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The MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) drone program will provide the French air force with full capability of MALE drones for continuous "surveillance and reconnaissance" and "air operation support" missions.

Compared with the SIDM (Temporary MALE drones system), the missions will be expanded to include joint and inter-allied electromagnetic intelligence gathering and communications capabilities.

The initial French target for the program is six systems (with four equipped aircraft per system) by 2010. These numbers will be confirmed during the design stage depending on the actual performance achieved by the system and the synergies resulting from European cooperation.