Looking for a UAV?
So you’re a country trying to determine your unmanned system needs. Maybe it’s a tactical aerial vehicle (UAV) with missile capability for operations in a theatre like Afghanistan? Maybe it’s a family of UAVs for medium or high altitude surveillance along your border or coastlines? Perhaps your Navy requires a small UAV capable of providing reconnaissance or surveillance of suspect ships.
To which defence company do you turn? Everyone, it seems.
Where once it was the purview of hobbyists and mom-and-pop operators, today the UAV market is dominated by major defence manufacturers, and all see it as a potential area of growth.
Unmanned systems are the choix du jour at the moment, and the evidence was spread throughout the Paris Air Show. Manufacturers large and small offered a multitude of unmanned planes, helicopters and other surveillance drones on static displays. Israel, one of most experienced countries in the unmanned field and the fifth largest national delegation at the show, brought together 13 companies, 11 under one roof, to showcase its UAV prowess.
Boeing threw down the gauntlet at a press briefing on Tuesday, saying its newly created Unmanned Airborne Systems unit would top the market within the next five years. “We believe we can become the dominant player in this segment in three to five years,” said Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft. “[N]obody really dominates. We believe the market is wide open.”
Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems, on Monday disputed the notion raised by some analysts that the company’s airplane business might suffer due to both the economic downturn and cuts in defence spending, but the company has made significant investments in cyber security, C4ISR and unmanned, nonetheless.
Boeing has been a player in the UAV market for some time, but by pulling together all of its various UAV activities under one banner, the company believes it will now be on par with the likes of Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, among others. That, of course, means acquisitions. Last year, Boeing acquired Insitu, makers of the ScanEagle, currently deployed by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. Albaugh also hinted that the company would be exploring development of the “ultra” HALE (high altitude, long endurance) capable of flying on station for months if not years at a time.
In Europe, Thales and EADS are battling for UAV dominance. Thales has teamed with Dassault, Indra and Israeli Aerospace Industries to offer France and Spain a surveillance MALE based on the Heron TP model (the Heron is currently leased by the Canadian Forces from Vancouver-based MDA). Dubbed SDM, the project is the only European model available in a short timeframe, said Jean-François Henrio, Thales head of mission air systems. Both companies are also eyeing an immediate German requirement for UAV capability in Afghanistan; a lease option similar to Canada’s is on the table.
