Jul 10 2006
Civilian applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) received a major boost today from investment projects by major aerospace and defense contractors in a new center in Wales.
EADS, Thales, BAE Systems, QinetiQ, and Flight Refuelling Ltd. will house their operations in the dedicated center at ParcAberporth, the site created by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for developing and testing UAV systems.
One of Europe's largest defense firms, SELEX S&AS, has become ParcAberporth's anchor tenant. "ParcAberporth will give SELEX S&AS the opportunity to develop and improve understanding of how our UAV systems can be deployed to the best advantage and to demonstrate them to our customers," said David Lazarus, Head of IStar and UAV Marketing, SELEX S&AS UK. Selex is one of a group of UAV manufacturers demonstrating UAVs today at ParcAberporth for approximately 600 industry representatives.
R&D at the new dedicated center will cover a wide range of technologies, including secure communications systems and the virtual or synthetic environment for demonstrating UAV applications that EADS is developing at NetCOS in Newport, southeastern Wales. The dedicated center will be part of a national program to enable UAVs to fly routinely in UK airspace.
Market research indicates a huge potential for civil applications, including firefighting, homeland security, coastguard and environmental monitoring, with a market potential in Europe alone of $1.5 billion by 2015.
WAG is providing approximately $5.6 million over 3 years to help the industry open up UK airspace for routine civilian operation of UAVs. This investment will lever additional funding of around $13 million for research and development into Wales in the UAV sector, a priority area within the Welsh aerospace industry.
Andrew Davies, Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, said: "Wales recognizes the importance of raising market awareness of the tremendous opportunities, environmental benefits and cost savings that UAV systems can offer.
"It is essential that civil markets for UAV systems are developed in parallel with work to open up UK airspace and considerable work is being undertaken in Wales to drive this forward."
In June at ParcAberporth, QinetiQ supervised WAG demonstrations showcasing how UAVs can be used for police forces, mountain rescue services and universities interested in developing sensor technology and using UAVs for research purposes.