Sponsored by The British Robotics Seed Fund
http: www.britbots.com/fund
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22 Feb 19. Cyient – BlueBird JV Launches WanderB VTOL. Cyient Solutions & Systems Pvt. Ltd. (CSS), a joint venture between Cyient Ltd. and BlueBird Aero Systems, Israel, has launched its latest offering, the WanderB Vertical Take-Off & Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial System. The WanderB VTOL is an exciting and technologically advanced solution for military, peacekeeping, low-intensity conflict resolution, law enforcement, disaster management, and commercial applications. The system is being showcased at Cyient’s booth at Aero India 2019 from February 20–24. The WanderB VTOL is an electric mini-UAS specially optimized for covert, “over-the-hill” operations, supporting extensive day and night ISR missions. It combines the advantages of fixed-wing operation with vertical take-off and landing, supporting significant range, endurance and speed. WanderB offers excellent tactical advantage to defense, paramilitary and security forces for real-time critical intelligence gathering and surveillance.
The VTOL feature makes the WanderB a versatile solution for both land and maritime operations. As a fully autonomous UAS equipped with two batteries, the WanderB VTOL can operate even in strong winds and harsh weather conditions. The system offers high operational availability of 2.5 hours and has a mission range of 50 km (extendable up to 80 km). Using a proprietary ground control system and video-exploitation software, the system relays GPS-marked imagery to ground forces in real-time, enhancing situational awareness and mission execution capability.
NJ Joseph, Managing Director and CEO, Cyient Solutions & Systems commented: “We are delighted to launch the WanderB VTOL for the Indian defence market and Aero India 2019 is the ideal platform to showcase this advanced system. The system breaks new ground in operational versatility and performance making the WanderB VTOL a unique solution for critical, real-time intelligence gathering and surveillance.”
Ronen Nadir, CEO of BlueBird Aero Systems said: “The new VTOL capability frees the WanderB UAS from take-off and landing space limitations, paving the way for its utilization by users who require precise point take-off and landing, together with the advanced operational capabilities already delivered by our field-proven systems. The WanderB VTOL system is the result of significant R&D investment, designed to bring to the market a cost-effective, reliable, high-performance solution that successfully handles the missions associated with modern battlefield, and homeland security requirements, as well as for civilian markets.” (Source: UAS VISION)
22 Feb 19. Bharat Forge looks to build quadcopter, to help Army carry on mountainous terrain. The Kalyani Group has conducted a successful flight of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). An UAV team was created at their R&D centre in Pune and their first UAV flew successfully after all possible technical simulations, Baba Kalyani, CMD, Bharat Forge, said.
The Kalyani Group has conducted a successful flight of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). An UAV team was created at their R&D centre in Pune and their first UAV flew successfully after all possible technical simulations, Baba Kalyani, CMD, Bharat Forge, said.
The next challenge is to build a quadcopter that can lift 50 kgs of weight, to help the army carry things in mountainous regions, Kalyani said.
The Kalyani group was working towards high-tech products such as guided bombs (250 kgs to 1,000 kgs), giving bombs a high level of accuracy, landing gear components and warhead seekers apart from the UAVs.
Foreign OEM Leiber was buying landing gear components from Bharat Forge and was now also had an opportunity to supply for Airbus very soon, Kalyani said.
They are also working on turbo machinery, which started three to four years ago and is a ten year plan to make small turbines, small jet engines (up to 1,000-1,200 kgs) usable for helicopters as well, he said. “This is our next opportunity as India is looking to purchase over 1,500 choppers over 10 and on an average one helicopter needs three times engines so the number of engines required will be quite high,” Kalyani said.
Currently, supply components to big companies like Rolls-Royce, Boeing, Liebher, HAL etc., aim to substantially increase this with more value addition,
The Kalyani Group has announced three defence and aerospace partnerships at the Aero show in Bengaluru with AMG Partners, USA, defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd and Belcan LLC.
Bharat Forge and AMG Partners to get into a partnership to invest in new and advanced technologies in defence and aerospace domain where they will identify global advanced manufacturing technologies for joint development, licensing and world-class manufacturing operations in India. The Kalyani Group and Belcan, LLC have got into a partnership to provide advanced technological product and service offerings in defence, aerospace, and other technical segments in India. The companies will work together in the design and development of helicopter engines and transmission systems in defence and aerospace, as well as collaborate on advanced manufacturing practices and digital manufacturing & IoT solutions. With Bharat Electronics the co-operation in defence and aerospace products/systems is to jointly capitalize on the emerging opportunities in the domestic market. (Source: Google/https://www.financialexpress.com)
21 Feb 19. NASA to Test Drone UTM in Nevada and Texas. NASA has selected two organizations to host the final phase of its four-year series of increasingly complicated technical demonstrations involving small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems in Las Vegas and the Lone Star UAS Center for Excellence & Innovation in Corpus Christi, Texas, will host demonstrations to confirm NASA’s UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system can safely and effectively manage drone traffic in an urban area. The drone flights will take place in and around downtown Reno, Nevada between March and June, and Corpus Christi during July and August.
“This phase represents the most complicated demonstration of advanced UAS operating in a demanding urban environment that will have been tested to date,” said Ronald Johnson, NASA’s UTM project manager. “We are pleased at the plans by our partners in Nevada and Texas to conduct flight tests in a true urban environment with the support of the City of Reno and the City of Corpus Christi.”
With these demonstrations, NASA and its partners including the Federal Aviation Administration, aim to help the commercial drone industry understand the challenges posed by flying in an urban environment. Results of the flight demonstrations also will help inform future rules, policies and traffic management procedures for operating drones safely over populated areas.
Key technologies to be demonstrated include: airspace regulator Flight Information Management System, the UAS Service Supplier interface for multiple independent UAS traffic management service providers, and their interface with vehicle integrated detect-and-avoid capabilities, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and collision avoidance, and automated safe landing technologies.
“We are very excited to partner with NASA on such an important program that will have a significant innovative impact on the global UAS Industry,” said Chris Walach, the Nevada organization’s senior director.
Mike Sanders, acting executive director of the Texas organization, added, “This series of tests is a critical step in enabling the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems within an urban environment.”
The UTM project is part of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. (Source: UAS VISION)
20 Feb 19. General Aeronautics Selects Dassault Systems to Develop Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Dassault Systèmes today announced at Aero India 2019, that Bengaluru based integrated aircraft design and engineering services company, General Aeronautics has deployed the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud to develop next-generation design Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). General Aeronautics leverages Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO) capabilities of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to deliver more efficient programs through the virtual development and simulation of drones.
General Aeronautics designs, develops and produces state of the art fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAS for a wide range of civilian, humanitarian and military roles: surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation of packages including medical supplies and organs for transplantation and expendable targets for military exercises. General Aeronautics’ GA-1 is an exciting new multirole mini Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The GA-1’s capability of vertical take-off combined with efficient forward flight and high endurance makes it a truly versatile platform.
Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Founder Chairman, General Aeronautics said, “General Aeronautics has partnered with Dassault Systèmes to develop next-generation design methods for Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) systems. Dassault Systèmes cloud-based technology has been harnessed by General Aeronautics to design and integrate advanced UAV systems. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform has been key to the development of both fixed-wing hybrid and multicopter UAV systems with advanced capabilities. General Aeronautics is excited to collaborate with Dassault Systèmes to implement a comprehensive design and development process comprising design, engineering, integration, manufacturing as well as digital twin for mirroring physical and digital representatives of UAV systems.”
Dassault Systèmes is enabling startups, new entrants and small original equipment manufacturers to invent sustainable air mobility experiences that will transform the aviation market in today’s Industry Renaissance. Samson Khaou, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systèmes said, “With increasing customer expectations and growing program complexities, aerospace manufacturing industry is becoming challenging like never before. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud empowers these OEMs to achieve type-certification on time, reduce costs, plan lean manufacturing processes, and improve performance. Furthermore, our portfolio has new industry solution experiences that are tailored for product innovation by entrepreneurs, makers and startups in the aerospace industry.” (Source: Google/https://uasweekly.com)
21 Feb 19. Serbian Mini Aleks UAV to make first public flight in July. The Mini Aleks vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Serbia’s Engine Development & Production (EDePro) is set to make its first public flight during an exhibition that will be held in Belgrade in July, Jane’s was told during the IDEX show held in Abu Dhabi from 17-21 February. The Mini Aleks uses four rotors to take off and land before transitioning to a pusher propeller as its wings provide aerodynamic lift.
Dusan Petrovic, an EDePro engineer working on the UAV, said it will have a one-hour endurance when powered entirely by electric motors and four hours when using a hybrid power system where a conventional combustion engine drives the pusher and generates electrical power for the other systems. The Mini Aleks was displayed at IDEX fitted with dummy rockets, but its payload is 6 kg, according to Petrovic, so it is not a feasible attack platform. He said the aircraft displayed at IDEX is capable of flying, but a second model with an airframe made entirely of carbon-fibre has been completed. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
20 Feb 19. Canada bids for mothballed prototype drone from Germany. The German Defence Ministry is evaluating a bid from Canada to buy a high-altitude surveillance drone that has been parked at a German air base for years after the cancellation of the Euro Hawk programme in 2013, with a further bid possible from NATO. Canada has submitted a formal bid for the prototype aircraft, which was stripped of key equipment and demilitarised by the United States in 2017, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday without providing further details. Canadian media have reported that Canada could use the drone, built by Northrop Grumman, to monitor oil spills, ice levels and marine habitats in the remote Arctic region.
NATO, which is buying its own fleet of Northrop drones, is also considering a bid for the mothballed German aircraft but has not yet submitted it, said sources familiar with the process. NATO had no immediate comment.
There was no immediate reply from the Canadian government. A sale of the drone would end an embarrassing chapter that raised concerns about the German military’s procurement process and triggered the transfer of former Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere to another cabinet post.
Berlin told lawmakers last year that it had spent about €700m (£608m) on the Euro Hawk prototype, and the ISIS surveillance system built by Airbus.
Berlin initiated plans in 2000 to buy five Euro Hawk drones based on Northrop’s Global Hawk unmanned system at a cost of about 1.2bn euros but later cancelled the programme because of cost overruns and problems obtaining certification for use in civilian airspace in Germany.
It had only received the one prototype aircraft that is now being sold.
Berlin is now negotiating with Northrop to buy several MQ-4C Triton drones for delivery after 2025. Northrop last year said the process could take years to complete.
German opposition lawmaker Andrej Hunko, a member of the radical Left party, said the government had declared the aircraft incapable of flight after the U.S. Air Force removed U.S. built radio equipment and other key systems when it demilitarised the aircraft in 2017.
“The airplane has salvage value at best,” he told Reuters.
“Any proceeds from the sale would be a drop in the bucket, compared with the huge amounts spent on the programme.”
For NATO, the drone could provide additional support to the fleet of five high-altitude unmanned Global Hawk planes it agreed to buy from Northrop in 2012 for $1.7bn, along with transportable ground stations.
Industry officials said the Euro Hawk saga underscored problems in military procurement, noting that NATO’s sister aircraft regularly traverse German air space to conduct surveillance missions over the North Sea. They also have no blanket approval for use in German civilian airspace but use case-by-case permissions from air traffic authorities. It was not immediately clear what steps would be needed to return the Euro Hawk prototype to flight. (Source: Reuters)
20 Feb 19. Leonardo Opens AWHERO Factory in Pisa. Leonardo has opened its new facility in Pisa, Italy, dedicated to the development and production of the AWHERO rotary unmanned air system (RUAS). During the official ceremony, also attended by national and local authorities and representatives from the industry, the first pre-production aircraft was also officially unveiled.
Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo said, “I am very pleased to open this new facility because it demonstrates Leonardo’s way forward; we invest in high-end technology and highly-skilled resources in order to respond to a fast growing market. Unmanned systems are among the pillars of our growth strategy and we plan to become a market leader in this field.”
The set-up of a brand new facility, with a workforce of 60 people, and the unveiling of a more capable aircraft mark two major milestones in the development of the AWHERO, a program that has been growing significantly in recent years. The program was originally launched in 2012 under a joint venture with Sistemi Dinamici S.p.A which was acquired by Leonardo in 2016.
Leonardo’s unmanned helicopter portfolio also includes the SW-4 Solo, which like the AWHERO benefits from the company’s systems integration expertise and airborne sensors to make its unmanned systems more competitive in the fast growing unmanned systems market.
The opening of the new facility in Pisa also expands the presence of Leonardo in Tuscany, where the company designs and manufactures a wide range of products in the defense, security and space fields with more than 1,800 employees located at three facilities in Campi Bisenzio, Florence; Montevarchi, Arezzo; and Livorno.
Compared to the original variant, the pre-production 200-kg class aircraft unveiled on Feb. 15 features an optimized airframe and aerodynamics, new fuel system, new composite tail rotor drive shaft and a new liquid cooled rotary engine. This aircraft performed its maiden, 10-minute flight in Nettuno, close to Rome, in December 2018.
The second pre-production AWHERO is expected to join trials and take to the air in the next few months in advance of Italian military certification which is expected by the end of 2019. (Source: UAS VISION)
21 Feb 19. Aeronautics Signs $13m Orbiter Contract with Azerbaijan. Two weeks after its export licenses were reinstated, the Israeli defense company Aeronautics has announced that it won a multi-million dollar contract with Azerbaijan. The two-year contract is worth $13mi and will see maintenance work for the Orbiter drones sold to a key client, according to a company statement. +Aeronautics had its export licenses suspended by the Defense Ministry in 2017, after a report by The Jerusalem Post’s sister newspaper Maariv revealed that representatives from the company who were in Azerbaijan to finalize a contract for the sale of its Orbiter 1K UAV, were asked to strike an Armenian military position.
While many details of the case remain under a court-issued gag order, the two Israelis operating the UAV refused to hit the position, and senior representatives of the company took control and operated the craft themselves, ultimately missing their targets.
Following the surfacing of the report, the Defense Ministry suspended the company’s marketing and export permit for the company’s Orbiter 1K model UAV. The Israel Police’s Unit of International Crime Investigations, the Defense Ministry’s investigation unit and the State Attorney’s Office also launched an investigation into the incident.
Aeronautics – which opened a factory in Azerbaijan to build the company’s Aerostar and Orbiter UAVs in 2011 – has denied any wrongdoing in the case. (Source: UAS VISION/The Jerusalem Post)
20 Feb 19. Al Seer Marine, Abu Dhabi based manufacturer of unmanned surface vessels, has announced the signature of a strategic partnership agreement with Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), a Saudi-based company. The primary aim of this collaboration is to build unmanned surface vessels for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al Seer Marine will be the primary manufacturer for unmanned surface vessels in KSA and AEC will be their exclusive partner in the Kingdom. This collaboration will also help strengthen AEC’s capabilities and technology know how to better serve their defense and security customers in KSA through Al Seer Marine’s innovative portfolio. The partnership agreement was signed at IDEX 2019 in Abu Dhabi in presence of the Al Seer Marine and AEC management teams.
Lee Drinkwater, Head of Business Development, at Al Seer Marine commented, “We are delighted to have signed this strategic partnership agreement with the leading technology solutions provider in the region, AEC and look forward to a long-standing collaboration.”
Abdulaziz Al Duailej, CEO and President (AEC) commented, “Our strategic partnership offers tremendous growth potential and we are confident that we will enhance our support to the KSA defense forces. This partnership strengthens Saudi-UAE collaboration in key defense sectors”.
19 Feb 19. Drone makers in talks to end flights into sensitive areas. Ministers rush legislation through parliament to enlarge airport exclusion zones. Unmanned aircraft shut down London’s Gatwick airport before Christmas. Drone manufacturers will hold talks with the government in March about how they can help prevent incidents involving unmanned aircraft such as the one that shut down London’s Gatwick airport before Christmas. News of the meeting came as the government announced on Wednesday it had rushed legislation through parliament to enlarge drone exclusion zones around airports to a maximum of 5km, from the current 1km. The new regulations will come into force on March 13. Aviation minister Liz Sugg will hold talks with manufacturers about, among other things, technology they could use in their drones to stop them encroaching on prohibited spaces. This could include geo-fencing, which prevents pre-programmed commercial drones from deliberately or inadvertently flying into sensitive and protected airspace. Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, whose members include Gatwick and London’s Heathrow airport, said: “An important way to ensure people do not inadvertently break the law is through introducing mandatory geo-fencing technology as soon as possible . . . We believe this is the most effective way to ensure that unsafe drone use does not have major consequences.” Drones have become a serious problem for aircraft in the UK. A government consultation document last year noted that the number of incidents “involving objects believed to be drones” and reported to an independent board that investigates aircraft safety had risen from six in 2014 to 93 in 2017. Transport secretary Chris Grayling, confirming drone exclusion zones around airports would be extended to 5km, said: “The law is clear that flying a drone near an airport is a serious criminal act. We’re now going even further and extending the no-fly zone to help keep our airports secure and our skies safe.” The government also confirmed on Wednesday it was drawing up legislation that will provide the police with powers to enforce the law in relation to drones, which they currently lack.
These include so-called stop and search powers to seize drones or access relevant data in relation to crime scenes and large events at risk of a terrorist attack. Gatwick spent about £5m on anti-drone equipment after it was forced to cancel about 1,000 flights because of sightings of unmanned aircraft around the airport just before Christmas. Gatwick said in January it bought the equipment “in the days after the drone incident”, which lasted from December 19 to 21, when the airport relied on kit supplied by the military to deal with the problem. Recommended Izabella Kaminska Izabella Kaminska: Do not blame the drones for outpacing airspace regulation Heathrow, which itself suffered a brief drone-related shutdown in January, confirmed it had also bought technology to combat the unmanned aircraft. Heathrow airport said on Wednesday: “We have invested significantly over the years to enhance our capabilities to detect and deter drones at the airport, but the government has an important role to continue playing in supporting the aviation industry with the right regulations and enforcement tools to keep the UK’s skies safe as the technology evolves.” The government, meanwhile, said it would partner with Jessops, the retailer that sells drones, to promote public awareness of the rules about flying them. Ministers announced last year that any operator of a small drone would have to take an online safety test and register their equipment from November 2019. (Source: FT.com)
19 Feb 19. XLOONG USV breaks cover. Recognising growing naval interest in the potential of unmanned and autonomous systems, China Shipbuilding Trading Co (CSSC, Stand 10-E03) has unveiled its XLOONG unmanned surface vessel (USV) concept at IDEX. Modular in design to allow for the integration of multiple different weapon payloads, the XLOONG USV is capable of performing interdiction, patrol and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. The craft’s angled shape is designed to minimise radar cross-section. The model displayed by CSSC at IDEX shows an interchangeable mid-body section that can be configured to host anti-ship missiles, rocket launchers or an eight-cell silo for a range of vertically launched precision-guided weapons. A further eight vertical launch cells are embedded within the vessel structure (four on either beam). According to CSSC, the XLOONG USV incorporates a high degree of autonomy with regard to both route planning and task planning/mission management, and multiple vehicles can operate together as part of a collaborative ‘swarm’. As well as operating fully unmanned, the USV can also be used in a manned mode. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 Feb 19. On December 4, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) demonstrated a complete MQ-9B mission without the use of a Launch and Recovery Element (LRE) Ground Control Station (GCS). Specifically, preflight checks were conducted through engine start using only the Expeditionary Command & Control (XC2) portable laptop, and subsequently, the aircraft was successfully handed over to a remote GCS via SATCOM. The MQ-9B – a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) developed by GA-ASI – was then taxied to the runway and the crew commanded its automatic takeoff using only the SATCOM datalink. The MQ-9B flew a short flight and automatically landed using SATCOM datalink and then taxied back to the chock location via SATCOM taxi. Control of the aircraft was then transferred back to the XC2 portable laptop, which efficiently completed post-flight procedures through aircraft shutdown.
“Using a portable laptop computer in conjunction with SATCOM taxi and Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability [ATLC] is a game-changer for our customers,” said David R. Alexander, president, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI. “Instead of having a forward GCS relying on Line of Sight (LOS) communication, this advanced capability greatly reduces manpower and ensures that the remote pilots can be far away from any potential conflict.”
The XC2 laptop leverages GA-ASI’s Advanced Cockpit developments by porting select capabilities to a ruggedized laptop. Using a laptop, a forward-deployed maintainer can employ automated pre-flight checklists that reduce pre-flight times by up to 50 percent. This capability also reduces the airlift requirements by eliminating the need for a forward-deployed GCS.
MQ-9B is the result of a five-year, company-funded effort to deliver an unmanned aircraft that can fly in non-segregated airspace, while meeting the stringent airworthiness type-certification requirements of NATO STANAG 4671. The RPA features endurance of more than 40 hours, rapid integration of new payloads using nine hardpoints, all-weather, short-field, self-deployment through SATCOM controlled ATLC, Lynx® Multi-mode Radar and a company-developed Detect and Avoid (DAA) system. GA-ASI designed MQ-9B as the next generation of multi-mission Predator® B fleet and named its baseline MQ-9B aircraft SkyGuardian, and the maritime surveillance variant SeaGuardian.
In July 2018, MQ-9B SkyGuardian became the first Medium-altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) RPA to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. MQ-9B SkyGuardian has been selected by the United Kingdom (as part of the Royal Air Force’s Protector Program), and was recently announced as the RPA selection by the country of Belgium.
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The British Robotics Seed Fund is the first SEIS-qualifying investment fund specialising in UK-based robotics businesses. The focus of the fund is to deliver superior returns to investors by making targeted investments in a mixed basket of the most innovative and disruptive businesses that are exploiting the new generation of robotics technologies in defence and other sector applications.
Automation and robotisation are beginning to drive significant productivity improvements in the global economy heralding a new industrial revolution. The fund allows investors to benefit from this exciting opportunity, whilst also delivering the extremely attractive tax reliefs offered by the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). For many private investors, the amount of specialist knowledge required to assess investments in robotics is not practical and hence investing through a fund structure makes good sense.
The fund appoints expert mentors to work with each investee company to further maximise the chance of success for investors. Further details are available on request.
www.britbots.com/fund
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