The French Directorate General of Armament (DGA) has ordered a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) version of the SMDM uncrewed aerial system from Airbus Helicopters’ subsidiary Survey Copter. Since 2022, the DGA has contracted 34 Aliaca systems for the French Navy, with VTOL deliveries scheduled from May 2026 following qualification trials.
“We are proud to deliver the VTOL Aliaca to the French Navy for the first time,” said Christophe Canguilhem, Aliaca programme director at Airbus Helicopters. “The French Navy has successfully operated the Aliaca from ships and land for several years. The SMDM has demonstrated its full potential in operation. With the VTOL version, the Navy will operate with even more flexibility. This contract amendment shows our solution is mature and available worldwide.”
Developed in under a year from an operational baseline, the Aliaca VTOL was tested on land and sea throughout late 2024 and 2025, and publicly unveiled in April 2025. The tactical mini-drone combines four vertical lift propellers with fixed-wing propulsion for missions. It has a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg, a 3.5 m wingspan, and measures 2.1 m in length. Endurance is two hours with a 50 km range. Payload includes a gyro-stabilised electro-optical/infrared camera and an Automatic Identification System capable of detecting ships across several hundred kilometres.
The VTOL upgrade eliminates the need for launch-and-recovery equipment, enabling faster deployment and a smaller logistical footprint while retaining the same performance, airframe architecture, and user-friendly ground station already proven with the French Navy.
Qualified by the DGA and operational since 2022, the fixed-wing SMDM serves as “remote binoculars” aboard patrol vessels, overseas patrol boats, and surveillance frigates. Since mid-2023, it has also supported search and rescue missions in the English Channel from coastal stations. The VTOL variant will expand deployment to additional ship classes for missions including tactical surveillance, counter-illegal activity, traffic and coastal monitoring, search and rescue, and behaviour detection. Longer term, it may support coastal surveillance networks from land.
The new configuration will undergo DGA qualification in early 2026 through land and sea trials before operational acceptance. The fixed-wing SMDM will remain in service aboard equipped vessels and be sustained for at least seven years.
