News: Orbital Corporation delivers propulsion system to Boeing

Orbital Corporation (ASX:OEC) has delivered the first purpose-built ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) propulsion system to The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) for in-house testing and development.

This will allow Boeing subsidiary Insitu to begin rigorous bench testing program which will be followed by flight testing.

Successful completion of the program is expected to lead to a low volume production contract to be supplied from Orbital’s facilities in Perth, and may evolve into a higher volume production business from new Orbital production facilities, which would need to be established in the United States.

This has the potential to develop into a $100 million per annum revenue business for Orbital.

The company’s reciprocating internal combustion propulsion system is designed specifically for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) class UAVs and was engineered from the ground up for unmanned aerospace application.

It was designed and manufactured by Orbital and incorporates its new Argon Engine Control Unit and control system.

Argon has advancements not available on other aircraft in this class, including real-time monitoring and diagnostics of all critical systems, sensor and actuator redundancy, and extensive ‘black box’ recording capability.

The system also uses its patented FLEXDI technology, which extends the range for the aircraft in flight.

Insitu and Orbital have also combined technical capabilities to achieve benchmark low vibration and noise suppression

The global SUAS market is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2020 according to the recent MarketsandMarket’s report, with increasing civil and military applications as the driving factors in this market.

Sales of the overall UAV market are expected to double within the next five years. Insitu is currently the biggest player in the SUAS market segment.

Orbital had delivered an after tax profit of $1.7 million on revenue of $64.6 million in the year ended 30 June 2014.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of $5.4 million as at 30 June 2014.