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13 Jul 17. Thales Proposes Watchkeeper for Indonesia. Thales UK is positioning the company’s WK 450 Watchkeeper unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for the Indonesian Air Force’s (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU’s) intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) requirements. According to sources from within the service who spoke to Jane’s on 11 July, a presentation on the UAS’ capabilities was made by officials from Thales UK to the TNI-AU’s office for planning a budget in mid-April 2017. The UAS, which has been derived from Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, was originally developed for the British Army.
The Watchkeeper airframe generally has the same specifications as the Hermes 450, including a wing span of 10.5m, a maximum take-off weight of 550kg, and a maximum payload of 180kg. The system is propelled by a single piston engine, and features an endurance of about 17 hours with a service ceiling of 5,485 m.
The UAS can be equipped with two sensor payloads, and in the UK configuration, features a forward-mounted Thales I-Master ground-moving target indicator/synthetic aperture radar (SAR/GMTI) and a rear-mounted electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret.
The airframe can also be equipped with effectors such as laser designators and target markers, and weapons such as the Free Fall lightweight multi-role missile (LMM) air-dropped, precision-guided munition from Thales Advanced Weapon Systems. (Source: UAS VISION/Jane’s 360)
13 Jul 17. Ex-MIT Start-Up Launches 3-Hour Hybrid QuadCopter.
Boston-based Top Flight Technologies, Inc., an innovative provider of extended flight, enhanced payload, hybrid-powered commercial UAVs hardware and autopilot control products, is seeking initial commercial and government customers for its recently announced Airborg H8, 10K UAV, and powered by the company’s proprietary Top Flight Technologies Hybrid-Power (Gasoline and Electric) System.
“Global customers look to MIT for UAV innovation to move beyond limited capability battery-based drones. Top Flight, largely comprised of MIT alumni engineers, have designed the Airborg 10K to squarely address UAV applications that require POWER for long-range flight, power-hungry electronics and transport,” said Klaus Schleicher, Associate Director, MIT Office of Corporate Relations.
Simultaneously Top Flight is announcing the Airborg Engagement Program that allows any customer to fast-adapt the feature-rich Airborg platform to a particular industry and set of applications. The program includes extensive knowledge transfer, controlled testing of various application specific equipment, and assistance with local government regulatory compliance using the Airborg platform. In many cases customers are currently working with Aerial Data Acquisition Service Partners using more costly fixed wing airplanes or helicopters. Those partners now have the opportunity to add new services using the powerful Airborg 10K too.
“As both an Aerial Data Acquisition and Analytics Services Provider with battery-based drones, fixed wing airplanes and helicopters for Insurance, Oil & Gas, Telecom and Construction industries, we are pleased to be working with Top Flight on the Airborg UAV product development to address the massive gap in industrial-strength services that can be provided when there is sufficient power to address extended flight times, heavier payloads, and power for computing on-board,” said Steven Fargo, President/Pilot for Datawing Global and Top Flight Services and Training Partner.
The Airborg is a serial hybrid-powered UAV. It uses readily available gasoline to generate the power that drives the lift motors, keeps backup batteries charged, and powers all onboard electronics. Hybrid engines require NO between-flight recharg