Aug 7 2010
Departments of Defense (DoDs) of different European nations after observing the progress of U.S. in terms of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) have been motivated to zero in on unmanned network centric products. The current goal of many European nations is modernizing the combatant force to maintain their edge in technological matters with reference to developing nations and also close the gap between European and US Technology through usage of UGVs.
Frost and Sullivan’s new report on UGV market assessment in Europe reveals that the market value was $302.5m in 2009, and also predicts an increase up to $311.2m by the year 2016.
According to Shyam Srinivasan, Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan, unmanned network centric solutions are steadily gaining ground inside the Ministries of Defense (MODs), as they have the capacity to monitor a batch of vehicles and concurrently help in evolving combat zone configurations.
So far the European UGV market has continued to be confined to a slot. Creating opportunities for stakeholders with lesser shares in the market and also providing assistance in maintaining such singular and notable machinery till 2016 remains to be a part of the future endeavors.
The major constraints in the growth of the UGV market is the cut in the budget for defense as emphasis is more on the conventional weaponry needed to deal with the conflict against Afghanistan.
Srinivasan also says that volume procurement was also not very feasible, as the unit cost of equipments such as SUGV (a small unmanned ground vehicle) with Electro optics and Infrared sensors would be $20,000 and that of Explosive Ordinance Disposal machinery (EOD) could reach up to $300,000. Revenue inflow can be boosted up by concentrating on civil and commercial sectors, paying special attention to Border Patrol and Civil Security, where it becomes imperative to handle threats from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Also by using cheaper materials and other technologies, the unit cost of these equipments can be brought down, resulting in the production of reasonably priced machinery.
Source: http://www.frost.com/