They provide a critical surveillance capability for militaries around the world, but air show visitors have still yet to see evidence of all but the smallest unmanned air vehicles being flown in public.

That could change at the Farnborough air show in 2014, if plans revealed by a senior Royal Air Force officer on 11 July make progress.

Speaking at a conference organised by the UK's ADS trade association, assistant chief of the air staff Air Vice Marshal Baz North said plans are in place to host an "intelligent systems exposition" in Farnborough in July 2013 to showcase remotely piloted air systems and supporting technologies. Sources suggest this could be supported by imagery relayed from UAVs operated out of Qinetiq's Boscombe Down test site and flown in established segregated airspace near the Wiltshire base.

If successful, the exposition model could be repeated at the next Farnborough show. However, the issue of whether unmanned aircraft could be flown in the display at such events in the future is an issue for further discussion with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, North says.

Meanwhile, UK defence secretary Philip Hammond told the same audience: "Investment in ISTAR [intelligence, surveillance, target attack and reconnaissance] assets is going to be of critical importance for our forces in the future." The Ministry of Defence's budget plan until 2020 includes "an understanding in the remaining headroom" to acquire such equipment, he added.

North says the RAF's long-term vision is for an ISTAR inventory with a split of two-thirds manned aircraft and one-third remotely piloted systems.

 

Source: Flight Daily News

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