France Pursues Maritime Uav Integration Activity

摘要

France's defence procurement authority, the Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA), is continuing to fund technology development and ship/air interface demonstration work intended to pave the way for the integration of maritime unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) aboard French Navy warships.rnDCNS and Thales announced in December 2008 that they had been contracted by the DGA to design and demonstrate a UAV deck landing system. The three-year contract calls for the design and demonstration of an automatic take-off, landing and deck landing system for a rotary-wing VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) UAV.rnAccording to DCNS, the project aims to provide reproducible, risk-controlled demonstrations of deck take-offs and landings in a range of environmental, weather and sea state conditions, as required for fully autonomous UAV operation. Initial landing tests are scheduled for 2009 with a view to demonstrating fully autonomous deck landing in high sea states on a French Navy frigate in 2011.