UAVNET and CAPECON co-operate to define development of unmanned air vehicles
The European Commission-funded UAVNET and Civil UAV Applications and Economic Effectivity of Potential Configurations (CAPECON) projects are to co-operate in developing a common European unmanned air vehicle technology roadmap.
A first draft is due to be complete by December. The full version should be finalised by mid-2005 and UAVNET plans to pursue formal endorsement as EC policy.
"We feel that Europe requires a roadmap for a definition of what we are doing, where we are at and what remains to be done in terms of the future," says UAVNET co-ordinator Mark Okrent.
Okrent told the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Unmanned Unlimited conference in Chicago that the roadmap would define "what is required to be done in terms of technology, in terms of safety, airworthiness, and what we can do in order to make our vision come true".
The CAPECON project was funded by the EC in May 2002 to develop basic expertise in high-altitude and medium-altitude long-endurance UAVs within European research organisations and interested companies. The project has funding of €5.14 million ($6.4 million) and ends in mid-2005.
UAVNET has been funded by the EC for several years with the aim of co-ordinating a common European UAV industry base, with an emphasis on civil applications. Initial funding for UAVNET expires at the end of this year.
PETER LA FRANCHI / CHICAGO
Source: Flight International
