Teledyne, German firm join to design drone fleet

Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. signed an agreement Monday with German defense company Rheinmetall Defence Electronics GmbH to design and market a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The two companies will adapt and improve several of Rheinmetall's existing UAV systems to provide the United States with a flexible unmanned aerial system "designed for real-time reconnaissance and surveillance as well as armed reconnaissance," according to a Teledyne Brown release.

"This alliance positions Teledyne Brown as an available domestic manufacturing source for the U.S. government," said retired Army Lt. Gen. Jim Link, president of Teledyne Brown Engineering. "We are taking an established UAV product line by Rheinmetall and adapting it to deliver UAVs that our government can use now in current engagements and in the future to protect our soldiers and defend our land. We see our participation in the American UAV market as a continuation of the long Teledyne heritage in UAV systems."

No job or economic impact figures were released, but the agreement puts Teledyne Brown in a position to develop a new market.

The UAVs will be produced at Teledyne Brown manufacturing facilities in Huntsville. The first U.S.-made system is anticipated for a 2005 delivery.

Prospector, the system being developed under the lead of Teledyne Brown, is a multipurpose reconnaissance system that requires no runway for launch, allows for changeable payloads in the field and provides high precision navigation and targeting. A second system, Thunder, provides the ability to oversee the battlefield, identify targets and engage targets with weapons on board. Both UAVs are based on the same operating system.