Companies Announce Middle East Plans at IDEX 2013

A full-scale model of the Predator XP at IDEX. AUVSI photo.

By Brett Davis



Expansion into the United Arab Emirates and the larger Middle East region is the name of the game at IDEX 2013, and several unmanned systems companies announced new joint ventures or products designed to do that.



General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is displaying the export version of the Predator, the Predator XP, an unarmed system which has an automatic takeoff and landing capability and carries a Lynx multimode radar for maritime systems use. The company has a full-scale model of the XP for the first time at the outdoor exhibit area.



GA-ASI had teamed with the International Golden Group, which supplies defense systems to the Middle East, in 2011 to offer an updated export variant of the original RQ-1 Predator that would be used for only intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The UAE had been showing "significant interest" in the Predator XP, Frank W. Pace, president of the company's aircraft systems group, said in a press release before the show opened. That turned out to be the case.



On opening day, International Golden Group announced that it will provide the XP to UAE Armed Forces General Headquarters in a deal worth $197 million.



GA-ASI is also in talks with the Abu Dhabi-based strategic investment firm Tawazun to create a long-term joint venture for service and support of the XP.



Boeing, parent company of UAS maker Insitu, announced a similar teaming agreement with Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments (ADASI) that will have ADASI provide training, support and marketing for the ScanEagle and Integrator aircraft. The deal could expand into the Middle East and North Africa, the companies announced on 18 Feb. ADASI is a subsidiary of Tawazun.



"We plan to continue investing and growing in the UAE and the broader Middle East region in order to support U.S. allies' enduring need for affordable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, such as ScanEagle and Integrator," said Debbie Rupp, a vice president and general manager of Boeing Military Aircraft.



The agreement builds on an earlier agreement with Insitu itself, maker of the ScanEagle and Integrator aircraft, which allowed for sustainment and support of its ISR products and services. ADASI also has agreements with other unmanned systems companies, including Austria's Schiebel.



ADASI manages Schiebel's Camcopter S-100 for the UAE military, which designates it Al Saber. The helicopter has been flying in the daily show demonstrations near a busy Abu Dhabi highway and is on static display at French shipbuilder DCNS's new offshore patrol vessel, which was designed to carry the S-100.



HDT Global's Airborne Systems division announced that the UAE air force will buy three types of its Guided Precision Aerial Delivery Systems, gliding parachutes attached to delivery systems equipped with advanced, autonomous navigation software.



The deal calls for deliveries of the heavyweight DragonFly, middleweight FireFly and single-use FlyClops systems and makes the UAE air force the company's largest customer in the Middle East.