Hoping to capitalize on potential demand from their non-military customers for certain mission needs amid an austere budget environment, Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and ITT Exelis [XLS] recently said they are building a manned aircraft-based wide area persistent surveillance capability that they plan to offer on a fee-for-service basis both domestically and internationally for homeland security-type missions.
For Vigilant Stare, SNC is currently integrating an Exelis electro-optic and infrared camera on a De Haviland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop plane with the goal to have the aircraft ready for fully integrated flight demonstrations in early September, officials from both companies said.
The two companies have already begun discussions and limited demonstrations with various government agencies and expect to also be ready to offer a range of fee-for-services beginning this fall.
The four target mission areas that the partnership is pursuing are border security, large event security, such as political conventions and major sporting events, maritime security, including port security and hunting drug running boats and semi-submersibles, and emergency management, which essentially revolves around disaster preparedness and response, Danny Rajan, director of Emerging and Airborne Offerings at ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems, said recently.
The goal is to provide a range of services and business models that are affordable and economical to customers facing tough budgets, Rick Osmun, director of Business Development at SNC, said.
Both officials are attending the Farnborough Air Show in Britain this week for their respective companies where marketing of Vigilant Stare is on the agenda.
While the initial offering and demonstrations will be based on the Twin Otter aircraft, which has a relatively limited time on station—about four to six hours—the companies eventually hope to expand the aircraft types that could be used for the service so that customers have more options and access to more capability, the industry officials said.
Aircraft such as the Hawker Beechcraft King Air, Pilatus PC-12, and Bombardier Dash 8 are among the types of aircraft that SNC could missionize for various roles, Osmun said. Rajan said that responsiveness will be critical with a goal of being able to turn around a customer request within eight to 10 hours.
SNC and Exelis are leaving open a range of potential business arrangements to generate business. These arrangements could include contractor-owned and contractor operated manned surveillance assets and even government-owned and operated aircraft where the sensor package is owned by industry, Rajan said.
So where the contractors’ “role stops and the government’s begins is flexible,” Rajan said. He also said that the team plans to offer different sensor packages based on the needs of different customers so that technological flexibility is part of the business model.
Under the partnership, SNC is the prime contractor although that could change depending on the customer. SNC will perform the sensor, communications and other integration while Exelis will supply the sensor packages.
How sensor information is delivered to customers and how it is packaged will also be up to customers, the officials said.