Defence and security company Saab has signed a frame agreement and received a first order from the EADS company Cassidian to supply safety-critical avionics equipment for the new advanced UAV system Talarion.

The order includes design and development of the aircraft vehicle management computer (AVMC), communications computer (CC) and mission & payload management computer (MPMC) for Talarion.

The work will be carried out by the avionics division of Saab’s business area Electronic Defence Systems, in Jönköping and Järfälla, Sweden, and deliveries of the first order will take place 2012-14.

“The selection of Saab to provide mission and flight critical avionics equipment for this new advanced platform verifies our position as a competitive supplier in the avionics market,” said Micael Johansson, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab’s business area Electronic Defence Systems.

Talarion is a European development programme to fulfill functional and operational capability for in-theatre ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance). Due to its specific design, Talarion is able to operate over its broad flight envelope spectrum thereby establishing persistent surveillance, precise adversary identification, localisation and real-time intelligence.