SOTECH 2010 Volume: 8 Issue: 6 (August)
The Turkish army has begun using Israeli-made unmanned aircraft to monitor Kurdish rebel movements in neighboring Iraq. Meanwhile, worldwide sales of military video surveillance technology used on said aircraft will reach a total value of $7.7 billion in 2010.Armed forces have long made use of video cameras in various weapon systems, but the development of advanced motion-imagery capabilities that support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions is a relatively new phenomenon.
New market research calculates that in 2010, the global market for unmanned aerial vehicles will reach more than $5.5 billion. This can be attributed to the wide and growing popularity of UAVs as a key asset for armed forces worldwide. Now, in England the Royal Air force is reporting that RAF’s Reaper program has achieved the milestone of providing more than 10,000 hours of armed over watch in support of U.K. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Interestingly enough, the Reaper is piloted by British servicemembers stationed in the Nevada desert. This tangled web of UAV suppliers, operators and customers is not lost on me. To that end, please see our article on UAVs of all sizes and shapes in this issue.
I hope you all saw the article in our monthly email blast about the incidents of brain cancer occurring in C-130 crew members. Later this year we will also have an article about the maintenance of these aircraft.
As always feel free to contact me with editorial suggestions or even a letter to the editor if one of our articles struck your fancy. See you at the Military Vehicles Convention in Detroit.
 Phil Kiver, Editor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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