SwissCopter in $15 million Middle East deal

Published 23 December 2008

Swiss developer of manned and unmanned systems for surveillance and search-and-rescue — and the innovative software these systems use — receives an order from an “unnamed Middle Eastern government”

Middle Eastern governments must be very secretive — how else to explain the fact the two out of three announcements by companies about contracts they have just signed in the region carry the words “unnamed Middle Eastern country”? Here is another example: Murten, Switzerland-based SwissCopter has received its first large order for twenty manned and unmanned helicopters for safety and security applications for what the company describes as “Homeland Security Project” in the Middle East. The company’s LDV100 and LDV 200 drones are equipped with multiple cameras, digital and analogue data links, and the mapping software i3D from Innosuisse.

SwissCopter designs and produces solutions for homeland security, pipeline and border patrol, and commercial applications. These systems include a range of drones, autopilots, camera systems, ground stations and individually designed software

The company won CTI research project (CTI describes itself as “die Förderagentur für Innovation des Bundes” [the innovation promotion agency of the Swiss government]). SwissCopter launched an R&D project based on 3D technology from Innosuisse. The technology allows real-time monitoring or Virtual Monitoring(ViMo) with drones. The company says that there has been a growing interest — from countries as well as organizations engaged in search and rescue missions — in both the manned and unmanned versions of its Tip-Jet DragonFly.