British Defense Secretary John Reid has given the green light to the Watchkeeper UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) program, which the United Kingdom armed forces views as its new 'spy in the sky' capability.

"Watchkeeper is the key to battlefield surveillance of the future. The new UAVs will be able to stay in the air for much longer than conventional aircraft, and will provide all-weather coverage by day and by night," said Reid. UAVs allow high-quality imagery of the battlefield to be passed to commanders quickly, enabling them to deliver more precise and decisive effect with greater accuracy. The aim is to bring Watchkeeper into service in 2010.

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Fitzgerald, the commanding officer of the 32 Regiment said, "Watchkeeper will be a remarkable system and an exciting prospect for 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, the Army's UAV regiment. The system dramatically increases the utility of UAVs for intelligence gathering and targeting, allowing us to operate longer, and at greater distances. The synergy of this system together with the regiment's operational experience over the last seven years will bring a step change in our contribution to defense capability."

Four companies (Thales UK, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin) were invited to undertake the first stage of the assessment phase. Northrop Grumman ISS International and Thales UK were selected in February 2003 to continue through to the second stage and to make bids for the demonstration and manufacturing phase. Thales UK was selected in July 2004 as the preferred bidder for this final phase.

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