UAV operations are quite advanced in both Europe and Australia. Meaningful educational research institutions and Centers of Excellence have been established to facilitate the progress of Civil UAV flight.
United Kingdom
The principal Ministry of Defence test facility and a new civil use design and test facility is a newly designated UAV COE at ParcAberporth in Wales. This COE is jointly sponsored by the Welsh Development Agency and the Ministry of Defense(see also WDA Annual Report). Construction of the first Phase was completed in August 2005. ParcAberporth will be the principle base for Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (ASTRAEA) and the facility is also the home of the recently launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association’s (UAVS) Unmanned Systems Services company, the world’s first UAV certification firm that is undertaking that task under devolved responsibility arrangements negotiated with the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Farnsborough Aerospace Consortium - a new Center formed by agreement between The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association (UAVS).
The University of Bristol's UAV Systems Conferences is an important UK resource.
European Union
CAPECON - CAPECON aims to advance the utilization of safe and low cost Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) in the civilian commercial sphere. The project will concentrate on configurations and technologies suited to High and Medium Altitude Long Endurance (HALE and MALE) missions and also to Rotary UAVs.
Finland - Robonic has established a UAV Center of Excellence at Kemijarvi to support development, test and evaluation, and operational training for ground launched targets and TUAVs.
Sweden - The North European Aerospace Test Range NEAT is a cooperative COE sponsored by the Swedish Space Agency and the Swedish Defense Material Administration to promote the development and testing of UAVs. The facility provides two restrictd airspaces covering 6ooo sq km providing services, facilities and other amenities for UAV operation. The site currently hosts developmental testing for the EADS Phoenix project.
Australia
Australia has been a leader in the UAV arena starting with the poineering work of KC Wong at the University of Sydney.
Australian Research Center for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA) - ARCAA is a joint venture between the Queensland University of Technology (Airborne Avionics Research group) and the CSIRO ICT Centre and funded by the Queensland Smart State research facility fund.
|
The purpose of this research and development facility is to remove the impediments to routine civilian operations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Globally, this market is recognised to be the next revolution in aviation as information technology matures in the aerospace sector. A civilian UAV industry will provide great economic and social benefits to Australia and, more specifically, to Queensland as a large and sparsely populated State. |
The Australian Government has given priority to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Development Project and has published an Unmanned Technologies Development Brochure.
There is an active UAV project at Monash University.
|
