The EADS Barracuda was a jet powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology demonstrator that was designed and produced by the European aerospace company EADS. In 2006, the Barracuda was the largest UAV to have been produced in Europe.

Development of the Barracuda formally started in 2003; the primary nations supporting the programme were Germany and Spain. Prior to its existence being revealed at the 2006 International Aerospace Exhibition, the Barracuda was worked on in secret. The programme had been viewed as a competitor for the French-led Dassault nEUROn unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator. Capable of fully-autonomous long range operations, the Barracuda was principally intended to demonstrate and validate various drone technologies for future mature UAV platforms. It could reportedly perform various mission roles, including those of aerial reconnaissance, maritime patrol, and even combat.

Flights of the Barracuda were temporarily put on hold after the first prototype crashed at Mar Menor while approaching for landing during a test flight in late 2006. Two years later, the program officially resumed; a second prototype was completed in November 2008. During the following year, the Barracuda performed a series of successful flight tests in Goose Bay, Canada during July 2009. Additional test flights investigating various aspects of UAV operations and technologies were being conducted into 2012. The Barracuda was retired after six test campaigns; technologies from the programme have since been reused on platforms such as Eurodrone and the Future Combat Air System.

The Barracuda originated as a UAV design study that was intended to launch EADS into the market for medium-altitude long-range UAVs, a market that the firm viewed as having become dominated by the United States and Israel. During 2003, development of the UAV was launched, although the project's existence was a secret at that time. Reportedly, Germany and Spain were the main nations backing the Barracuda. Development was primarily financed by Airbus, as well as a variety of public institutions, including the German Federal Ministry of Defense, the German Procurement agency BAAINBw, and the Wehrtechnische Dienststellen. The Barracuda was officially debuted at the 2006 International Aerospace Exhibition, where the military applications and specifications for the UAV were revealed. Around this time, the Barracuda was claimed to be the largest UAV to have been produced in Europe.

At one stage, there were ambitions aired for the Barracuda to be developed as a modular platform that would be capable of being refitted to perform various roles, including maritime patrol. While the development of direct offensive capabilities were never scheduled to take place, the Barracuda could potentially carry weapons if a customer expressed interest in having such a capability. It was speculated that weapon systems could be installed within the Barracuda's central payload bay.^{[citation needed]}

During July 2006, it was reported that Germany had held discussion on forming a partnership with Sweden and Italy to jointly collaborate on a multinational UAV that was independent of the French-led Dassault nEUROn programme. At the time, Spain, Italy and Sweden were already participants in the French-led effort. The Barracuda and the nEUROn were both stealthy aircraft and had a maximum air speed of around Mach 0.85.

On 23 September 2006, the Barracuda crashed in Mar Menor at Region de Murcia, Spain, during a landing approach towards the end of an otherwise-regular test flight; in response to the accident, development was temporarily placed on hold until 2008. The program was resumed in 2008, with a second prototype being completed in November 2008. During 2009, a series of successful flight tests in Goose Bay, Canada were performed by the Barracuda; while the UAV operated autonomously during these flights, it was monitored from a ground station for safety purposes alone.

In 2010, additional test flights were conducted that were focused on various subsystems of the Barracuda, including its sense-and-avoid capabilities, auto-taxi systems, a structurally-integrated antenna; and an automatic target detection system. Two years later, further flights were still being performed, entirely at the company's expense; late-stage flight testing had reportedly been validating several new mission modes, including autonomous 4-D navigation and cooperative flight with a second UAV. In September 2012, EADS were reportedly exploring the possibility of an additional series of test flights in 2014.