U.K. To Extend UAV-By-The-Hour Deal

U.K. To Extend UAV-By-The-Hour Deal

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - March 13, 2009: Britain's Ministry of Defence is to extend a UAV-by-the-hour deal with Thales UK that provides the military in Afghanistan with key intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities. Company officials attending an engineering and science event here March 11 confirmed that they are close to completing arrangements for the ISTAR deal to run through to the in-service date of the British Army's Watchkeeper UAV system scheduled for 2011.

In July 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that Thales UK had been selected as the preferred bidder for the Watchkeeper Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle (TUAV) system. Watchkeeper will provide the UK armed forces with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability. "Watchkeeper will provide the UK armed forces with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capability." In August 2005, Thales UK was awarded the contract for the development, manufacture and initial support (DMIS) phases of the Watchkeeper programme. The number of Watchkeeper systems has not yet been formally announced, but is thought to be about 54 systems. Watchkeeper is a tactical system that will be operated in theatre by the British Army Royal Artillery. Thales UK's Watchkeeper proposal included a large UAV and a smaller UAV, support equipment and ground stations. The MoD has decided that a single UAV solution is more cost effective and only the larger WK450 UAV will be developed. The air vehicle will be capable of carrying a range of sensors including day and night cameras and surveillance radars. In June 2007, following completion of the critical design review, Thales unveiled the final design which features the dual payload, all-weather operation with de-icing and automatic take-off and landing capability. First flight of the Watchkeeper UAV was in April 2008, from Megido Airfield in northern Israel. Trials of Elbit's Magic X-band automatic take-off and landing system were successfully completed in August 2008. Trials with the I-Master radar and electro-optic payloads are due later in 2008. Flight testing will move to Parc Aberporth in Wales in early 2009. The Watchkeeper system will enter service in the British armed forces Royal Artillery in 2010. A full Watchkeeper system can be deployed to theatre in a single C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. As an urgent operational requirement to provide intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) until Watchkeeper enters service, the British Army has ordered a Hermes 450 UAV (on which the Watchkeeper is based) unit from Thales UK / Elbit. The unit has been operational in Iraq since June 2007. Thales has been providing the service for British forces since mid-2007 to help plug a gap in British ISTAR capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under an urgent operational requirement deal with the MoD, Thales provides the Elbit Hermes 450 tactical UAV, contractor logistics support and program management services. It also trains the military in the use and maintenance of the system. The UAV-by-the-hour service has drawn considerable attention from Canada, France and other NATO nations that need similarly rapid hikes in ISTAR capabilities. To date, the Hermes 450s have flown more than 18,000 hours for the British in the two operational theaters, a Thales UK spokeswomen said. The original two-year deal was expected to be worth around 60 million pounds ($83 million), much of that going to UAV provider Elbit. British forces are likely to pull out of Iraq later this year and it remains unclear whether the UAVs in that theater will be switched to bolster capabilities in Afghanistan. MoD officials at the event declined to discuss the ISTAR plans, citing operational security issues. The British arm of Thales was selected in 2005 as the winner of the 900 million-pound Watchkeeper program. Based on a much-modified version of the Hermes 450, the first platform and associated ground segment equipment is scheduled to be delivered to the Army here in October 2010 and enter service a few months later. The platform is currently undergoing flight testing in Israeli prior to transitioning to Britain in the fourth quarter of this year to begin U.K. eyes-only tests on sensitive equipment such as the radar and datalink.