The Welsh Assembly government is considering sponsoring a second series of civilian unmanned air vehicle mission demonstrations using the ParcAberporth range. The demonstrations would be a follow-on to a one-day series that was held in early June in conjunction with Qinetiq for civil emergency and law-enforcement authorities.
Applications portrayed in that series included bomb detection and building inspection using the Channon AIS Nitro Hawk vertical take-off and landing UAV, and broad area mapping using the University of Nottingham's Navigator, Nova and Newton fixed-wing UAV demonstrators.
Andrew Davies, minister for enterprise, innovation and networks in the Welsh Assembly government, says that developments in the civil UAV market over the past year show "the sector is growing; it is maturing and ParcAberporth is a key part in the UK UAV offering".
Consideration is now being given to lengthening the ParcAberporth runway as part of ongoing expansion of the facility, he says.
Source: Flight International
