production, emphasizing the company’s more than 30 years of collaboration with the French Armed Forces. “This demonstration confirms the relevance of our approach and our ability to scale up,” he said.
