CANSEC 2019: ISTAR drones will be fully equipped

RICHARD SCOTT

Leonardo has signed a multimillion euro contract with prime contractor QinetiQ to supply PicoSAR active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars to equip new unmanned intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) vertical take-off/landing unmanned air systems (UASs) ordered by the Canadian Armed Forces.

QinetiQ earlier this month announced that it had been awarded a C$51 million contract to deliver an ISTAR solution, based on the UMS SKELDAR V-200 UAS, to meet the needs of Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. The contract will be delivered from QinetiQ’s UAS manufacturing and operational facilities in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Developed and manufactured by Leonardo in Edinburgh, UK,

PicoSAR offers high-performance ground surveillance capabilities – including Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging and Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) modes – in an extremely compact package. SAR/GMTI allows for the delivery of effective all-weather, high-resolution ground mapping and surveillance capability for ISTAR missions. The new ISTAR UAS will also carry electrooptical/infrared (EO/IR) payloads supplied by L3 WESCAM. According to L3 WESCAM, the order represents the company’s first contract with QinetiQ in Canada, and the first orders for the MX-8 and MX-10D EO/IR turrets in the Canadian market.

UMS SKELDAR is a joint venture between Sweden’s Saab and UMS AERO GROUP of Switzerland. According to the company, multiple V-200 air vehicles are due to be delivered in the third quarter of 2019.