Army to build special UAV airport

Army unmanned vehicles experts are building a special airport for Grey Eagle and Shadow at the Fort Bliss Army post near El Paso, Texas, to support the Army's 1st Armored Division.

At Fort Bliss the 5,000-feet paved runway is for the Grey Eagle, and the 1,000-foot paved runway is for the Shadow. The air facilities will include a 1,000-foot cleared and graded dirt safety run-out zone at each end of the Grey Eagle airfield.

Construction of the UAV airport at Fort Bliss is part of a larger Army plan begun in 2012 to equip each Army combat division with UAVs. The Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Eustis, Va., is overseeing an Army reorganization to put a Grey Eagle company in every Army division. Grey Eagle is a medium-sized diesel-powered UAV that is 29 feet long with a wingspan of 56.3 feet. It can fly as fast as 170 miles per hour for as long as 36 hours at altitudes to 29,000 feet. The UAV is an upgraded and armed version of the MQ-1 Predator.

The Army's 1st Armored Division headquartered at Fort Bliss, which the new UAV airport will support, operates the M1A2SEP Abrams main battle tank; M2A3 & M3A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles; M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer; M1151 Humvee and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles; Stryker wheeled armored vehicle; the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter; AH-64 Apache attack helicopter; and other pieces of combat equipment. The division consists of two heavy brigade combat teams, infantry brigade combat teams, a Stryker brigade, an artillery brigade, a sustainment brigade, and combat aviation brigade.

Agreement between Aerovironment and Eurocopter

AeroVironment and Eurocopter have agreed to explore business opportunities for their respective products.

The cooperative accord was announced this week at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference and exhibition in Washington and follows urging from industry and government in Europe for the development and manufacture of European Unmanned Aerial Systems.

"AeroVironment's extensive operational UAS experience in delivering to end-users reliable solutions working effectively in harsh operating environments makes us uniquely positioned to understand customers' requirements and to determine future market trends," said Clive Schley, Eurocopter's senior vice president, strategy and company development. "This cooperation will be particularly valuable as Eurocopter defines its unmanned product strategy, building on the success of our first unmanned flights with the EC145 helicopter this year."

"The combination of AeroVironment's market leading unmanned technology and unique knowledge with Eurocopter's world-class helicopter and systems expertise makes a formidable team," said Roy Minson, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment's Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment. "This cooperative agreement creates the opportunity for both companies to explore expanding into new markets and developing new capabilities to meet future customer needs."

The European focus on unmanned aerial systems is primarily in regard to large, medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft such as the Grey Eagle and Predator by U.S. manufacturers. EADS, Eurocopter's parent company, is currently developing the Talon medium-altitude, long-endurance with Turkish Aerospace Industries. Another EADS subsidiary, Cassidian, makes small unmanned aircraft systems.