BERLIN, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The German Defence Ministry on Wednesday said it is evaluating separate bids from NATO and Canada to buy a high-altitude surveillance drone that has been parked at a German air base for years after the cancellation of the Euro Hawk programme in 2013.
A ministry spokesman said formal bids had been received from both NATO and Canada for the prototype, which was demilitarised by the U.S. military in 2017, but gave no details. NATO and the Canadian embassy in Berlin had no immediate comment.
The German government spent around 700 million euros on the Euro Hawk prototype built by U.S. armsmaker Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) NOC.N and the ISIS surveillance system built by Airbus AIR.PA .
It cancelled the Euro Hawk programme in May 2013 due to soaring costs and problems getting the system certified to fly in Europe. It now is planning to buy several MQ-4C Triton drones from Northrop for deliveries after 2025.