DSEi 2011: Selex develops new UAS mission system

Selex Galileo is developing a new open-architecture sensor mission system for UAS, company officials revealed at the DSEi exhibition in London on 14 September.

The skyISTAR is some 2-3 years away from being available, but will be open and interoperable. The new concept is being guided by the premise that 'survivability is the order of the day', Mike Rickett, senior vice president UISBG and head of air systems UK for Selex, told reporters.

'Things happen very quickly and disappear very quickly,' he continued.

The system is aimed towards MALE UAVs, although Rickett pointed out that it could be applied to other types, and can even be podded for manned systems.

The sensors are designed by Selex, although it is 'designed around the plug and play principle', and therefore other sensors can be attached depending on customer requirements.

'The customer can't afford to get locked in; they want total control,' Rickett expanded.

The system will have on-board 'novel' data fusion, as part of the mission management system, which will 'fuse the data together with proprietary algorithms' to provide the user with a single picture.

Meanwhile, during a press conference at the show representatives from Finmeccanica, the parent company of Selex, responded to criticism that it is not involved in the nascent Anglo-French MALE UAV requirement that emerged on the back of the governmental MoU, which included the requirement as one of its priorities.

Instead of developing a broader European MALE system, incorporating many nations, it was decided that the system would be developed for just the French and UK governments, and an RFI is expected in the upcoming months.

However, Finmeccanica assured reporters that it 'continues to pursue interest' in the programme, and although it is a European company, the representatives reminded listeners that it still has a British element to the company, and that it 'hasn't lost yet'.

'We have a UK industrial base that is involved in this programme,' it announced.

Selex will participate with the sensors and mission system for the MALE UAV, and 'the skyISTAR demonstrates movements in this area'.