2011-03-31

While few would dispute that unmanned air systems have transformed military aviation during the past decade, it is looking increasingly certain that the coming 10 years will see huge change in unmanned air vehicles themselves. It would not be excessive to call the next couple of years a genuine watershed in the development of UAVs.

Steven Zaloga, co-author of a Teal Group study of the sector, likens the current generation of UAVs to the aircraft, tanks and artillery of the First World War. These technologies proved critical but were not mature, and it was during the years after the war that they were more fully developed. The first drone aircraft, he notes, appeared in 1917, but it was not until the past decade that a "cascade of technologies" such as GPS navigation and datalinks combined with the post 9/11 military need for surveillance in Afghanistan and Iraq to spur development and mass deployment of a mature generation of UAVs.

As in the years after 1918, Zaloga foresees development of a new generation of platforms as combat in Iraq and Afghanistan winds down. While current-generation UAVs were largely developed from existing platforms rather than through competitive tendering, the next generation are going to be developed to meet specific requirements and thus promise to be much more sophisticated, he says.

Next-generation UAVs will be designed to survive in much more hostile environments, for missions against enemies possessing effective anti-aircraft defences, and for deployment beyond the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions typical of today's UAVs. Some of these programmes will thus be expensive. Zaloga expects the big defence contractors to make a serious play for them. He says: "They are very anxious to get involved in the UAV field."

But big names in defence are not necessarily destined to succeed. Winners, says Zaloga, will be the companies that best understand the armed services' requirements and master the integration of electronic systems to meet them, with a clear appreciation of the fact that the "aircraft is just a platform".

He expects further surprises in the player line-up. Just as General Atomics and Sagem were not thought of as airframers before rising to UAV sector prominence with their Predator and Sperwer, and mini-UAV leader AeroVironment was a newcomer to military aviation, the next generation of UAVs are just as likely to come from new names as from established airframers.

In the years to 2020, the Teal Group expects US spending in UAVs to be even more dominant than it is in defence spending overall. As global UAV research, development and procurement spending doubles from current levels (see chart), US UAV R&D spending will account for 77% of the world total, compared with 64% of world defence R&D. In UAV procurement, the USA will spend 69% of the total, versus 38% of defence procurement.

US dominance will stem from its greater investment in cutting-edge technologies and its head start over other major aerospace centres such as Europe. The trend follows those in other sectors such as guided weapons, information and sensor technology and military space systems.

After the USA, the biggest spending region will be Asia Pacific, closely followed by Europe. Africa and Latin America will be modest spenders.

Some of the most exciting developments are poised to come in UAVs for civil use. With large numbers of UAVs in service, people will find roles for them, says Zaloga. Civil operators such as coastguard services and border patrols will increasingly look to UAVs to meet new requirements or satisfy existing ones.

As airspace issues are resolved, other non-military uses are certain to follow, with rich rewards for companies able to develop new UAVs or adapt existing ones to meet them.

One civil market to watch is Japan, which the Teal report - written before the Japanese earthquake - sees as a niche market ready for rapid development. Zaloga notes that one example of adaptation of existing, military airframes is the use of a Global Hawks to survey the Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Source: flightglobal.com

2021-01-18

Russia is withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the country is beginning the procedure for withdrawing from the Treaty on Open Skies.

2020-12-26

Exclusive video of application of the ZALA Lancet UAV at the training ground.

ZALA Lancet is the first Russian-made unmanned airstrike system.

2020-12-23

Drone application in the oil and gas sector

Russia ranks 3rd in the World in the list of countries for oil production. The length of main pipelines in Russia is more than 250 000 km. Many pipelines often run in hard-to-reach areas of our country, which makes it difficult to monitor the condition of pipelines and increases the risk of illegal activities and violations. It is in such cases drones become an integral part of the oil and gas industry.

2020-09-24

Results оf The International Helicopter Industry Exhibition HeliRussia 2020

HeliRussia is the only exhibition in Russia where world achievements of the entire range of products and services of the helicopter industry are presented. In 2020, the exhibition was held from September 15 to 17 at the Crocus Expo exhibition center, Moscow.

2020-09-14

American retailer Walmart has launched the delivery of food and necessities using Flytrex drones.

On September 9, American retailer Walmart performed a pilot launch of food delivery using unmanned aircraft in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

2020-09-12

SenseFly drones help monitor Lake Winnipeg ice hazards in Switzerland.

The project, which is part of the Canadian Space Agency's Earth observation applications development program (EODAP), was aimed at identifying and monitoring lake ice levels, as well as detecting cracks and pressure ridges to raise awareness among local communities and first responders about the risks of moving lake ice.

2020-09-03

Development of unmanned aircraft on Military-Technical Forum "ARMY-2020"

On August 29, Military-Technical Forum "Army-2020" ended, although only a few months ago this event was under the big question due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the Forum was held and the results were impressive. Mostly participants and visitors of the forum were impressed by the display of domestic unmanned aerial vehicles.

2020-04-30

The Pros and Cons of Drone Delivery

The idea of commercial delivery drones is more relevant now than ever as social distancing guidelines have made contactless delivery an essential part of company operations. ‘

The first drone delivery was a tasty one: Dominos delivered two pizzas to a residence in New Zealand in 2016. Since then, companies have been racing towards liftoff.

2020-04-06

Medical Drone Delivery Success in Ireland

In September, it was reported on the world’s first BVLOS medical delivery in Ireland.

Researchers at NUI Galway partnered with German drone startup Wingcopter to transport prescription medication and blood samples for diabetes patients.

This week, the research team released more details about the project in an ENDO 2020 abstract to  be published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

2020-04-06

Turkey set to become a major player on drone market

The success of Turkey’s indigenously produced Anka-S drone, and the development of the Anka-2 model, could position Turkey as a major player on the drone market, said an analyst writing in The National Interest.

Turkey began operating and experimenting with drones in the 1990s, starting its own development program. “Anka” was the name under which a line of domestic medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Turkey also bought IAI Herons from Israel and started using them in 2010, said analyst Charlie Gao on Saturday.