Arlington, Oregon: A Boeing Co. subsidiary is in talks to sell up to 150 military surveillance drones in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), a company executive said on Thursday.
Boeing subsidiary Insitu is engaged in “12 to 15 active pursuits” with countries in the Mena region, Insitu Business Development Manager Mark Russell told reporters on a media visit to an Insitu drone test site in Oregon.
A “pursuit” is a single unit usually consisting of six Insitu ScanEagle surveillance drones and four Insitu Integrator drones. Russell declined to name the countries Insitu is talking to.
Insitu believes there is substantial interest in the Middle East for its ScaneEagle. Russell confirmed some regional militaries are already flying the drone but decline to say which countries ut Yemen, Iraq and Tunisia are reportedly using it. The unarmed drone can be fitted with different types of cameras and fly surveillance missions undetected as far as 75 kilometres from the control station and as high as 16,000 feet.
Middle East defence budgets are expected to increase in the coming years in response to growing regional threats, including Daesh, who have taken control over large swathes of Syria and Iraq and developed branches in Libya and Egypt.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are both currently involved in wars on two fronts; fighting the Houthis in Yemen and also taking part in US-led air strikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. It is believed the US military is currently using the ScanEagle for surveillance missions in Syria and Iraq as part of the campaign against Daesh.
The ScanEagle first entered into combat 11 years ago with the US army in 2004 in Iraq during the Battle of Fallujah. It has since flown more than 800,000 combat hours, flown in combat in Afghanistan and bought by several militaries. Boeing acquired Insitu in 2008.
Insitu will not be bringing its drones to the Dubai Airshow in November but will meet with regional governments at the show to discuss interest in the ScanEagle, Russell said. The company will exhibit at Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference (UMEX) in Abu Dhabi next March at the invitation of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Russell said.
Insitu is also exploring prospects for commercial ScanEagle sales in the region. The company believes there is an appetite from public and privately owned companies to use the drone to assess oilfields, farms, railroads and ports but not for postal mail delivery, something the Dubai government has been exploring.
There is increasing commercial interest in the Middle East, Russell said.
