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Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAV's have been used for military surveillance for decades, but only recently have they gained wider acceptance as a safe and cost-effective addition to the aerospace arsenal.

In coming years, technology developed for unmanned aircraft will see more military use, and is likely to be adopted in the much bigger commercial market as well.

For the first time this year, a UAV will be included with official flight displays at the Paris Air Show, open Monday to the trade and the media as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Even as the Camcopter S-100, an auto-piloted helicopter made in Austria, goes through its paces at Le Bourget, a private airport outside Paris, many manufacturers around the world are gearing up for growing UAV sales.

In the U.S., Defense Secretary Robert Gates is looking for safer, more efficient ways for the U.S. to fight wars. The defense budget for fiscal 2010 backs UAVs with $5.3 billion, an 18% increase from fiscal 2009, even as other programs lose funding.

"UAV's were used in World War II," says Gene Fraser, vice president of the strike and surveillance systems division of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s (NOC) Aerospace Systems unit. "But it's like an actor who's been working for years and suddenly gets discovered." He said more sophisticated technology is giving the UAV market a boost.

Northrop makes the Global Hawk, an aircraft that was fast-tracked into production for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. High-end UAVs, which can stay in the air for as long as 50 hours, are good for border patrol, as well as for military surveillance, Fraser said. While the craft can cost about the same as a conventional spy plane, substantial cost savings come from eliminating flight training. And you can't put a price tag on keeping pilots out of harm's way.

"The real upside for Northrop Grumman is with international business, which now is very small," Fraser said. Northrop also is test-flying - with the U.S. Navy and other partners - a stealthy, unmanned combat vehicle that can operate more autonomously than military drones now in use.

The Global Hawk is the first UAV that has been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to file commercial flight plans, opening the door for use as a cargo or passenger plane.

 
   Commercial UAV Market Ready For Takeoff 
 

Last year, David Vos, founder and head of Athena Technologies, sold the South African company to aircraft electronics maker Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL). Vos said merging his company, a leader in unmanned aircraft systems, with Rockwell Collins, portends a future where unmanned technology will merge with controls technology on military and commercial aircraft. For example, Rockwell Collins is testing UAV equipment designed to automatically recover control of a damaged aircraft, specifically, one that has lost up to 60% of one wing.

Vos offered another scenario: If a plane were hijacked, someone on the ground might be able to access the plane's automated control system via the Internet and push a button to engage automated controls that could safely land the aircraft.

Human concerns, including an uneasy flying public and aerospace workers fearful of job losses, are the main impediment to wider use of unmanned vehicles, Vos said. "There are ways to approach game-changing technology that really annoy people, and then it goes nowhere, or you can work constructively," he said.

At a press event Monday at the Paris Air Show, Vos will unveil what Rockwell Collins believes is a constructive approach. The company offers links to Web sites that demonstrate developing UAV technology. Vos believes people will respond favorably. At the time of the first Paris Air Show, "no one would have thought you could ride on a train with no operator. Now it happens every time you go to the airport, and you don't think a thing of it," Vos said.

-By Ann Keeton, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4120; ann.keeton@dowjones.com