Intelligence, so vital in the seemingly never-ending battles with extremism, relies increasingly on hi-tech surveillance.

Deep in the Kentish countryside, a company is working on just that.

After years of specialising in targets for military use, Universal Target Systems Limited (UTSL) in Challock, near Ashford, has diversified into unmanned surveillance aircraft.

Now its Unmanned Air Vehicle Security and Intelligence (UAVSI) division is earning an international reputation.

Challock is the centre of research and development, marketing and final assembly of products which include the MSAT-500 NG aerial target system, the unmanned Vigilant UAV and their associated launchers.

Targets are unmanned aircraft that mimic incoming hostile systems and are vital to air defence training and gunnery practice. They have no undercarriage but are re-usable thanks to a parachute that eases them gently on to sea or land. Most products are sold overseas, with markets in Pakistan, India and South America.

The company sees huge further worldwide potential for its aerial surveillance systems. Uses include border patrol, customers, wildlife protection, traffic control, policing, fire, toxic fumes and nuclear fallout. With the Olympic Games coming to London, the firm could also play a part in the security plans for venues and the Olympic torch relay.

Technology is so sophisticated that it can register changes on the ground that might give a clue to suspicious activity. The quiet aircraft fly at 400 ft and provide superb video footage.

General manager David Gordon said: "What we are focusing on is military sites for tactical observation in 80 countries."

The company was not recession-proof but military spending had held up well, he said. And it had helped the firm recruit talented staff. "We've benefited from the recession in that we've managed to find good quality engineers that had suddenly been expensive for the engineering companies they had worked for."

Michael McNulty, sales and marketing director, is a professional pilot who served with the Irish air force. After working in jet aircraft sales, he moved to UTSL because he recognised a huge market potential for the firm's products. "It's just the sheer potential for expansion that exists here in this county," he said.

Rapid growth put a premium on space and, after considering other locations, the firm recently invested around £80,000 in extending its Challock HQ.

Managing director Paul Blake explained why the firm stayed in Kent. "We looked long and hard at our corporate options, but at the end of the process, we decided to stay locally, keeping British jobs for British people here in our community."