The U.S. military UAV market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2010 and 2015. The report of Market Research Media finds that the U.S. military UAV market will generate $62 billion revenues over the period 2010 - 2015.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 11, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The U.S. military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) market has witnessed a meteoric growth over the past decade. UAS development went through a quantum leap, from lab concept to battle-tested proven technology. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have proven their worth in operations around the world. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are considered today a key component of U.S. defense transformation and an integral part of U.S. military doctrine.

The U.S. military UAV market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2010 and 2015, says "U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2010-2015", a new research report from Market Research Media said. The report finds that the U.S. military UAV market will generate $62 billion revenues over the period 2010-2015.

The report provides detailed year-by-year (2010-2015) forecasts for the following U.S. U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) market segments:

- R&D, tests and evaluation
- Unmanned Air Vehicles
- Payloads
- Ground Control Systems
- Service, support and maintenance
- Training
- Data management
- Revenues by UAV Groups (by vehicle airspeed, weight, and operating altitude)

Market Research media analysts have found that there is a widening gap between growing UAV fleet and UAV infrastructure development, especially in such sectors as training; service, support and maintenance; and data management. This gap creates a number of market opportunities for UAV vendors, both large defense contractors and small technology companies.

"More aircraft help us manage their maintenance, but do not affect the number of Predators we can fly at any given time. More ground control stations would be helpful, and the system is trying to produce more. But even if we had more ground control stations and aircraft, we would not be able to employ them without more pilots and sensor operators," said Lieutenant General Walter E. Buchanan III, Commander U.S. Central Command Air Forces. "The effectiveness of UAVs as surveillance systems is unmatched, and has had great effect in both theaters of operation."

Military procurement of UAS, including unmanned aircrafts, payloads, CGS makes the DoD the single largest consumer of UAV technology in the world. We can predict with a great deal of confidence that the U.S. Government will continue to invest in UAS as much as needed to keep its dominance, both technological and pure force factor, in the next decades.

Market Research Media Ltd is the leading international provider of market research and intelligence for the governmental and business communities. Our premium market analysis is your unfair competitive advantage.

CarMax, Inc.  the nation' largest retailer of used cars, is reporting that its " Tweet Yourself to a New Ride" contest on the popular social networking website Twitter, has been increasing in popularity with just four weeks left to enter.

CarMaxhas more than tripled its Twitter audience with over 5,700 new followers in the first four weeks of the contest. Through followers and "retweets" of the Twitter posts to date, the contest posts on Twitter have the potential of being seen by more than 765,000 people.

One lucky winner will be awarded $25,000 towards the purchase of any used car from the nationwide CarMax inventory. Other prizes include gas cards valued at $250 to be awarded to eight lucky winners, one for each week of the contest. The eight-week Twitter contest runs through midnighton February 28. To enter, contestants visit http://www.carmax.com/tweetto get a specific phrase to tweet and they are automatically entered - and they can enter every day. A full list of rules and regulations, as well as frequently asked questions can be found on the contest page, www.carmax.com/tweet.

Twitter is a free, social networking website that enables its users to send and read 140 character messages known as "tweets." CarMax has been using Twittersince 2007 to connect with customers and share information about CarMax, car buying tips, CarMax Foundationnews and auto industry news.

German engineering giant Bosch is set to close a car parts factory in Wales with the loss of 900 jobs, said the company, blaming the economic downturn which has hit the automotive industry hard.

The division in charge of the plant near Cardiff will recommend to the firm's board that production be phased out at the factory, which makes alternators for the motor industry.

A consultation period runs to the end of February so all involved can agree terms for the phase-out of production, before a final confirmation from the board.

Bosch, just the latest in a long line of automotive firms caught up in the fierce global downturn, said Thursday demand for the alternator had dropped dramatically and the firm was on track to make its first loss for six decades.

"The Bosch Group is currently facing the worst economic downturn for many decades and has been especially hit in the automotive sector," said the company in a statement.

"In parallel to this, the automotive industry is undergoing major change as core technologies are being completely transformed to accommodate demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient and less polluting vehicles.

"All this has left its mark on the Bosch Group in 2009, which will show a negative operating result for the first time in 60 years."

A union representative described the news as a "terrible blow" for hundreds of workers.

The EU signed a free-trade deal with South Korea on Thursday, ignoring pleas to back down from automakers that echo US caution running all the way up to President Barack Obama.

The agreement, still to be ratified by the EU's 27 member states and the European Parliament, was given a guarded welcome by Seoul but slammed by the head of the European carmakers trade association, ACEA.

"We call on the EU member states not to ratify the current text," Ivan Hodac said in a statement.

"The Korean negotiators have not only obtained unrestricted access to a market of over 500 million people, the European Commission has in addition allowed South Korea to subsidise exports from its key industries to the EU.

"This constitutes unfair competition and will lead to economic distortion," the ACEA head said.

His association claims the EU's trade deficit with South Korea will only increase from its current level of around 15 billion euros (22 billion dollars) per year under the terms negotiated.

Signed by European Union trade commissioner Catherine Ashton and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, virtually all tariffs will go and Brussels said EU exporters would win new business worth 19 billion euros.

Of the auto sector's fears, Ashton said EU negotiators had introduced "safeguards" that "will address the concerns the car industry rightly has."

Each side has three percent of the other's car market but the EU's market is much is bigger and Ashton said a surge in South Korean imports would trigger a "return to our tariffs."

She also said a "cap" would be triggered if 'duty drawback' rises, referring to a mechanism which allows manufacturers to reclaim tariffs paid on imported materials used to make products for export.

South Korean manufacturers import many parts from China and Ashton denied that a raft of anti-dumping duties applied to various imports from China were somehow linked.

The EU, the world's biggest single trading bloc, was South Korea's second-largest trading partner after China in 2008, with two-way trade totalling more than 90 billion dollars.

The EU was also the biggest foreign investor in South Korea last year.

Washington and South Korea reached a trade agreement in 2007 but Obama opposed the pact as a senator and ordered a policy review on taking office amid concerns over the impact on the US auto sector.

"I didn't do this in order to steal a march on anyone," Ashton said of the United States. "This was just a very, very good deal for European industry.

"I'm very proud of the fact that in a time of economic downturn, not only do we talk about fighting protectionism, but actually we do the deal."

Calling it the "first of a new generation of free-trade agreements," she said a similar "push" is underway, primarily with India, several southeastern Asian states and Canada.

However, there are "no plans" to start discussions with Japan.

The commission said the agreement makes "major advances in areas such as intellectual property, procurement, competition policy and trade and sustainable development."

South Korea is to liberalise its telecommunications, environmental, legal, financial and shipping sectors.

"Should the deal come into effect, bilateral trade investment will significantly increase," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said after the signing.

Products made in an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong are expected to be treated as South Korean-made goods.

"We've got chapters within our agreement on sustainable development (and) issues to do with labour laws," Ashton added of European Parliament concerns there.

Negotiations were completed three months ago and the deal is expected to be ratified some time in the middle of 2010.

Russia's largest carmaker Avtovaz is on the verge of bankruptcy and needs to cut almost 50,000 jobs if it is to have any hope of survival, a newspaper Thursday quoted a ministry memo as saying.

The damning indictment, written by Deputy Industry Minister Andrei Dementiev to the government, also casts doubt on the cooperation with Avtovaz's 25 percent shareholder Renault, the Kommersant daily said.

Avtovaz will at the start of next year have 76.3 billion rubles (2.6 billion dollars) of debts, excluding 9.8 billion rubles (0.3 billion dollars) owed to suppliers, the newspaper quoted Dementiev as saying in the memo penned two weeks ago.

Restructuring such debts is "impossible under market conditions," he said, adding that this means that Avtovaz bears "all the signs envisaged under the legislation for bankruptcy."

The Lada car maker has already announced plans to slash 27,600 jobs from its workforce of 102,000 in a bid to cope with the slumping demand caused by the economic crisis.

But the memo said that current output levels are such that the workforce should stand at only 55,000, meaning job cuts of almost 50,000 should be required.

Keeping current staffing levels will "lead to the irreversible worsening of its financial condition and put into doubt the possibility of the company continuing its activities," it said.

France's Renault in February 2008 paid around a billion dollars for a quarter of Avtovaz, aiming to reap the benefits from what was Europe's fastest growing car market.

But Dementiev's memo said that Renault was "not fulfilling the needs" of the factory in terms of new models, which were "essential for ensuring effective and profitable production."

Accusing Renault of being unwilling to share its technology, Dementiev said Avtovaz risks becoming "completely dependent" on Renault's position on intellectual property.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier this month warned Renault its stake in Avtovaz could be diluted unless the French auto giant provided help for the crisis-ridden firm.