A signing ceremony was held in Hanoi on November 20 for a cooperation agreement between Vietnam and Sweden in manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The joint project between the Vietnam Aerospace Association (VASA) and the Swedish Unmanned Group will be executed in three phases. In Phase One, Sweden will provide funds and equipment for Vietnam to manufacture two Magic Eye 1 UAVs.

It will send experts from Unmanned Group, provide intellectual property and the model design to Vietnam .

During the second phase, the two sides will cooperate in aeronautical electronic science development. In the final phase, both sides will manufacture UAVs at each other’s demand and capacity.

According to VASA President Nguyen Duc Cuong, UAVs are widely used in the world in various fields such as defence, security, rescue operations, forest management and protection, geological exploration, agro-forestry and fishery services, as well as high-tension wire tests, especially remote sensing.

With a sea area of more than one million square kilometres, nearly 3,000 km of coastline and more than 4,500 km borderline, Vietnam is a promising land for UAV use. They are extremely useful in mapping, traffic planning, border patrolling, researching and rescuing, he said.

Today, more than 40 countries design and manufacture UAVs. The market is worth seven billion USD per year and is estimated to double in the next 10 years.