CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
France is launching an international university-level competition in the next academic year (2002-03) to help find second-generation miniature unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) capable of hovering, being carried in a backpack, launched by hand and costing less than €4,500 ($3,875).
"They must be simple to use," says Catherine Fargeon, UAV programmes director at French procurement agency, the DGA. She adds this is vital as "they will be used by soldiers who are not specialists and who will be under stress".
The DGA wants these UAVs to be operational between 2007 and 2010 as part of the BOA (Bulle Opérationnelle Aéroterrestre) programme in which battlefield information is shared on a common network by UAVs, infantry on the ground, helicopters, armoured vehicles and the command centre.
Such UAVs would be used in urban warfare to see around street corners and over the tops of buildings "so they must be able to hover, avoid obstacles and be resistant to gusts of wind", Fargeon says.
Third generation UAVs, smaller than 150mm (6in), to be used inside buildings and able to fly for 20-30min at up to 1km (0.5nm) "will not be ready before 2015".
The miniature UAVs, different from mini-UAVs "which can be bought off the shelf", would be carried and hand-launched by soldiers. She says helicopter-like solutions are unsuitable as the blades can cause injury during launch.
A €1.5 million budget will be used "about 50% to pay the research team expenses for flight trials and the rest as grants to universities".
Source: Flight International
