QinetiQ to be awarded contract to supply High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HALE UAV)

UAV that will provide the carrier for valuable observation data

QinetiQ is to be awarded a major contract to design and build an unmanned solar-electric UAV that will provide the carrier for valuable observation data for such purposes as flood management, disaster relief, fire spotting and environmental and agricultural monitoring. The high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is designed to fly at 60,000 feet for months at a time, providing a carrier for a highly accurate and low cost alternative to expensive satellite and manned aircraft surveillance.

The QinetiQ aircraft will be incorporated in a Verhaert system known as Mercator which has a wingspan of 16 metres and weighs only 27 kilograms. Mercator will provide the vital element of the Pegasus HALE UAV project being conducted by VITO, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research. VITO has awarded an overarching 11 million euro contract to Verhaert, the leading Belgian space systems company, and Verhaert in turn will contract with QinetiQ to supply the UAV. Verhaert will provide the ground station, integrate the subsystems, perform final testing at system level and manage the process of obtaining experimental flight clearances. The first flight trials are expected in the summer of 2006.

Announcing the main contract award at the Paris Airshow, Dirk Fransaer, CEO of VITO, said: "The UAV is the perfect carrier of state-of-the-art remote sensing technology, with significant performance, cost and operational advantages over satellite and manned aircraft alternatives. QinetiQ's involvement in supplying the UAV within the Mercator system is key to the success of the Pegasus project and we look forward with excitement and optimism to the first flight trials of the aircraft next year.

"We expect this programme to bring real benefit to European nations and also to other countries around the globe, particularly in the developing world where cost restraints have previously ruled out this kind of remote sensing capability."

Paul Davey, QinetiQ Mercator Project Manager, added: "We are delighted to be working alongside VITO and Verhaert on this important project. QinetiQ has a heritage of over 50 years in the development of space technology and by bringing this technology down into the atmosphere we can add value in an increasingly wide range of fields. Mercator has the potential to be a real game-changer in earth observation and offer real improvements in the understanding and management of such things as developing humanitarian and environmental situations."

QinetiQ believes that stratospheric platforms will rapidly become commercially viable and revolutionise future communications. High altitude platforms of this sort could provide a cheaper alternative to satellites in remoter areas and developing countries. They can also enable observation of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Mercator provides the basis on which to demonstrate the major lightweight technologies for future operational stratospheric platforms and enable rapid development of future payload technology.

The operation of an "eternal aircraft" requires ultra lightweight structures, systems and sensors. QinetiQ has developed ultra-lightweight structures and complex systems both for spacecraft and sensors with applications including communications from Mars on the Beagle 2 probe and space-based remote sensing from TopSat, a high performance imaging micro-satellite. This space heritage also allows QinetiQ to efficiently operate and manage systems over prolonged periods of time in the harsh stratospheric environment.