Military Leaders Convene to Discuss the Future of Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles
The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA)
plans to hold a UAV Summit scheduled for April 11 – 14 in the
Washington DC area. Members from every service, coast guard/border
patrol, and acquisition are expected to convene to discuss and
evaluate the current and future state of UAV technology and
development throughout the US Military.
IDGA’s 7th Annual UAV Summit will deliver a comprehensive
overview of new requirements, emerging policies, latest programs,
and acquisition efforts for the UAV industry. Briefs will focus on
supporting operations in the theater of war, new UAV challenges and
developments being seen in the field, advanced perspective on Small
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs), and optimizing ISR tactics and
technology.
“We are honored to have the top UAV experts from every
service, coast guard, border patrol, and acquisition speak at the
event,” said Program Director Nick Petti. “With recent
developments like an additional $70 billion allocated over the next
5 years and the Air Force discussing moving exclusively to UAVs for
6th Generation Fighters– UAVs are becoming a critical asset
of the entire US Military. We have already received tremendous
response from the community - I believe the caliber of our speaker
roster speaks to that.”
The UAV Summit is comprised of a Pre-Summit workshop day, a
comprehensive two day summit and a Post-Summit workshop day. The
two day UAV Summit will feature topical sessions including UAV
Payloads, UAVs in a homeland environment, and development in Naval
Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) UAS Sense and Avoid (SAA) Development
among others. The Pre-UAV Summit workshop Day on April 11, 2011
will focus on Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The Post-UAV Summit
workshop day on April 14, 2011 will focus on Unmanned Aircraft
Systems in National Airspace.
The UAV Summit speaker roster includes:
- Dyke D. Weatherington, SES, Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Acquisition, Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Colonel James Gear, USAF Director, RPA Task Force
- Colonel Gregory Gonzalez, USA, Program Manager, UAS
- Captain Paul Siegrist, USN, Program Manager, Unmanned Vehicle
Office
- Captain Jim Sommer, USCG, Deputy Director, UAS Joint Program
Office, USCG & CBP
- Colonel Dean Bushey, USAF, Deputy Director, UAS Joint Center of
Excellent, Joint Forces Command
“In addition to an excellent summit, IDGA has really
become a great resource for UAV content,” Petti said.
“Our partners have helped up develop a comprehensive online
UAV Resource Library that includes the latest UAV articles from
around the world, exclusive podcasts and more. In addition,
visitors are encouraged to add their own articles and thoughts to
the UAV Resource Center. It’s created a fantastic UAV
community.”