Praxis: facilitating Watchkeeper certification

Praxis is responsible for the Watchkeeper UAV security programme for Thales UK. The Watchkeeper is equipped with the latest risk reduction technology in order to obtain the necessary flight authorisations.

Watchkeeper is an unmanned tactical aerial surveillance vehicle, called a UAV. Developed by Thales UK for the British Ministry of Defence, it will give the British armed forces a modern tool in terms of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.

Praxis High Integrity Systems (Praxis), an Altran Group company specialising in critical systems engineering for the aerospace and defence industry, provides Thales with its expertise as a system safety integrator under a contract worth 4.4 million euros.

Objective: risk reduction

The Praxis consultants were called in during the risk assessment phase preceding flight authorisation. They used a complex systems certification technology developed by Praxis and dubbed “eSafetyCase”. By applying it to the project, they reduced both costs and the time required for the certification required for flight authorisation. Praxis had previously collaborated with Thales UK for authorisation to fly the Hermes 450 from which the Watchkeeper 450 is derived.

Alex Dorrian,

Managing Director of Thales UK

“Praxis is a key member of our Watchkeeper team. Their expertise in safety engineering and management is indisputable and enabled flight authorisations to be obtained in September 2005 for the first British flight of the Hermes 450, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on which the Watchkeeper 450 is based.”

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