The
BAE Systems Mantis, which first flew in 2009, was being used as the basis of development. However, flying large UAVs in British airspace was a challenge. A mockup of Telemos was unveiled at the
Paris Air Show at
Le Bourget in 2011; by this time BAE and Dassault were cooperating closely, with BAE in the lead role. There was not yet a formal joint requirement for the UAV from the French and British armed forces, but requirements were firming up, including round-the-clock
ISTAR capability. Any acquisition would be influenced by
EU competition law. More agreements were planned at the
Farnborough Airshow in 2012. Telemos was expected to be a competitor with the
EADS Talarion and American UAVs for a future order by the
South Korean government. It could also have been a candidate for the
Royal Air Force's "
Scavenger" project. There was an exclusive agreement between BAE Systems and Dassault; they would not cooperate with other partners to develop UAVs. Lacking serious rivals in the UK, this made the BAE/Dassault partnership much more likely to get contracts from the British government. The Telemos was likely to compete with the Talarion for various future European deals. The Anglo-French Telemos programme was abandoned in July 2012, as the new French socialist government considered cooperating instead with other European partners on the EADS Talarion programme. ==Design==