Saab coordinates European development project
Saab is appointed coordinator for the MIDCAS consortium who has been awarded a contract by the European Defence Agency to address the sense and avoid issue, relevant for the possibility to let unmanned aircraft systems fly in regular airspace. The value of the contract is approximately € 50 million, of which Saab is awarded approximately MSEK 105.
Before unmanned aircraft systems can be allowed to fly among regular, manned aircraft in so called non-segregated airspace, there is a need for a system that can see and avoid any potential collision threats. The European MIDCAS project aims at contributing to find such a solution. Saab is appointed coordinator for the consortium, consisting of 13 European aerospace industries, and will be responsible for project management, overall coordination, and avoid technology. The overall objectives of MIDCAS are two: - To demonstrate technology for a sense and avoid system for unmanned aircraft systems to be able to fulfill the requirements for traffic separation and mid-air collision avoidance in non segregated airspace. - In close cooperation with European organizations provide the technical background for them to establish a sense and avoid standard. “The project brings together 13 of the leading European aerospace industries who will gather the multiple European initiatives on sense and avoid to achieve a coherent route forward, supported by the European Defence Agency’s route map to unmanned aircraft system traffic insertion,” says Lennart Sindahl, Executive Vice president for Saab and head of the business segment Aeronautics. “Only by close cooperation we can reach a high level of acceptance and a common European agreement on how to resolve the sense and avoid issue. The technology is a key element to start exploring the great potential of using unmanned systems for civil security and military use” The MIDCAS consortium consists of 13 European industries from the five contributing member states; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, appointed as lead nation, with Saab as the coordinating industry. Members of the consortium: Saab (appointed as coordinator) Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Co. KG Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft EADS Deutschland GmbH ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH Galileo Avionica S.p.A INDRA SISTEMAS S.A Italian Aerospace Research Centre CIRA S.c.p.A Sagem (Safran Group) Selex Communications S.p.A SELEX Sistemi Integrati S.p.A THALES Systèmes Aéroportés S.A. Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions ranging from military defence to civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents and constantly develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers’ changing needs. For further information, please contact: Saab Press Centre, +46 (0)734 180 018 www.saabgroup.com The information is that which Saab AB is required to declare by the Securities Business Act and/or the Financial instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication on June 17 at 16.45.