UASUV 2017 Med Unmanned Vehicles Technology | Page 52

Colonel (ret) Dimitrios STERGIOU Researcher/Geoeconomic Analyst, Hellenic Institute for Strategic Studies - (HEL.I.S.S.) Dimitrios Stergiou graduated from the Hellenic Military Academy in 1992 and joined the Artillery Corps. In 1997 joined Hellenic Army Aviation and received his academic and flight training as a Helicopter and Fixed-Wing Pilot in Greece and in the United States. From 1997 until 2007 he served in Army Aviation Units and in the Hellenic Army Aviation Directorate at the Hellenic General Staff. From 2007 until 2010 he was the Hellenic National Defence Ministry representative at NHIndustries in Aix-en-Provence (France) charged with overseeing the respective helicopter procuring program. He has also served as a teacher at the Infantry School in Army Aviation Tactics and as education department supervisor at the Army Aviation Directorate. He is a graduate of Captains Career Course in the US (2005) and of Supreme Joint War College (ADISPO) at the top of his class (2012). He has a Master 2 in Law, Economy and Management in the field of Comparative Military History, Geostrategy, Defence and Security from the University of Marseille. He retired at his own request in 2014 with the grade of Colonel. He is scientific associate at the Institute of Strategic and Defence Analysis (i-sda), in Eurasia publications and a researcher and lecturer at the Institute of International Relations (Panteion University). He is also a member and lecturer at Hellenic Institute of Strategic Studies (ELISME). From October 2014 he is a Ph.D. candidate at the department of economics of University of Peloponnese in the field of Geoeconomics where he teaches the course of Economic Geography and Geoeconomics. Email : [email protected] "Economics of UAS" Geoeconomics are about States and Non-States actors, multinational companies, projection of power and cooperation.. The growing literature around the proliferations of UASs, their development, procurement and operational use from a growing number of users, requires a holistic approach not just in a strict economic perspective but in a Geoeconomic one. The first part of the presentation is about facts & numbers. Between 2005 and 2011, the number of countries operating UAVs grew from 40 to over 70. As of the middle of 2012, almost 50 countries were manufacturing roughly 900 different types of UAVs. The two leaders in the manufacturing and sale of UAVs are the United States and Israel. The US will account for 62% of research and development (R&D) spending and 55% of procurement spending on drones by 2022. Other counties from Nigeria to Russia are planning to grow their share in the global market and a number of Non State actors like Hizbollah and Hamas are using UASs in increasing numbers and models. The second part approaches the ability of UASs users (civil & military) to apply the Principle of the Economy of Force while in conducting UASs operations. The third part is presenting a changing Operation Model. In many cases the operator is the producing company, which operates the system via leasing and not the state conducting the ops. International Organizations such as the UN or the OSCE are contracting directly the producing company to conduct UAS operations in the field without the need of a contribution on behalf of states.