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.”

FMI: www.UAVEvent.com, www.idga.org