Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Airbus Helicopters / Survey Copter
- Origin / production countries
- France
- Other names
- Capa-X; U050
- Variants / configurations
- CTOL / VTOL configurations; Short-wing and long-wing arrangements
- Operators / programme customers
- French Army and Navy — evaluation customers
Evidence & current status
Published performance is supplier-reported and configuration dependent; operational use does not independently validate every specification.
U050 Capa-X is Airbus's modular tactical UAV, developed through Survey Copter. The platform supports conventional and vertical take-off configurations, and different wing arrangements. Its intended uses include reconnaissance, communications support, public safety and logistics, with the installed payload defining a particular aircraft's role.
A September 2026 Airbus announcement records a new French order following evaluation of an initial system obtained in late 2025. Four additional systems, each with two aircraft, are due in 2027 for the Army and Navy's light tactical-drone evaluation programme. The distinction between systems and aircraft is explicit: this announcement concerns eight additional air vehicles, not four.
The release also separates demonstrated seven-hour endurance during evaluation from an advertised maximum of ten hours. That is a useful evidence distinction, and both appear here. The initial configuration includes imagery and signals-intelligence equipment; broader catalogue roles remain potential fits. Capa-X's maximum payload, maximum endurance and short-wing speed should not be combined as though all describe one simultaneously demonstrated configuration.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Modular fixed-wing UAV with CTOL and VTOL configurations | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Conventional or vertical take-off and landing | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Long-wing span 6 m; length 4 m | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 120 kg MTOW | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Seven hours demonstrated in evaluation; up to ten hours advertised | Manufacturer distinguishes evaluation result from maximum capability. Source ↗ |
| Range | 100 km direct data-link range | Direct link, not total distance travelled. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 150 km/h maximum in short-wing configuration | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 3,000 m ceiling | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Up to 20 kg | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Initial configuration: EO imagery and SIGINT | Describes ordered baseline, not all future options. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Additional French order
Four two-aircraft systems ordered for delivery in 2027.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Capa-X product specifications (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- French order and evaluation results, 10 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme