MD Paul Blake today performed the ribbon cutting of the new annex to the UTSL facility in Challock in Kent.  Due to continuous growth, the previous UTSL facilities; recently upgraded in 2010, were insufficient to cope with the new and increased volumes of business.

In a speech explaining why UTSL decided to expand at current Kent location MD Paul Blake stated – “We decided to stay locally in 2010 and now we have followed up on that commitment by expanding locally.  At UTSL our values are in keeping traditional communities alive and vibrant, and we believe in keeping British Jobs for British people”.

“With the latest variants of the MSAT-500 NG and GSAT-200 NG gunnery and missile target systems in production for several contracts worldwide; and with the VIGILANT® UAS, one of the world’s foremost unmanned systems we required the extra space for the increased production.  We are also deeply committed to continuous product development all of which will be carried out here at our enlarged Kent premises” explained Michael B McNulty, Director of Sales and Marketing.

The new Annex “The North Wing” comprises of 5,000 sq ft of production space, 1,200 sq ft of storage and 1,500 sq ft of office space.

For further information on UTSL, their subsidiary UAVSI, UTSL products including Vigilant®, MSAT-500 NG, GSAT-200 NG and recent news, visit our website

UTSL and sister company UAVSI had the pleasure of attending the UKTI DSO capability day at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

The capability day was organised by the offices of DSO EST and the day proved a very fruitful one, which allowed UTSL/UAVSI to show wares and brief DSO, MOD, UK Military and industry on its capabilities and equipment in field conditions.

UTSL/UAVSI equipment on display included the Vigilant®, MSAT-500 NG and GSAT-200 NG..

UTSL completed a spectacular week at DSEI, where the MSAT-500 NG, recent winner of an Asian tender, the Vigilant® UAS and the Commando UAS were centre of attention.  Located in the central North Hall, the UTSL stand was the focus of attention for many of the International delegations.  Over two hundred individuals were logged visiting the UTSL stand during DSEI including current customers, UTSL/UAVSI international representatives and partners of distributed and co-produced products.  Either side of the exhibition factory visits were conducted by potential clients and prospective partners.

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Counter Terror Expo, held at London’s Olympia proved UAVSI’s busiest event to date of 2011 with the heady mix of foreign and national delegations, and a steady amount of ad-hoc enquiries. The Vigilant® was the sole FW mini-UAS on display and certainly re-kindled the imagination of those in the homeland security industry already familiar with its third generation technology. UAVSI were also in the position to confirm publically the design upgrades underway. UAVSI also exhibited the Commando rotary UAS which recently featured so prominently at IDEX.

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LAAD foi uma experiência  extremamente positiva para a UTSL,  com o fabricante Britânico de alvos aéreos e  sistemas aéreos não tripulados anunciando uma parceira com a empresa Brasileira  Optovac,  já estabelecida há bastante tempo em Osasco-SP.  “Nós  estamos extremamente satisfeitos em  trabalhar com uma companhia que possui elevada reputação, compententes físicos e estrutura de fabricação” afirmou Michael McNulty da UTSL.  Como conseqüência da parceria UTSL/Optovac,  todos produtos UTSL para contratos brasileiros serão fabricados no Brasil. “Nós estamos felizes com a parceria com a UTSL, este relacionamento será benéfico não apenas para a Optovac e a UTSL, mas também para o Brasil e o Reino Unido” afirmou o Sr. Sérgio Nobre.

The Vigilant® participated for the first time at IDEX, at the new and larger show, in conjunction with UKTI DSO Feb 2011

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Over 16 delegations from various regional agencies and forces, invited by the UKTI/DSO and UAVSI visited the UK pavilion for first hand briefings on the operational capabilities and technical aspects of the Vigilant®

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The UAVSI partners pavilion HYDRA, proved to be one of the busiest at the show and was fundamental in ensuring that the MSAT-500 NG was high profile throughout.

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The Vigilant® and MSAT-500 NG again attracted much media attention with the Vigilant featuring prominently on several national TV channels.

UTSL conducted a market research mission led by Director Marketing and Sales Michael McNulty. Meetings were held with several leading Brazilian aerospace manufacturing entities and visits paid to end users of Aerial Targets and Unmanned Aerial Systems. UTSL would like to thank the Foreign and Commonwealth office and the Brazil desk of UKTI for the assistance given on this very informative mission.

UAVSI completed a spectacular week at FIAS, where the MSAT-500 NG, recent winner of an Asian tender, the Vigilant® UAS and the MicroB (joint venture with Bluebird Aero) were centre of attention. Located on the front-line static display, the UAVSI marquee was the focus of attention for many of the International delegations as well as the aerospace/defence and security trade plus the wider public. Over two thousand individuals were logged visiting the UAVSI stand during FIAS including UAVSI/UTSL international representatives and partners of distributed and co-produced products. Challock factory visits were conducted by potential clients and prospective partners either side of FIAS.

UAVSI, the surveillance arm of UTSL has joined the emergency response group INFREG. INFREG is the UKs premier collection of manufacturers whose products cover the full spectrum of emergency and disaster relief and security requirements.

 “We are delighted to have UAVSI at the core of INFREG” stated INFREG Chairman David Claxton at July’s group meeting, held close to the Houses of Parliament. “We see the Vigilant® Unmanned Air System, providing a very good tool for large camp perimeter security, supply route security and search and rescue in disaster, emergency and catastrophic infrastructure breakdown scenarios” according to UAVSI Director of Sales Mike McNulty.

INFREG recently exhibited at DVD Millbrook, with twelve companies featuring on the themed stand. “DVD was an outstanding success for the group and the international enquiry levels very high” stated Andy Buxton of Sleepbreeze, one of INFREGs founding members.

INFREG will display next at the Emergency services Show at Stoneleigh (24-25 Nov) with UAVSI unmanned systems featuring prominently.

For further information on INFREG its membership, competencies and mission statement see: www.infreg.co.uk

For a personal briefing on how the Vigilant® UAS can assist with disaster relief call UAVSI sales team at the numbers on this site.

Warm weather and blue skies blessed what has come to be called by the UK military fraternity as ‘the event’. DVD proved to be bigger and better, as anticipated, and UAVSI caused quite a stir with the spectrum of UAS on display. This was UAVSIs maiden participation at DVD, primarily due to the recent market launch of the Vigilant® multi-purpose lightweight unmanned system. In addition the Alpha ‘Commando’ and Bluebird ‘Micro B’, both distributed systems – the latter being Co-UK produced and a selected contender for the UK MOD URBEX 2010 competition; proved to be among the events most popular exhibits.The latest variant of the MSAT-500 NG target system, also on display,  has recently won the technical and commercial tender for a major Asian nation, with deliveries due to commence in Q1 2011.

UAVSI who are also members of the critical infrastructure and emergency provision group INFREG also had a further “emergency services” variant of the Vigilant on the INFREG stand.

UAVSI and the Vigilant® featured at the inaugural National Resilience Expo (CNi), held at London’s EXCEL. UAVSI also had a full range of information on our distributed range of Unmanned Systems at the prestigious event; which featured keynote speakers Dara O’Toole Undersecretary of State and Michael J Rutter, Director of the Department of Energy and Climate change.

While interest was very high in the ‘state of the art’ British designed and manufactured Vigilant®, there was also considerable interest in the UAVSI range including the rotary Commando and Sniper.

The quick release Pod (QRP) – a feature of the Vigilant® and part of the ‘spiral architecture’ design philosophy; is of particular interest to those with national resilience responsibility, – giving agencies the ability of “plug and play” for airborne chemical, biological and radiological detection. The QRP can accommodate payloads of up to 8kg, and UAVSI can rapidly design and manufacture bespoke QRP to accommodate customer specified sensors.

The Vigilant® brushless electric motor is designed for covert and near silent operation in both urban, suburban and rural environments and with its low cost and low carbon footprint in operation, the Vigilant® is the environmentally friendly choice for aerial surveillance and CNi protection.

The Vigilant carried out its UK Military familiarisation with the Royal Artillery on the Salisbury Plain ranges in May.

Conditions through the week proved excellent for the trials with a classical mixture of inclement British weather conditions; wind, rain, poor visibility and low cloud… all which helped the Vigilant to prove itself to the RA in typical operating conditions.

Counter terror expo, held at London’s Olympia proved UAVSI’s busiest event to date with an eclectic mix of pre-arranged foreign and national delegations, and an unsurpassed amount of ad-hoc enquiries. The Vigilant® was the sole FW UAS on display and certainly caught the imagination of those in the homeland security industry not yet familiar with its third generation technology. The Vigilant will be carrying out a number of UK homeland security demonstrations over the course of the spring and summer for various agencies.

Local MP The Right Honourable Damian Green, performed the ‘cutting of the ribbon ceremony’ at the recent opening of the new UTSL research and development and headquarters premises. A large gathering over one hundred invited guests from Industry attended the ceremony

March saw a continuing busy month for UTSL with the Vigilant® and MSAT-500NG on display at the prestigious FIDAE defence show in Santiago Chile. The UTSL/UKTI pavilion proved to be a very busy location during the show, with international delegations and the media seeking briefings on the Vigilant® and MSAT-500 NG

UTSL in conjunction with Indian Partners ‘Kadet defence Systems’ completed their most rewarding Indian show to date with interest levels for both MSAT-500 NG and Vigilant.

UTSL/UAVSI completed their first ever Home Office Scientific Development Branch event in March. The invite only event, saw a big commitment from UTSL division UAVSI, with both indoor booth and outdoor static display. UAVSI, and the Vigilant in particular,  proved to be a very popular visiting site for the International Delegations. The Vigilant also featured in a number of articles by the national broadsheets, following to intense media interest at the show

The recent bout of severe weather in Europe allowed UAVSI to conduct additional cold weather operations on the Vigilant®.

Vigilant cold weather operations trials were completed in 2008/9 but the recent bout of inclement weather allowed further proving of the system with extended cold weather performance field checks.

“Our ambition was to combine the extended performance checks with a customer demonstration. The weather at the chosen site was perfect for the trials with day temperatures averaging at -5C and night temperatures dropping to -10C. A Vigilant system was flown continuously over three days giving 24 hour coverage of a live target”.- stated MD Paul K Blake.

“From our trials at -30C last year we knew the system met all performance requirements, but it was comforting and proof our design concepts and chosen sub-systems to see the Vigilant in flawless operation, in sub-zero conditions for such an extended time” – according to Chief Design Engineer Brian Tutty.

The Vigilant® participated in the inaugural Bahrain International Air Show at the new BAF air base, in conjunction with UKTI DSO 21-23 Jan 2010

Over 32 delegations from various regional agencies and forces, invited by the UKTI/DSO and UAVSI visited the UK pavilion for first hand briefings on the operational capabilities and technical aspects of the Vigilant®

The UK partnership pavilion proved to be unique in terms of concept and location, thus one of the highlights of the show and was fundamental in ensuring that the UK UAS industry was prominent at the show.

The Vigilant® attracted much media attention with the Vigilant featuring prominently on Bahrain national news channel 55, Al-Jazeera, and will also feature in the forthcoming show documentary produced by Saudi National TV.