Boeing and Danish company Sky-Watch have signed an agreement that will enable Boeing to explore assisting the company in its development of a new type of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) under a project supported by the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation.
Boeing and Sky-Watch signed the agreement at an event at UAS Denmark, the unmanned aerial systems industry group based at the Hans Christian Andersen Airport in Odense. Boeing joined the group in 2013 and learned about fellow member Sky-Watch through UAS Denmark. Founded in 2009 and located in Støvring in northern Denmark, Sky-Watch develops, produces and sells advanced UAV systems with state-of-the-art control technology. The company also provides contract-based research and development for the global defense and aerospace industry.
The company’s rugged and highly autonomous UAVs are designed to be used in places that are too inaccessible, widespread or dangerous for human access. Because of its UAV experience and HUGINN X1 quad-rotor vehicle, Sky-Watch received a grant from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation in December of 2013 to pursue the Smart UAV project with the Technical University of Denmark. Such aircraft could be used for a wide range of missions, including environmental monitoring and geo-data research, in addition to maritime surveillance in Arctic regions. Boeing and Insitu have significant experience in both manned and unmanned maritime surveillance platforms to contribute to the project.
