Unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as UAVs or drones, have been flying surveillance missions for French armed forces for several years now. Sagem Défense Sécurité recently teamed up with French aerospace research agency ONERA to develop the Busard UAV demonstrator, paving the way for new civil and government applications.

The advantages offered by UAVs are well known, including endurance, economical operation, total safety and more. With the Busard, developed jointly by Sagem Défense Sécurité and ONERA, along with German aircraft-maker Stemme, these advantages are now being extended to the civilian sector, including missions for government agencies.

“The Busard will eventually be a patrol drone,” explains Jean-Paul Cabot, head of the Drones department at Sagem Défense Sécurité. “Fitted with an optronics detection pod, it will be able to fly 20 hours non-stop, allowing it to survey vast areas. The “pilot” will be safety and comfortably on the ground, of course…” But for now the Busard will have a pilot onboard, because of the restrictions inherent in sharing airspace with conventional planes. “Opening the airspace to UAVs will take some time,” admits Cabot, “but in the end we can leave the pilot on the ground!”

Steps to a drone

Management of the payload and real-time image transmission on the Busard is already being handled by a ground operator. During the second development stage there will be dual controls: the pilot will remain on the aircraft, but it will also be possible to control it from the ground. In this case, Sagem Défense Sécurité will use the flight controls already in operation on its Sperwer tactical UAV. The transition to full UAV configuration will come within two years, so that the aircraft will be ready when aviation regulations allow it to fly in normal airspace without a pilot.

Demos for the Paris Air Show

In the meantime, the Busard is flying every day over Le Bourget to demonstrate its surveillance capabilities. Scheduled outside the normal demonstration flight program, the Busard is filming the air show and sending the images “live” to a screen at the Sagem Défense Sécurité stand (E5, island C).