Lockheed Martin expects to sign a contract within a year for the vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VUAV) element of the US Coast Guard's (USCG) $11 billion Deepwater re-equipment programme.
The company is also signalling a potential expansion of the UAV requirement to support emerging homeland defence missions.
The Deepwater requirement encompasses 69 VUAVs, with Bell's Eagle Eye tiltrotor UAV included in the Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) package selected earlier this year (Flight International, 2-9 July). ICGSis a 50:50 Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman venture.
However, the Northrop Grumman RQ-8A FireScout is being re-examined after an overhaul of US homeland security arrangements.
The VUAV will be a key sensor for the coast guard's new cutters, which are due to enter service from 2006. Atul Patel, Lockheed Martin Deepwater technical director, says this means selection of a UAV and contract negotiation must happen within the next 12 months.
Patel says the first round of Deepwater validation studies, which include examination of UAV and manned aircraft requirements, is due to be finished within two months, and presented to the USCG in December.
He says homeland security needs have called for the examination of the proposed range of VUAV roles, as the "mission is always changing".
Source: Flight International
