UK in lead on Autonomous Systems

A senior UK Government Defence Minister has hailed the BAE Systems Mantis Unmanned Air System as "an astonishing example of advanced UK engineering and science in practice."

In a keynote address in advance of an impending Strategic Defence Review, the Rt Hon Lord Drayson, the Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform said: "Mantis is the world's largest twin-engined UAV that has flown to date. It can work out where it is, not by flying point to point, but by using real-time analysis. This capability puts the UK in the lead, globally on autonomous systems. It is a lead which we must fully exploit."

Speaking at an event organised by the Aerospace Defence and Security trade organisation hosted by BAE Systems at Warton in the UK, Lord Drayson said: "UAV technology is an area of technology which has the potential to create many new jobs in UK aerospace."

Paying tribute to those who have worked on Mantis, he said: "What really struck me is that the teams that have worked on this have taken it from concept to first flight in 19 months. It is exactly what the Ministry of Defence needs and I want to congratulate everyone involved. This is really powerful technology."

Lord Drayson said: "It is the first aircraft with full UK sovereign control in 40 years. No-one else is able to deliver Mantis-like capability at the moment. I want British people to know what our scientists and engineers are capable of."

While the Minister said it was watching a Harrier jump-jet perform at a Formula One race that inspired him in his youth, he said that it will be UAVs that will inspire young people today.

He said: "UAVs are testament to our expertise in science and engineering which to my mind, represents this country's key competitive advantage. Science and engineering are the keys to this country's future. It's the R&D capabilities that they deliver which not only ensures that our armed forces have the best quality equipment at their disposal, but which drives demand for UK manufacturing, defence exports included."

He told delegates that the defence and security industries are "an area of vital economic importance as we rebalance the economy in the aftermath of the global recession."

Turning to the Defence Industrial Strategy 2 (DIS2), he said: "The UK defence industry produces exports worth £5bn per year, it provides around 300,000 UK jobs. The growth opportunities are significant. If we take aerospace, our current estimate is that 70 per cent of our UK defence exports will come from this sector. I have looked at estimates for the global UAV market growing from around $5bn annually to over $40bn ten years from now."

He said, while UAVs were 'up for discussion' as part of the DIS2, he believed that "they stand for the potential of the UK defence and security industry" and "epitomised the move towards the most advanced technology and equipment using the most advanced science and engineering to keep us safe and to support our troops.

"The MoD spends about £16 billion a year with UK companies. All of its key suppliers are global businesses. They need to know where we're heading – and be convinced to continue to invest in the UK."

Lord Drayson added: "Like last time, we will identify future needs, determine which sub-sectors are self-sustaining, and decide where we can purchase off-the-shelf products. We will take a sector-by sector-approach: encouraging competition where the market is robust, intervening where the market is weak.

"In Defence Industrial Strategy 1 (DIS1), for instance, you will recall that we concluded there was no sovereign requirement to construct all warship hulls onshore – that there was then no need to design and build fast jets post Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter. We did, however, make it clear that it was necessary to retain capability for development and manufacture of UAVs. That's why I'm delighted to see the fruits of that decision here today.

"When it comes to DIS2, we will examine new areas of growing importance to defence and security. Like cyber. Like space, where our civil industry is quite outstanding, and has proved entirely recession-proof."