New committee to strengthen Brazilian unmanned systems industry

Brazil has developed several domestic USV models, including the Suppressor X from EMGEPRON and TideWise (front) and the VSNT-CMM from DGS Boats and the Brazilian Navy (back). (Victor Barreira)

The Brazilian Association of Defense and Security Materials Industries (ABIMDE) is establishing an in-house entity to bring together local companies involved in the development and production of unmanned systems, including platforms, embedded systems, communications, integration, as well as testing and evaluation.

The Committee of Unmanned Vehicles (Comitê de Veículos Não Tripulados) is intended to co-ordinate the activities of Brazilian firms involved in the development, production, and application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and their associated technologies and services.

The goal is to bring together companies, users, and ABIMDE around a common agenda to identify and advance solutions that meet Brazil's operational, industrial, and institutional needs, according to Caique Garbin, the co-ordinator of the Committee of Unmanned Vehicles.

The committee will initially perform a detailed mapping of the unmanned systems' production base, technical contributions to regulatory processes, requirements of purchasing bodies, marketing actions, and access to funding instruments for research and development.

The committee is formed by Advanced Technologies Security & Defense (ADTECH), AERO.ID, AEL Sistemas, Akaer Engenharia, Avionics Services, Baiuca Sport, BRVANT Soluções Tecnológicas, Fundação CERTI, Condor Tecnologias Não Letais, CSD (Componentes e Sistemas de Defesa), DGS Boats, EMGEPRON (Empresa Gerencial de Projetos Navais), IDV (Iveco Defence Vehicles), Mac Jee Defesa, Modirum Gespi, NEGER Tecnologia e Sistemas, Performa Defesa, the Bahia state military police, Redtech Soluções, Stella Tecnologia, Taurus Armas, and Xmobots.