The attacks on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001 ended official scepticism over the value of drones and Airbus maker EADS has spent years and around 500 million euros ($645 million) working on the Talarion drone in the hope of an order from the project's instigators France, Germany and Spain.
But then France's Dassault Aviation and Britain's BAE Systems stepped up plans for their own drone under a Franco-British defence pact signed in 2010, provoking anger and frustration from EADS.
Earlier this year, EADS threw in the towel because it failed to win firm commitments, and the project has been further hampered by a major shake-up at defence unit Cassidian that has included replacing its chief executive.
However, the efforts by Dassault and BAE to build their own drone so far do not seem to have borne much fruit either, with French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian saying this week he had "major reservations" about the plan.
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