Unmanned aerial vehicles – worldwide industry

Unmanned aerial vehicles are used for a number of purposes, including surveillance, search and rescue, decoy, targeting and communications relay, with capability and range extended as technology develops. The world market for unmanned aerial vehicles is expected to be worth $10 billion by 2011, as use within military and civil contexts increases.

The unmanned aerial vehicles industry in Scotland

There is potential to develop equipment for both the military and civil markets within Scotland. The UK National Aerospace Technology Strategy promotes major investment in UAVs, including £32 million of funding through the ASTREA programme. Research and development activity centres on clearance for flight in controlled airspace. This will open the way for widespread use in civil markets as Scotland develops expertise in civil certification of UAVs.

Unmanned aerial vehicles and Scotland – the benefits

Scotland offers many advantages to companies looking to invest in the unmanned aerial vehicles industry here:

1. The ASTREA programme helps companies develop expertise in the civil certification of UAVs to allow operations in controlled airspace.

2. Scotland is a world leader in sensor technology, with significant expertise in the military aviation sector.

3. Technologies and skills developed in the Scottish energy industry can be applied to unmanned aerial vehicles.

The strong skills base and expertise in civil aircraft design and manufacture can be applied to UAVs.

Unmanned aerial vehicles in Scotland – opportunities

Scottish companies and research institutes have a number of opportunities available to them in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles.

1. A significant pot of money is available for Scottish companies and universities to develop expertise in the civil certification of UAVs.

2. Increasing investment in UAV technology around the world means that opportunities will exist for the foreseeable future.

3. Due to past involvement in civil aircraft manufacturing, the expertise to design and build unmanned aerial vehicles exists in Scotland.

4. UAVs could potentially survey energy industry pipelines and power lines in place of helicopters, helping to reduce any environmental impact.

Scotland’s world-leading sensor technology, currently used in the military sector, could be developed for use with UAVs in the civil aerospace industry.

Aerospace composites in Scotland

A number of significant global factors are driving the development of novel, advanced composite materials for aerospace and other industries. Almost 50 companies in Scotland are presently active in the composite materials supply chain across the energy, aerospace, marine, automotive and construction sectors.

The worldwide market for aerospace composites

Key factors influencing the growth of the composite materials market include energy efficiency, pressure on natural resources and environmental impact. To enable cost-effective adoption of composites in aerospace, emerging technologies focus on a number of areas, such as: advanced composites using new high-performance materials, new design methods, new manufacturing methods.

The main composite application processes used in aerospace are: resin transfer moulding, autoclave,

pultrusion and filament winding.