The Welsh government plans to issue an updated unmanned air vehicle roadmap by late this year with work now under way to identify the region's industrial and research capabilities that could be leveraged as part of an intensified approach to the commercial marketplace.
The new roadmap will emphasise development of global UAV industry supply-chain roles for Welsh industry. It will also continue to promote research into civil applications for unmanned systems and the expansion of flight operations at the ParcAberporth airport in West Wales.
Sue Wolfe, aerospace strategy and innovation manager with the Welsh Assembly Government, says that the updated roadmap will take a "proactive stance". She says that while supply-chain opportunities have previously been identified as an element of the existing Welsh UAV roadmap, the primary focus of activities to date has been on the ParcAberporth facility.
"The vision for ParcAberporth, and the impact that ParcAberporth is going to have in Wales and in the broader UK, is bigger than that. What we are looking to establish, and right from the outset this was part of the overall plan for ParcAberporth, is providing a whole range of services, of goods, of products. A whole supply chain to help smooth the way for the UAV industry overall. That is a vision not just for ParcAberporth but more broadly within Wales. Now clearly you can't start off with that supply chain, you need to establish businesses, flying activities, operations."
Supply-chain roles being targeted will include UAV system components, services requirements and potential spin-offs from unmanned technologies into other markets: "We are being pragmatic about what that supply chain will need".
Existing Welsh government support for research into civil UAV applications has emphasised linkages with core regional industries such as agriculture. Wolfe says this approach will be continued as part of the new roadmap: "Agriculture is an obvious partner," she says.
Welsh Assembly minister for the economy and transport Brian Gibbons says that the UAV sector is viewed as holding considerable opportunities for industry within the region. He says the ParcAberporth range and the associated UAV roadmap represent "a wider strategy based on developing a sector and also trying to get into that sector where there is innovation and research and technology, and we can be a part of leading-edge developments".
The regional government continues to regard the UAV sector as an "innovative" focus for investment, Gibbons says.
"It allows Wales to be part of the aerospace industry and particularly at the front end of research and development. Clearly what is going on here is research and development and the whole point of the exercise is to evaluate the new technology.
"Only time is going to tell, in five or 10 years, where that technology will bring us, but if the research and development doesn't take place, then clearly we are not able to start on this road," he says.
Responding to criticisms that the industrial impact of the ParcAberporth development was taking more time than expected to develop, Gibbons says the regional government regards the UAV strategy as still being at an early stage: "This is the start of an exciting journey. Clearly where it is going to bring us in the end [remains unknown]. If we all could see the future there would probably be no need for research and development and we could just get on and roll out the finished product. But you have to go on a journey of exploration and hopefully ParcAberporth will be a part of that."
Source: FlightGlobal.com
