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22 June 22. Primoco UAV SE Sells Six Primoco One 150 UAVs in $3.5m Deal.
Primoco UAV SE has announced the sale of six Primoco One 150 UAVs valued at 3.3m euros. The sale was signed with a European client. Ladislav Semetkovský, CEO of Primoco UAV SE, said:
“In February this year, we obtained the EASA LUC (Light Unmanned Certificate) for the Primoco UAV One 150 from the Czech Civil Aviation Authority. The certificate is a key document for further sales in Europe. We expect to close new UAV contracts worth 2.7 m euros in the coming weeks. In total, the company plans to sell 40 aircraft with revenue of CZK 500m in 2022.”
Primoco also announced recently that German-based PLATH GmbH & Co KG and Czech Republic-based Primoco UAV demonstrated the first successful BVLOS-flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) under an all-European LUC while regular air traffic proceeded in the military airspace of the Bundeswehr in Manching. The versatile fixed-wing UAV Primoco One 150 is perfectly suited to a range of tasks with its take-off weight of 150 kg, a payload of 30 kg and an operation time of more than 15 hours non-stop in the air. PLATH´s onboard multi-sensor technologies and airborne radio and transponder provided safe air traffic management (ATM) and collected all necessary data for the successful mission.
The WTD 61 Geschäftsfeld 470 in Manching was given a mandate from BAAINBw L 5.2 to conduct flight demonstrations to assess the capabilities of the Primoco One 150. The flight was made possible, from Ingolstadt-Manching airport where the Bundeswehr unit WTD 61, GF 470 is located by using a LIGHT UAS OPERATOR CERTIFICATE (LUC). It was the first time that a pan-European LUC operational approval was used which allowed the flight in Germany (or anywhere in Europe) without further approval from the Luftfahrt Bundesamt LBA. For the pioneering flight in Manching, the frequency allocation was made via the Federal Network Agency– Bundesnetzagentur (BNA).
All three flights were successfully performed at the end of April. After ensuring seamless communication and procedures through a test flight in Visual Line of Sight (VLOS), the air space was opened for all other aircraft. During the following BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) and the BVLOS endurance flight the next day several missions were conducted with focus on flight parameters, navigational accuracy, and other aspects. The PLATH system consisting of onboard multi-sensor technologies and multi-platform connectivity helped the system pass all operational tests by the Bundeswehr with flying colours. In addition, the UAV is equipped with an airborne radio and transponder which made air traffic management (ATM) easy and safe and provided all necessary data for the future-oriented flight mission.
For safety reasons the plane carried a ballistic recovery parachute allowing to minimise the landing impact in case of an emergency. The Primoco flight crew is a holder of both, civil and military drone pilot licenses. The fruitful cooperation leading to this successful test proved that the team´s UAV may be easily integrated into the modern army structure and can perform its missions safely and effectively with compliance to latest aviation standards.
The Primoco UAV SE CEO Ladislav Semetkovský commented the deployment as follows: “I also would like to thank the whole Bundeswehr team and base command, who provided exceptional support for making this evaluation possible. Although the operation took place under a civilian Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) the plane is designed for full compliance with military STANAG 4703 standards as well. The LUC was selected because it allowed us to perform the activities freely within the frame of our approval and with no delays or additional approvals needed. Our team enjoyed the conversations with representatives from various Bundeswehr units and departments as well as with our partner PLATH who gave us, as the Bundeswehr team, valuable feedback on our system. Obviously, the operation from a prestigious location such as Ingolstadt-Manching required perfect preparation and elimination of any potential risks limiting the base operation.”
Heiko Fimpel, Director Presales at PLATH commented on this milestone: “I am happy to have this great partnership with Primoco, enabling us with their competence and engagement to bring our high-tech sensor systems over the area of interest and make this success possible. I´d like to thank the Bundeswehr for the competent, friendly and fruitful cooperation leading to this milestone in military aviation in Germany. As the UAV can be easily adapted to different types of sensor operation and integrated into the modern army structure this new vehicle category will have a great future ahead.”
Primoco UAV develops and produces the One 150 civilian and military unmanned aircraft, capable of flying completely independently according to programmed flight plans. The key features of the aircraft are its size, maximum take-off weight 150 kg, 15 hours endurance, 2 000 km range, cruising speed 100-150 km/h, payload 30 kg and fully automatic take-off and landing. The company focuses on civil and military aerospace applications, particularly in tactical, reconnaissance, energy, border and coastal security, fire monitoring and search and rescue operations. The company’s aircraft is in operation on three continents. (Source: UAS VISION)
22 June 22. Boeing sees potential export customers for updated MQ-25 Stingray. Boeing said foreign partners could be potential customers for its updated MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“Sixty-nine [platforms] is the programme of record [for the US Navy (USN)], but obviously there’s options to update this and make it do other missions and other customers might be interested,” Boeing‘s Dave Bujold, MQ-25 programme manager, told reporters on 16 June.
According to Bujold, there were options for other US services as customers, as well as international customers. However, he would not disclose if there had been conversations with other customers.
The MQ-25 UAV is designed to refuel carrier-based aircraft. The UK, France, and Italy are among allies with aircraft carriers. However, the UK’s Queen Elizabeth-class carrier uses a ski-jump capability, which the MQ-25 design does not support. Boeing is working on integrating the MQ-25 on the USN‘s Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers. (Source: Janes)
14 June 22. HII demonstrates amphibious warships’ capabilities to operate LDUUV. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has demonstrated capabilities allowing amphibious war vessels to operate with a launch and recover large-diameter uncrewed underwater vehicle (LDUUV).
This demonstration, which had seen the use of HII-built amphibious warships and LDUUV, was part of the research and development effort between HII’s Mission Technologies and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions, to support HII’s national security customers.
Conducted in the Pascagoula River, the test was performed using a prototype platform known as Pharos and HII’s LDUUV Proteus.
The test was carried out by HII’s Advanced Technology Group.
HII-built San Antonio-class amphibious ships include well decks that can be flooded to launch and recover space crafts. The US Navy has also tested this ability previously.
During the demonstration, the LDUUV was made to approach and be seized by Pharos cradle while Pharos was towed behind a small craft, simulating an amphibious vessel at low speed.
After being put in a tow position, Pharos was ballasted down, using a remote control, in the trailing position, to help LDUUV navigate into Pharos.
Pharos was then de-ballasted back into a recovery and transport position, after the uncrewed vehicle was captured. The test also involved ballasting down to launch LDUUV after being captured.
HII Ingalls Shipbuilding president Kari Wilkinson said: “HII is committed to advancing the future of distributed maritime operations and demonstrating our capability to support uncrewed vehicles on amphibious ships.”
Pharos has a reconfigurable design to fit several uncrewed surface and underwater vehicles.
The design of Pharos was provided by HII and three partners support its development.
The initial model tests were co0nducted by the US Navy and the University of New Orleans while Louisiana’s Metal Shark fabricated the prototype device.
HII is planning to conduct live demonstrations with the fleet within the next year and is currently exploring modifications for other UUVs. HII will use Pharos test results to further mature concepts. (Source: naval-technology.com)
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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.
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