ELDIG, the European Land Defence Industrial Group of the AeroSpace and Defence European Association (ASD), held at DSEi London its Fast Reaction Team (FRT) meeting with attendance from most important European companies in the land sector. The meeting was hosted at EXPAL’s booth at the exhibition. EXPAL is now chairing the ELDIG group until next Eurosatory Exhibition (Paris, June 2014), following Navantia’s chairmanship last year.

European Defence Agency (EDA) also attended the meeting through its Industry and Market Directorate. At the EDA / ELDIG joint meeting, a follow-up review of the various land initiatives that both organisations are promoting as the Future Land Systems (FLS) Roadmap, an implementation plan that identified main areas, capabilities and key technologies to develop and sustain within Europe in the coming years.

The ELDIG’s initiative on unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) was also discussed as an example of program that fulfills FLS objectives, providing operative capabilities within EU Armies and allowing EU industry to position as a key player in the world market. UGVs are essential for European armies and may be considered as a flagship program to develop main capabilities and novelty technologies for land systems.