FARNBOROUGH, England, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- BAE Systems has won British official approval for its new Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems without weight limits.
The company said in a statement Monday it had received "design approval under the British Design Approved Organization Scheme -- DAOS -- for Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems without a weight limit" from the British Ministry of Defense.
"The certification recognizes BAE Systems capabilities for the design, development, certification and test of Unmanned Air Systems -- UAS -- including systems and sub systems," the company said.
Chris Clarkson, BAE Systems' director for autonomous systems and future capability, said: "It is Ministry of Defense policy that defense contracts shall be placed only with contractors whose management, technical resources and quality assurance arrangements are demonstrably adequate to provide products and services of the required quality, economically and on time. This is a significant step forward for us and a tribute to the work and commitment of the teams behind our UAS programs.
"The standards we have had to meet are stringent and wide-ranging. We are the first (British) company to achieve this approval for UAS without weight limit," Clarkson said.
"Successful trials with UAV platforms such as CORAX, RAVEN and HERTI have all combined to ensure BAE Systems now has the lean manufacturing and rapid prototyping capabilities needed to further develop in this highly competitive market sector," the company said.
BAE Systems said it had also "developed levels of autonomy for its UAV platforms which significantly enhance their operational capabilities and reduce high levels of dependence on ground-crews."
