Tucson: New of the UAV Sector

REGION REPRESENTED AT CONFERENCE IN D.C.

S. Ariz. job growth seen in unmanned aircraft

By Enric Volante

ARIZONA DAILY STAR August 18, 2009

Unmanned aircraft probably have dropped a few thousand jobs into South­ern Arizona as the technology takes off.

Here’s one sign: When the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems Interna­tional held its annual conference in Wash­­ington, D.C., last week, numerous eco­nomic- development experts and un­manned aerial vehicle manufacturers from Arizona attended.

Here’s another sign: Three of four pri­mary sponsors of the conference were companies with UAV businesses in Arizona — BAE Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Honeywell Aerospace.

And Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, which is developing its “Killer­Bee” UAV for the U.S. military’s Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems pro­gram, was a major exhibitor at the confer­ence.

UAVs have been the state’s “silently emerging market” within the aerospace and defense industry for 15 years, said Bar­ry Albrecht, CEO of the Casa Grande­based Central Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation.

“Between Yuma, Tucson and Sierra Vista, I suspect it’s three or four thousand jobs,” Albrecht said.

The University of Arizona, the Greater Phoenix Economic Development Council and Arizona State University also sent representatives to the UAV conference.

In Washington, Arizonans talked to companies that build UAVs ranging from small, hand-held units to one that was more than 400 yards long. The latter is a platform designed to go up and stay in one place for months at a time, gathering sig­nal or image intelligence.

The technology is starting to shift from the military market to commercial use in such areas as land surveying and aerial photography.

In Vail, former employees of Raytheon Missile Systems and of Advanced Ceram­ics Research Inc. last year started Brock Technologies Inc., said Jessica M. Brock, an own­er. Brock specializes in rapid development of sys­tems for unmanned vehicles in the air or on the ground.

Besides UAVs, Brock provides inexpensive ro­botic kits to drive junk vehicles so the military can practice blowing up moving targets. The compa­ny recently adapted that electronics kit to help a disabled man drive his off-road vehicle, opening another potential market, Brock said.

Despite Arizona’s clear weather and wide­open spaces, the commercial market won’t take off fully until the industry and the Federal Avia­tion Administration figure out the technical and regulatory issues to make the skies safe for a mix of aircraft with and without pilots, said Matthew Pobloske, director of BAE Systems Unmanned Vehicle Programs, formerly Advanced Ceramics Research.

“We view that as probably the long-term growth area,” he said.

Contact reporter Enric Volante at 573-4129 or evolante@azstarnet.com.