23 Oct 14. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) successfully completed the maiden flight of its unarmed/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) before members of the media near Mariupol in eastern Ukraine. The roll-out of the UAV operations in eastern Ukraine will continue Friday with, weather permitting, routine operational flights. The UAVs, the Schiebel CAMCOPTER® S-100, are being provided, flown and maintained by an Austrian company Schiebel under contract to the OSCE and operated under the authority and direction of the SMM, with the Mission’s monitors in close attendance. The data collected is the property of the OSCE and for the Organization’s use only. The Mission’s use of its UAVs aims at supporting the fulfilment of its mandate through complementary aerial information-gathering focused on monitoring the general security situation in Ukraine. The UAVs will also be used for other tasks that are in line with the SMM’s mandate; such as monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol of 5 September and the Minsk Memorandum of 19 September 2014. “The UAVs will enhance existing monitoring capabilities in fulfilment of our mandate in Ukraine,” said Chief Monitor Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan. “They will compliment what our monitors observe on the ground, which will still be our primary source of information gathering.” Initially, and until further notice, the SMM’s UAV will operate over the area south of Donetsk down to the Sea of Azov, eastwards as far as the Ukrainian-Russian state border and westwards towards the line of contact. (Source: Open Source Information Report)
20 Oct 14. China to be UAV market leader in 10 years: Russian report. China will become the world’s largest manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles within the next decade, according to a report from Russia’s Military-Industrial Courier. Citing industry analysts, the report also said Chinese arms dealers will account for about half the world’s UAV market by that time as well. China has made major strides in UAV research and development over the last 10 years. While the domestic aviation industry is still imitating western products it has also begun developing it’s own unique drones, the report also said. The China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province has been exhibiting around two dozen new Chinese UAV models annually in recent years, with notable examples being the WZ-200 compact UAV in 2000 and the AN-229A large UAV in 2008. China has already begun exporting drones to foreign countries, with Chinese state media revealing last June that developers have sold domestic UAVs to three unnamed countries and were in negotiations with an additional five countries. There were also numerous reports that Saudi Arabia signed on to buy an unspecified number of Chengdu Pterodactyl I medium-altitude long-endurance UAVs in May this year. The analysts said, however, that few of the UAVs developed by Chinese experts end up being manufactured for real-world use. China’s UAV technology is about 20 years behind its Western counterparts, particularly in the areas of antenna miniaturization technology, video communication systems and data link technology. That said, the future of China’s UAV industry remains open due to the wide potential of applications for drone use. Apart from attacking targets and conducting surveillance, UAVs can also have expansive civilian purposes such as examining disaster zones, environmental protection, and weather or climate research. The report predicted that China will soon begin to aggressively promote its UAVs, which are especially attractive to African and Middle-Eastern countries compared to Western countries due to their relatively low prices and fewer export restrictions. (Source: Open Source Information Report/WantChinaTimes.com)
20 Oct 14. German Luna UAS Cannot fly in Ukraine in Winter. Germany’s Luna UAS cannot fly in Ukraine during the winter period for technical re