Rising regional tensions and internal and external security threats are fuelling the appetite of Middle Eastern nations for airborne surveillance equipment. Several UK companies - from BAE Systems to tiny start-ups - were promoting their unmanned systems at the show, backed by the government's UK Trade and Investment arm.
Qinetiq displayed its in-development hand-launched, solar-powered high-altitude, long-endurance Zephyr. The airframe, which has a typical payload of 2kg (4.4lb), has flown for up to 82h a time but Qinetiq says the final version, which it hopes to have in production by next year, will have an endurance of "several months". The programme is being partly-funded by the UK Ministry of Defence.
Zephyr's ability to stay in the air for extended periods makes it "ideal for countries which have large landmasses and inhospitable terrain" in applications such as pipeline monitoring and border surveillance, says Qinetiq's Ian Walsh.
Qinetiq was also pushing its "managed services" business - providing and operating UAVs and processing mission data into "meaningful" intelligence. "We have real aspirations in this region," Walsh adds.
BAE Systems had a full-scale replica of its Mantis at the show. The electric-powered unmanned air vehicle, which first flew in October, has a 20m (65.5ft) wingspan. The programme is also partly funded by the MoD, as well as a number of suppliers including Rolls-Royce, Qinetiq and GE Aviation.
Also displaying under the UK T&I banner was UK start-up Fibreflight, which is developing the 850mm (33in)-long vertical take-off-and-landing Varos platform. With a payload of 500g (17.6oz) and endurance of 20min, it is intended for applications such as crowd control, building surveillance and monitoring of suspicious devices.
Source: Flight International
