Swedish firm, CybAero has landed an order guarantee worth $104 million over eight years to China for its unmanned helicopters. The order was placed by a company in the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) group, which develops and manufactures aircraft and various types of flying vehicles and has over 400,000 employees.
The order is dependent on an export permit being issued by the Swedish Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls (ISP). According to the agreement, AVIC has committed to purchasing at least 20 helicopter systems during the first three years and at least a further 50 systems during the following five years. Each system includes helicopters, ground stations and data links. The agreement also covers training and support.
Through the joint company, AVIC will entirely target the civil and commercial markets, namely customs and coastguard services, the energy sector, agriculture, mapping and rescue services, etc.
“The order is the largest ever anywhere in the world in the product segment within which CybAero operates, i.evertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles weighing less than 200kg.
“A condition of the order for AVIC is the granting of a permit by the Swedish Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls, but we don’t anticipate there being any problem with this at present,” said Mikael Hult. The agreement and order will not give rise to any further financing requirements for CybAero. Payments will be made by AVIC on an ongoing basis as deliveries take place.
CybAero’s unmanned helicopters have a range of 20 miles and a flying time of up to six hours.
Source: Press Release
While a large order for the company looks great and would be good for the industry as a whole, I would hope that CyberAero does an in depth due diligence when dealing with China. They have a propensity to establish large orders, then take delivery of small quantities and reverse engineer products to flood the market. That can be very expensive for small companies. Also, having a regional, national or global patent is only as good as your ability to defend said patent and defending one internationally can bankrupt a company. Thoughts to ponder…..
John Parker’s comments are very correct. Cybeaero talked about at least 70 units of UAV for the framework agreement. However, AVIC has stayed mum on the topic. When I asked AVIC responsible for Cybeaero UAV business, he said it was a “framework”. That is, AVIC is not “bounded” by the agreement. As to the Cybeaero press release, AVIC people said they were not aware of that and had not signed up any client yet. Well, for any such purchasing, it has to go through tender procedure, from specifications, tender, award to contract implementation. When we think a bit that the potential Chinese end-users Cybeaero has in mind, energy, utility, public security, etc., then it is a very rosy imagination.