Saab supplying UAV components

LINKOPING, Sweden, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Swedish defense company Saab has signed an agreement with German company Cassidian to supply safety-critical avionics equipment for a new UAV system.

The order includes design and development of the aircraft vehicle management computer, communications computer and mission and payload management computer for the Talarion, an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The work will be carried out by the Avionics Division of Saab's Electronic Defense Systems business area in Jonkoping and Jarfalla, Sweden.

Deliveries of the first order will take place in 2012-14, the company said.

"The selection of Saab to provide mission- and flight-critical avionics equipment for this new advanced platform verifies our position as a competitive supplier in the avionics market," said Micael Johansson, senior vice president and head of Saab Electronic Defense Systems said.

"It also acknowledges our product strategy of developing common avionics building blocks that could be adapted for many different functions for various customer needs."

Talarion is a European development program to fulfill functional and operational capability for in-theater intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.

The value of the order wasn't disclosed.