Honeywell's UAVs

Honeywell avionics are already on 20 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, and the company is currently bidding on another five programs, Honeywell aerospace electronics president and CEO Dean Flatt told Show News.

"Our navigation and tactical guidance systems lead the way, but the five we're bidding on are for a vehicle management system to really integrate the whole aircraft, flight control and aircraft control systems."

The UAVs will incorporate some of Honeywell's expertise from its Primus Epic open architecture avionics and flight control systems, he said. These could include such functions as utility controls, and centralizing them in one place, he explained. But the redundant systems for man-rated aircraft will probably not be needed.

"We see this as a very logical next step for what we do," Flatt said. "We're strong in precision guidance, we're there for navigation already, and we have the vehicle integration capability."

By John Morris