They started out as drones, reconnoitering the battlefield. Now they not only deliver actionable intelligence, they deliver lethality directly to the enemy. They cover land, air, and sea in form of a large aircraft down to man-portable systems, which soldiers can carry on their back.
Despite a lowing economy, the market for unmanned systems is expect grow significantly over the next five years with various market studies seeing a double-digit billion dollar market. For more on this see the article on the market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) later on in this supplement.
The need for accurate intelligence in real time is driving the market and is also expanding the use of UAVs in law enforcement and homeland security applications. Soldiers love unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for their use in detecting bombs and reconnaissance capabilities in urban combat.
Unmanned technology is one of the hottest subjects in the defense technology arena. It is also one of the top five requested topics in the archives on our Web site, www.milaero.com.
We have also seen a lot of buzz about military research projects focused on creating miniature unmanned systems as small as flying insects. It’s only a matter of time before these tiny UAVs become part of the U.S. arsenal.
Inside senior editor Courtney Howard provides a detailed look at the Crusher unmanned ground vehicle and the capabilities it will bring to the U.S. military.
Be sure to check out our exhaustive Unmanned Vehicle Product section, where the latest electronic products for unmanned vehicles from top vendors are showcased.
This supplement, Unmanned and Everywhere: Exploring Autonomous Systems, from PennWell, publishers of Military & Aerospace Electronics, is a guideline to important unmanned systems that are helping today’s and tomorrow’s military.
John McHale
Executive Editor
