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Noctua Project  (Leased UAV)  –  Industry News Release  –  Feb/June 2008 Thales UK   —   News Release  —   Watchkeeper  Leased UAVs For Lease?  –   Watchkeeper  Tactical UAV  Program and  DND’s Project Noctua Project Noctua requires leased, contractor-maintained  UAV systems for use by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.  While most makers of  UAVs have been less than thrilled by the terms of this project –  both in its timescale and  its modest budget  – there is one manufacturer with a declared interest in  Project Noctua and experience. Elbit Systems of Israel joined with L-3 Communications MAS Canada  to offer  their services to DND  for JAIC, the Joint Airborne ISR Capability requirement. But Elbit had already partnered with Thales UK to lease Tactical UAVs to  the British Army as the Watchkeeper WK450 (Elbit’s Hermes 450 TUAV) for use in Iraq and Afghani- stan. Their experience with Watchkeeper put Thales UK in a near ideal  position to bid on DND’s Project Noctua. However, at the end of May 2008, Thales UK  pulled out of  “Team Canoctua” – their Canadian partnership with Elbit Systems and L-3 MAS. It remains to be seen how this effects Thales Systems Canada which hoped to benefit both from a relationship with a parent firm and  its own service/support of  Canadian Forces UAV projects experience. So why did Thales UK pull out?  The parent  Thales Group may have decided  that the economic success of  their cooperation with the British Army could not be repeated in dealings with the Canadian Forces. Other potential  bidders have withdrawn from DND projects over unrealistic deadlines or limited budgets.  Still other suppliers complain of shifting requirements and  pre-determined outcomes  to  procurement contests. Thales may fall into the latter category based on its previous experience with  DND UAV bids. For the earlier Joint Airborne ISR Capability requirement, Thales, Elbit, and L-3 offered  the larger Hermes 900 UAV to DND. But JAIC was widely seen as an attempt to single- source  General Atomics’ Predator.  In dropping out of  Project Noctua, Thales Group may just be announcing that it won’t accept scraps from DND’s table. Or is the Thales message more ominous?  Is the Thales Group joining that  growing queue of  potential suppliers who are turning their collective noses up at  DND procurement competitions. Update: in August 2008,  MacDonald Dettwiler and  IAI Malat were announced as the winners of restarted bidding for Project Noctua. Leased  Heron 1s will go to Kandahar. A Thales press release on the UK Watchkeeper program follows.  Note that, here, Thales refers to the Elbit-built air vehicle simply as an “H-450” not as Hermes 450. Thales ISTAR press release Progress on Thales' ISTAR programmes 20 February 2008 Thales highlights the developments made in 2007 on the WATCHKEEPER and other UAV programmes for the UK MoD Thales UK's  Watchkeeper  programme  is on track  and  has  been steadily  moving forward  since June 2007, when the company unveiled  its final configuration follow- ing a Critical Design Review undertaken by the Ministry of  Defence (MoD). The Watchkeeper system, developed with  Elbit Systems,  is  now being produced at UAV  Tactical Systems Ltd  (U-TacS),  the Thales UK / Elbit  Systems joint company site in Leicester. The system will include the following features:   •  Dual-payload configuration of advanced SAR/GMTI radar and EO/IR/LTD*   •  Ground control stations with advanced imagery exploitation and networked      distribution   •  Flexible, all-weather operation with de-icing capability   •  Improved access to sub-systems for easier maintenance   •  Fully autonomous flight capability, including automatic takeoff and landing Reg Humphryes, the Watchkeeper Programme Director, commenting on the progress to date says: "We have made tremendous progress since the contract was signed in 2005, and  I am  particularly  pleased  that  all  the customer-agreed  programme  mile- stones have  so far  been met on or ahead of  schedule. We have a particularly good working  relationship with  the UK  MoD and  are looking  forward to delivering  this advanced capability to the customer in line with our original commitments." Looking  forward  to the plans for 2008  he adds: "2008  is an important  year  for  the programme as it will see the first of the system level flights including the testing and integration of  the Automatic Take-Off and Landing System,  the I-Master radar  and EO/IR/LTD payloads. The I-Master radar flight trials have been extremely encourag- ing. The SAR imagery seen in the initial trials  is outstanding and  testing  the GMTI functionality has just commenced. The combination of  these sensors operating in a networked manner will certainly provide a transformational step in  ISTAR capability for the UK armed forces." British Army  intelligence, surveillance target acquisition and  reconnaissance capa- bilities in southern  Iraq and  Afghanistan were significantly  boosted  in 2007, when Thales UK's  H-450  programme  began operating  in support of  UK armed  forces. Recognising  Thales UK's  expertise  in the  ISTAR and  UAV domains, the company was awarded  an  Urgent  Operational  Requirement (UOR) contract  by the UK MoD earlier  in  the  year  to supply  UK  forces  on current operations with  Tactical  UAV systems  to provide an  urgently  needed  enhanced  intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and  reconnaissance  (ISTAR)  capability. To reduce time into theatre, Thales UK proposed an innovative  'ISTAR by the hour' service provision such that Thales UK retains ownership of  the equipment, which is operated and  maintained  by  32 Regiment  Royal Artillery. Contractors on deployed operations, supplied  by U-TacS, are providing flight  line service support  in theatre. Drew Carmichael,  special projects manager  in the TUAV IPT,  says: "Delivering this complex capability on  schedule  in just  six months  has  been an exciting  challenge. The  first  in-theatre flight of  H-450 was conducted  on June 14 2007 and  initial oper- ating capability  (IOC)  was declared  three weeks later." The  H-450  is now  regularly  flying  in support  of  operations,  providing  persistent ISTAR coverage, delivering very high quality visual and  IR imagery, day and  night. Additional  Tactical UAV Systems  have now been delivered and  operations in both theatres will  ramp up providing almost continuous ISTAR support  to theatre troops over a large area. Richard Deakin,  Managing  Director,  Thales UK's  aerospace business states:  "The Watchkeeper  Tactical  UAV  System  will  provide  this  capability,  and  more, to the Land   Component   Commander   when  it  enters  service.  As  Prime  Contractor  for Watchkeeper, Thales UK investigated possibilities for short term solutions by using off the shelf Tactical UAV Systems and  having  been awarded  the H-450 contract is now  working  with the MoD  to use the operational experience gained  to reduce risk on  the  Watchkeeper  development   and   to  support  other  Watchkeeper   lines  of development. "Watchkeeper  is  a  unique system  that  will  form  a key  part  of  the UK's  network enabled capability  –  a capable and  reliable UAV carrying highly advanced sensors, linked to a comprehensive network of command, control, exploitation and dissemina- tion elements" adds Deakin, "The system's reliability  is proven and  Thales will now offer a variant  of  the new air vehicle  to customers outside of  the UK  Watchkeeper programme."