Lockheed sees huge potential for military-, commercial-use drones
Friday, February 21, 2014.
By Andrea Shalal HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Reuters) - The Pentagon's No. 1 arms supplier Lockheed Martin Corp sees significant growth potential for its range of unmanned aircraft, given continued military demand for surveillance aircraft and a huge untapped market in the commercial sector. Lockheed, known for its F-16 and F-35 fighter jets and Aegis missile defense system, lacks a drone with a widely recognizable name - like General Atomics's Predator - but its portfolio includes a number of planes designed for everything from reconnaissance to bringing supplies to troops in combat. But it is more open about the prospects of a number of other unmanned aircraft and ground control stations given the Pentagon's continued need for surveillance and intelligence-gathering systems, as well as the expected opening up next year of U.S. airspace for civilian-use drones. "There's still significant growth potential in the UAS (unmanned aerial systems) space," Steve Adlich, business development manager for Lockheed Martin Unmanned Integrated Systems, told Reuters this week in an interview.