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20 Dec 22. EU’s iMUGS programme conducts final technology demonstration. Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS), the European Union’s (EU’s) programme for a common unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), concluded its fifth and final demonstration on 15 December.
The demonstration, which was conducted at the Lehnin Training Area near Berlin, exhibited the programme’s swarming and autonomy technologies in their most advanced public display to date, and represented the culmination of iMUGS technological efforts, according to officials and industry representatives working on the iMUGS programme.
During the demonstration, UGVs of various classes autonomously carried out a series of tasks, including mapping and force screening missions, before assisting ‘blue’ force troops in assaulting a ‘red’ force fortified position.
In the first task, THeMIS medium UGVs acting in an autonomous swarm carried out reconnaissance of the tactical area before the insertion of personnel from the ‘blue’ force. The THeMIS UGVs utilised local swarming technologies exhibited on basic unmanned platforms in previous iMUGS demonstrations. Janes reported in November that the iMUGS consortium had commenced the integration of this technology into the far more advanced THeMIS platform. (Source: Janes)
29 Dec 22. UK Royal Navy’s 700X NAS develops new uncrewed quadcopter.
The new RPAS will be used by the RN as a testbed for various sensors and payloads. The UK Royal Navy’s (RN) 700X Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has successfully developed the first remotely-piloted quadcopter system on their own.
This marks a new milestone for the RN’s drone squadron personnel based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose near Helston, UK.
The 700X NAS is a test and expert unit that works on the experimentation, research, training and deployment of the remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) for the Navy.
RN lieutenant Kristian Lilley said: “This is the first time the navy has built its own air system using basic components. It is an important step in our recognition of endorsed manufacturer status with the Military Aviation Authority.”
The Culdrose-based team has named the new four-legged system as ‘Walrus’. This name has been derived from the flying boats that were developed by 700 NAS for use during the World War II.
Weighing approximately 20kgs, the RPAS are currently been placed in an empty aircraft hangar for undergoing a series of ground tests and assessments.
Once all the tests are complete, the quadcopter will be used by the RN as a testbed for various sensors and payloads.
Lilley added: “Built to high, aviation standards, the Walrus will be used specifically as a testbed for sensors and other sensitive payloads. It will be our independent test and evaluation platform.
“We’re now testing it using a rigorous regime here in a controlled environment. When we’re confident it’s operating correctly and safely, we’ll conduct our first flying tests, probably in the new year.”
The UK Ministry of Defence is making investments in drone technology development, and the latest announcement supports the same objective.
Recently, MoD awarded a £129m contract to Lockheed Martin to provide 250 high-tech drones for British forces. (Source: naval-technology.com)
28 Dec 22. Royal Navy builds drone in first for expert squadron.
The Royal Navy’s drone squadron have taken their expertise in uncrewed systems one step further by building their own quadcopter.
Personnel from 700X Naval Air Squadron have built their first remotely-piloted air system in a milestone moment for the Culdrose-based team.
Once thoroughly put through its paces, the drone could be used as a testbed for sensors and delivering other payloads.
In an empty aircraft hangar, the sleek four-legged system is ready to be turned on and put through a series of ground tests.
“Clear. Arming,” calls Chief Petty Officer Phil Wood, as he lifts the control unit. “Live,” he adds and an angry high-pitched noise swells and fills the hangar as the tethered drone roars into life.
The 20kg octo-quadcopter is named Walrus after the flying boats pioneered by 700 Naval Air Squadron and flown from cruisers and battleships during the Second World War.
“This is the first time the navy has built its own air system using basic components,” said Lieutenant Kristian Lilley, who is overseeing the tests.
“It’s an important step in our recognition of endorsed manufacturer status with the Military Aviation Authority.
“Built to high, aviation standards, the Walrus will be used specifically as a testbed for sensors and other sensitive payloads. It will be our independent test and evaluation platform. As we’ve built it, we know the system and exactly what it’s capable of.
“We’re now testing it using a rigorous regime here in a controlled environment. When we’re confident it’s operating correctly and safely, we’ll conduct our first flying tests, probably in the new year.”
Lt Lilley added: “I have a background in engineering and in aviation as a fast jet pilot so I find it an interesting subject.
“This technology has been around for a few years but we’ve really seen it expand recently, particularly in scale. There’s no doubt that it’s here to stay and will increasingly play a role in all our lives.”
700X Naval Air Station is the Royal Navy’s expert unit in the research, training and deployment of remotely piloted air systems.
The squadron is a mix of Royal Navy personnel of various branches, Royal Marines, civil servants and contractors, and is based at RNAS Culdrose. It uses nearby Predannack Airfield as a centre of expertise for flights and training.
Lieutenant Commander Martin Howard, the squadron’s commanding officer, said: “This project is just one strand of our work in researching, evaluating and deploying RPAS technology at the forefront of Royal Navy operations.
“It’s an important step in gathering knowledge and expertise in this ever-evolving field. As a squadron, we already train personnel across defence in the use of RPAS. We have flights which deploy the Puma air system to warships around the world and we are constantly testing and evaluating new systems from industry.
“This work will serve to strengthen all our outputs and is an important step forward for the Royal Navy.”
Today’s announcement is another example of the importance being placed on emerging drone technology. It follows the MOD’s announcement of 250 more high-tech drones for the British military, under a £129 m contract with Lockheed Martin announced last week. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
23 Dec 22. First Flight for Japan’s RQ-4 Global Hawk. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF, has officially flown the first of its new RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance drones that the country started the process of procuring from the United States in 2015.
The high-altitude, long-endurance, or HALE, unmanned aerial vehicle is expected to strengthen Japan’s surveillance capabilities as the country explores ways to enhance its situational awareness and better deter and respond to attacks from outside forces like North Korea and China.
Designed by Northrop Grumman, the RQ-4’s maiden flight with the JASDF occurred on Dec. 21 at an undisclosed location. It took place eight months after Japan received its first Global Hawk in March after it flew itself over from the U.S. in an 18.7-hour transpacific flight. A year before that, Northrop Grumman held its first stateside flight test with Japan’s Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in April 2021 at its facility in Palmdale, Calif. Three total Global Hawks have been purchased by Japan under the State Department’s Foreign Military Sales program.
“[Global Hawks are being] introduced in order to conduct information gathering in areas relatively remote from Japan, as well as persistent airborne monitoring during situations with heightened tensions,” the JASDF said in a March statement.
The 2018 Defense Department contract awarded to Northrop Grumman for the three Global Hawks — all based on the Block 30 configuration — was worth $489.9m. Each of the three Japanese variants of these UAVs has been designed with a synthetic aperture radar, infrared/electro-optical sensors, as well as signals-intelligence equipment. The overall order included two ground control systems and associated spares, operational flight test support, and communications equipment, among other support services.
Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk is a very large UAV weighing 14,950 pounds (6,781 kilograms) that is designed to carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. It can fly at an altitude of up to 65,000 feet and remain aloft for over 34 hours.
“The unarmed RQ-4B Global Hawk will provide Japan with on-demand intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information supporting the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s missions of protecting borders, monitoring threats, and providing humanitarian assistance in times of need,”
said Jane Bishop, vice president and general manager of autonomous systems for Northrop Grumman, in an April 2021 press release.
The JASDF’s new fleet of Global Hawks will be housed at the service’s Misawa Air Base located in the northern part of Japan’s main island of Honshū. Beginning in 2014, the U.S. Air Force started stationing a number of its own Global Hawks at Misawa during the summer months after the season’s typhoons and thunderstorms hindered ISR operations with the UAV at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Since 2020, however, this transfer has been primarily occurring between Andersen and Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
The JASDF has also launched a dedicated unit to operate Misawa’s new Global Hawks. The service’s new Air Reconnaissance Group began training with the U.S. Air Force’s 4th Reconnaissance Squadron out of Andersen in September to familiarize themselves with the procedures and protocol required to fly the UAVs.
The Global Hawks will ultimately integrate with other Japanese intelligence assets, “including ground-based command and control units,” according to Northrop Grumman. With its new fleet of Global Hawks, Japan will also join a list of allied operators of the Global Hawk family of UAVs in addition to the United States, which includes Australia, South Korea, and NATO member countries.
The Global Hawk will help Japan, a country made up of islands arrayed over a large area, to better monitor the approaches to its territory. It will also allow Japan to keep tabs on military activities and surveil large swaths of land by peering into other countries from international airspace. It could also eventually assist in Japan’s naval operations. (Source: UAS VISION/The Drive)
27 Dec 22. Turkish Combat Drone Akinci Test-fires New-gen Guidance Kit. Akinci hit the target with high precision with a 1,000-pound (about 455 kilograms) MK-83 bomb equipped with the guidance kit named Gökçe after taking off from a flight training and test center in northwestern Tekirdag’s Çorlu district.
“Bull’s Eye,” wrote Selçuk Bayraktar, chief technology officer (CTO) of Akinci developer Baykar, as he shared a video of the test on Twitter.
Developed by TÜBITAK SAGE, the new generation guidance kit engaged to the target that Akinci illuminated with a laser from an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), marking its first test on an unmanned aerial vehicle.
It comes just days after Akinci successfully test-fired Türkiye’s first air-to-ground supersonic missile, the TRG-230, after hitting a target at a distance of over 100 kilometers (62 miles).
It added to multiple other ammunitions, including MAM-C/L/T, the TEBER-82 guidance kit, KGK-SIHA-82 wing-assisted guidance kit, LGK-82 and TOLUN miniature bombs, all of which have been successfully launched from Akinci UCAVs.
Marking the most advanced and sophisticated drone built by the country, Akinci was first delivered to the Turkish security forces in late August last year.
The UCAV joined the company’s Bayraktar TB2, which has been widely used and sold to various countries, including Ukraine, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Poland.
Akinci is longer and wider than the Bayraktar TB2 and can perform strategic tasks. It has a 20-meter (65-foot) wingspan with its unique twisted-wing structure and is equipped with fully automatic flight control and a triple-redundant autopilot system.
Baykar says the Akinci can attack targets both in the air and on the ground. It can also operate alongside fighter jets and fly higher and stay in the air longer than Turkey’s existing drones.
Bayraktar TB has been sold to 27 countries so far, while Baykar has signed export deals with five countries for Akinci.
Exports constitute almost 98% of Baykar’s revenues this year. It says it has agreed to more than $1bn worth of export deals with 18 different countries throughout 2022. (Source: ASD Network)
23 Dec 22. Latvia’s Atlas Dynamics to open drone production plant in Ukraine. Latvian drone company Atlas Dynamics plans to open in early 2023 a research and development factory in Ukraine and later on a production plant in collaboration with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.
Since the outbreak of the war in February, Atlas Dynamics has delivered a total of 300 Atlas Pro tricopter drones to Ukrainian troops with an additional 75 set to be deployed in mid-January, according to the company’s chief executive. Thus far, small groups have been relying on the drones to find and expose Russian troop locations that can then be relayed to artillery units.
The company is now undergoing a rapid expansion. Previously, its efforts were on increasing global exports, but its attention has now shifted entirely to Ukraine as “it currently has the most incredible experience of modern warfare that is invaluable and can significantly help improve products and create new ones,” founder and CEO Ivan Tolchinsky said. The Riga-based company has also hired Ukrainian refugees to help speed up its production rate.
The company declined to disclose the precise location of the R&D office or the future assembly plant. While the first will be opened in a matter of “months,” according to Tolchinsky, the company is still coordinating with the Ukrainian Ministry on the details of the production facility. Even so, he said cooperation with Kyiv has already begun for “the creation of new products and types of equipment.”
At a weight of 1.9 kilograms (4.1 pounds), the Atlas Pro is much lighter than other platforms seen in Ukraine, and falls under the category of mini-drones, designed primarily for intelligence and surveillance missions as it is resilient against electronic warfare interference. According to Tolchinsky, the concept behind its development was that it had to be simple, convenient and easy enough for all to operate, which is why “we removed the joystick from our first remote as they gave the feeling that it was difficult to control the drone.”
In recent months, unmanned systems have drawn significant attention in Ukraine.
“Systems like the Bayraktar TB2 do help Ukraine; it is just that their use requires the cooperation of various branches of the military and other equipment to make its use effective,” Tolchinsky said. “It cannot win the war on its own, nor is it a golden wand but only a cog in a vast machine.”
He adds that although Atlas Dynamics has a long-standing relationship with the Ukrainian MoD and that the Atlas Pro was adapted to their requirements, the first weeks following the invasion showed that not all of them coincided with the realities of the war and changes had to be made. Among them, operators wanted more powerful batteries and larger swarming capabilities.
According to company projections, the ability to launch and control 50 of these drones at a time will be possible as early as the first quarter of 2023. Tolchinsky further said the company is developing new, higher-resolution cameras alongside other technologies that will be available soon. (Source: Defense News)
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