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Drones become popular as companies seek partnerships

A number of international companies are trying to cash in on the opportunities in the field of unmanned systems as the UAE and other countries in the region try to develop technology and capability in drones manufacturing.

For the first time more than 30 companies specialised in the unmanned systems are participating at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex) in Abu Dhabi.

A top executive from the US-based Lockheed Martin said the Middle East is a growing market and they are in the final stages of signing several orders.

“We are in the process of reaching out to many. We are in the final stage of several orders. People started realised the value of unmanned aerial vehicles,” said James Hedges, country director of Lockheed Martin for Jordan, Iraq, UAE and Pakistan.

He said the recent decision of the US government to allow sale of armed drones to some friendly and allied countries will give extended opportunities for companies to market their products.

“It is going to give us a broader opportunity. The market is huge. The number of aircraft in the market are flooding.”

“Right now, we are seeing a huge growth in the civilian sector specially in disaster relief, pipeline security, floods, disease transmission. The list goes on and on,” Hedges said.

On the risks of drones in causing causalities, Hedges said it is a big issue globally. “How do we control air space, how do we control detection and how do we control movement of the systems and we are going to see an evolution in a decade at least, may be longer on this.”

He said they are aggressively reaching out to various countries in helping them to develop capability. “Partnership is becoming a key method for integrating into the region.”

Unmanned technologies have witnessed one of the greatest increases in global military spending over the last five years with the US alone upping its budget from $3.3 billion in 2010 to $5.72 billion this year, according to a statement issued by Idex.

While in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region more than $16.5 billion will be spent on unmanned systems and helicopters over the next 10 years, further highlighting the global shift in defence spending and focus.

The demand is growing for unmanned systems, says Omar T Daghmash, projects manager of Abu Dhabi-based International Golden Group which acts as an agent for procurement of unmanned systems for the UAE Armed Forces.

“We deal with American and French companies to serve Armed Forces. Demand is growing for drones in surveillance and humanitarian efforts,” Daghmash said.

Speaking at a conference on the second day of Idex, Ali Al Yafei, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments (Adasi), said there will be a significant usage of unmanned systems in the next five years in the civilian applications. “The UAE has been adopting unmanned aerial vehicles in a broad range of applications including in gathering intelligence and reconnaissance. We are on a mission to develop technology and capability in unmanned systems.

“We have entered into partnership with a number of companies to develop technology and continue to look for new partners.”



Source: http://www.zawya.com/story/Drones_become_popular_as_companies_seek_partnerships-GN_24022015_250256/

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