EADS in "Agile UAV in Network-Centric Environments" Project

EADS, EADS Defence & Security (DS) was awarded by the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) some weeks ago the prime contractor role for the research and technology programme “Agile UAV within Network-Centric Environments” (Agile UAV-NCE). This programme of Military Air Systems, an integrated Business Unit of DS, is aiming at the analysis and refinement of enabling technologies and operational concepts of unmanned agile reconnaissance operations of an unmanned air vehicle (UAV). 
 
EADS Defence & Security is the partner for the tri-national “Advanced UAV” study in France, Germany and Spain. It is expanding its capabilities in the important field of unmanned systems. The company's prime objectives are system-of-systems approaches and the network-centric operations context for their UAV portfolio. 
 
As the Finnish Defence Forces see similar technological and operational requirements, they are contributing to the Agile UAV-NCE programme via their established national 'Finnish Unmanned Vehicle Systems (FinUVS)' project and its recently launched follow-up “UAV Data Link” technology programmes. 
 
The cooperation is based on a Government-to-Government agreement between the Finnish and the German side. The German MoD also welcomes other European nations, such as Switzerland, to participate in the Agile UAV-NCE programme. 
 
The Agile UAV-NCE programme is intended to be executed in subsequent phases and to run until 2013, covering both, demonstrations by simulation as well as by real flight tests. Main features will be risk-reduction processes, the evaluation of key technologies, and the generation of operational concepts for future UAV systems. As a consequence, the most prominent tasks are the definition and simulation of missions, of communication links and of platform control under NCE conditions. Flight trials are going to focus on verification and validation of the Agile UAV-NCE concept by performing reconnaissance and sensor-to-shooter missions. 
 
EADS Defence & Security is responsible for the complete system design and will contribute to the programme with the technology demonstrator Barracuda. This vehicle is seen as a decisive development asset towards the next generation of interoperable modular Advanced UAV systems. The Finnish industrial participants are Patria as national prime contractor and Insta as co-contractor, both funded by the Finnish Defence Forces. The contribution of the nordic partners centres around secure networking data links. The Swiss partner is going to be RUAG Aerospace.  
 
Military Air Systems, an integrated business unit of EADS Defence & Security (DS), is the centre of competence for all manned and unmanned flying weapon systems within EADS. DS is a systems solutions provider combining military air systems, missile systems, communications and intelligence systems, global security solutions as well as sensor and avionics systems into a single effective network. In 2006, DS – with its around 23,000 employees – achieved revenues of EUR 5.9 billion. 
 
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2006, EADS generated revenues of EUR 39.4 billion and employed a workforce of about 116,000.