Two Textron Systems experts served as panelists at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems North America 2011 event.

AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Senior Vice President & General Manager Steven Reid and Textron Defense Systems Business Development Director, Advanced Programs Dr. Jeffrey Cerny discusseed their participation.

Q: Describe the AUVSI panel discussion in which you took part.

A: REID: My panel discussed the challenges surrounding the sustainment of unmanned systems. The discussion attempted to answer such questions as "Can military and civilian industry reinvent maintenance and logistics to be automatic, accurate and timely in order to reduce cost per flight hour? Can unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) be made to stay aloft for longer periods of time in order to further reduce cost? Can a common architecture be implemented across numerous platforms and different agencies at a reasonable cost?" Both military and industry officials commented as a part of the panel discussion.

CERNY: I took part in a discussion about armaments for unmanned systems. It kicked off with a government representative, who discussed operational concepts and requirements. The industry panel of which I was a part looked at available technologies and solutions to answer those emerging needs.

Q: In what ways is it valuable to have so many experts from industry and the customer community together in one place?

A: REID: AUVSI provides a unique opportunity to gather experts from various technology domains, as well as various military and contractor communities to discuss common challenges. The collective wisdom of these communities propels our industry forward - which is just the type of action that AUVSI was formed to champion.

CERNY: Our customers push the industry for innovation. When government and industry come together through venues like AUVSI, there is productive information exchange and presentation of diverse concepts, ideas and processes. It helps us align even more with our customers' needs and meet national security requirements now and in the future.

Q: AUVSI brings together experts from every area of the unmanned systems industry. What do you see as some of the important trends in the industry moving forward?

A: REID: Many of us in the airborne portion of unmanned systems are eagerly anticipating the opening of the national air space (NAS) to UAS. This will occur as a result of the excellent reliability improvement trends within the industry, as well as the trend towards more robust sense and avoid and other technologies that will make the NAS a safer place for all aircraft. UAS system performance also is being enhanced by the trend toward smaller, more powerful payload capabilities. This supports the trend toward smaller, more powerful unmanned aircraft, generally available at lower cost.

CERNY: The evolution of manned and unmanned aviation have been quite similar, but the speed of evolution for UAS has been much faster. We've needed that technology to satisfy immediate warfighter needs, and it has grown and become more sophisticated as the needs changed. Just as weaponization was a key part of manned aviation's maturity process, so it will be for unmanned aviation. Again, I expect to see that cycle happen faster because our customers want to make their operational concepts faster and more efficient.

Q: Ultimately, Textron Systems' customers are our men and women in uniform, many of whom were in attendance at AUVSI. What new capabilities are we working on for them?

A: REID: AAI UAS is working on a number of significant capabilities including multi-payload capability on our aircraft, increased endurance for our missions and increased reliability of our equipment, particularly aircraft propulsion systems. In addition, we are developing innovative new technologies to deliver our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance product to the tactical edge user. We are equipping the dismounted soldier with important information supporting on-the-spot tactical decisions.

CERNY: Textron Defense Systems has been an expert in precision weaponry for decades. UAS weaponization is a new frontier, but one that we've been addressing for several years now through technology development. Our customers want munitions that strike the right balance between an effective target footprint and the needs for precision effects, low collateral damage and flexibility. We've got several technologies to address those requirements.