SMi Group released new interview with Head ISR & UAS Division, German Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Roland Runge ahead of his talk at the 2nd UAV Technology Central & Eastern Europe conference this September.

At the conference, Lieutenant Colonel Roland will discuss the advancement of UAV Technology within the German Armed Forces. He will provide information on the role of Germany in the development of the Heron TP and discuss the importance of achieving a highly developed European UAV system.

In the run up to the conference, SMi spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Roland about his work and developments in the UAV market.

Q. What are the major trends and developments in the UAV market and how has this impacted your programme and project?
Military programs rarely follow the latest trends since we have to work with long lead in times in our procurement system. The German Air Force is still looking forward to making the next step, by starting to introduce the successor system to HERON 1, but unfortunately, we are currently facing a delay.

Q. What are the current needs and challenges facing the CEE region and how advanced UAVS help to solve them?
I believe the current needs and challenges in the CEE region are quite individual and differ considerably from country to country. A common theme should be budgetary constraints and the resulting financial limits for the military to procure high end UAS. On the other hand, compared to a modern fighter aircraft, in the UAS world there are many options to buy a more affordable tactical UAS and still fulfil a high percentage of your operational requirements as long as you are not striving for something like full airspace integration.

Q. Can the boundaries between military and civil UAV be sustained?
Weapon employment will remain a dedicated task for the military, but any UAS class can be used by civil or military organizations. Border control, pipeline or power grid inspections or even recreational photography using small drones can be done by systems used for military reconnaissance roles or vice versa.

Q. What are the key areas that should be prioritised for UAV capability development?
For the MALE and HALE class RPAs the availability of proven and usable sense and avoid technology which is acceptable to aviation authorities would be a priority. The main trend will remain that sensors will be more capable but smaller in size, the analysis software for the products of the different sensor will have to be user friendly and highly automated and finally, data rates, data transmission and data compression methods will have to cope with higher volumes of data coming from these sensors.

Q. What can we learn from the commercial UAVs?
It will be interesting to see if commercial UAVs will revolutionize the urban logistic market. When these systems start to operate in large numbers from different companies they will create challenges in many areas that could be useful to military operators as well. Overall the innovative and financial power of the commercial market might lead to solutions not yet considered by the military.

The full interview is available to read in the event DOWNLOAD CENTRE http://www.uav-technology.org/roboticstomorrow

Other notable presenters include: Bundeswehr, Canadian Army, Croatian Ministry of Defence, Czech Armed Forces, Czech University of Defence, Estonian MoD, Formion SA, Hellenic Army General Staff, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Latvian MoD, Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems, Macedonian Army, Ministry of Transport Czech Republic, NSPA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PA Consulting, Slovenian MoD, Swedish Defence University, US Army Europe and much more...

The 2-day conference will provide progress updates on procurement and development of UAV capability in Central and Eastern Europe as well as enable attendees to explore the current needs and challenges facing the region and gain an understanding of UAVs role in optimising command and control. Meet senior representatives from leading CEE nations that are actively acquiring and upgrading their UAV capability and hear the very latest technological developments from research and industry that are enhancing operational deployment of UAV.

Further information is available at online at: http://www.uav-technology.org/roboticstomorrow

UAV Technology Central and Eastern Europe
27th-28th September 2017
Hotel International, Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.uav-technology.org/roboticstomorrow
Media: contact Theresa Chung on tchung@smi-online.co.uk
Booking: Contact Andrew Gibbons on agibbons@smi-online.co.uk

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About SMi Group:

Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the worlds most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk