Sponsored by The British Robotics Seed Fund
http: www.britbots.com/fund
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03 Aug 23. On August 1, 2023, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed multiple successful takeoffs and landings with its Mojave Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) on a dirt strip near El Mirage, Calif.
The ability to take off and land on unimproved surfaces demonstrates Mojave’s departure from traditional fixed-wing aircraft’s dependance on prepared runways. This new capability provides greater versatility and allows the aircraft to operate in areas previously deemed unsuitable for UAS operations.
“Being able to execute missions in austere locations with runway independence opens the operational envelope for commanders across all services and geographic locations,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Mojave can do this while retaining significant advantages in endurance and persistence over Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) and manned aircraft.”
The flight tests were the first-ever Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) on a dirt surface for Mojave. Takeoffs were performed in as little as 586 feet; and short landings were completed in as little as 335 feet. The tests were primarily focused on gathering terrain feedback using Mojave, not achieving the shortest distances possible.
Tracing its lineage from the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and MQ-9 Reaper, Mojave is a technical demonstrator with STOL capability, making it a versatile expeditionary UAS. Adhering to Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) principles, Mojave leverages the modernized avionics, data links, sensor integration, and laptop ground control station of GA-ASI’s Gray Eagle 25M program. These features – along with Mojave’s enlarged wings with high-lift devices, combat-proven 450-HP turbine engine, and ruggedized landing gear – make it ideal for semi-improved surfaces with a small ground support footprint.
Mojave provides options for forward-basing operations without the need for typical airport runways or infrastructure, so it can be rapidly deployed from and recovered to non-traditional discrete locations. To extend operational reach, Mojave can fit into a C-130 and be rapidly assembled and employed. These innovations make Mojave the perfect UAS to perform Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA), attack, and contested logistics support missions.
Designed to be rapidly deployable and expeditionary, Mojave’s tailored features include a ruggedized airframe that enables operations in austere conditions and weatherization that enables flight in wider environmental windows. Robust wing storage means it can carry up to 16 Hellfire or equivalent missiles, assorted munitions, Launched Effects (LEs), or logistical resupply pods. Mojave can provide greater operational flexibility while still being equipped with a multi-sensor suite that includes Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) to support land or maritime missions throughout Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO).
04 Aug 23. Australia seeks sovereignly manufactured general-purpose UAS. With Australia’s military banning the use of commercially available UAS, the ADF is looking for sovereignly designed replacements for general-purpose use. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is seeking information on small, general-purpose UAS that can be produced at scale. On 31 July, the ADF issued an RfI for what it termed an Australian Sovereign Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) and Trusted Autonomy Capability. The Australian-manufactured UAS being sought would be used for various applications free from security limitations and concerns, particularly their internet connectivity. (Source: News Now/Shephard)
01 Aug 23. ANRA Powers NASA’s High Density Vertiplex Operations Center. NASA Langley Research Center’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) High Density Vertiplex (HDV) sub-project recently hosted a live flight test event for guests that successfully showcased scalable autonomous operations. As a NASA Langley partner, ANRA Technologies (ANRA) provided fusion capability for multiple surveillance sources integrated into ANRA’s Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) system, then visualized in the HDV Operations Center.
Since 2021, ANRA has collaborated with NASA Langley on technologies that enable beyond-visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations for uncrewed aircraft systems such as drones and vertical take-off and land (VTOL) aircraft. ANRA was tasked to fuse cooperative and non-cooperative surveillance sensor data into a correlated common operating picture. These systems include three NASA radars (LSTAR V2, (2) GA-9120) in addition to another Skyler-2 radar through a collaborative Space Act Agreement with Longbow LLC. Cooperative ADS-B and FLARM sensors are also included.
Additionally, ANRA’s fused track data includes a path prediction feature that anticipates an aircraft’s route for additional deconfliction measures. The NASA-ANRA team continues to refine fusion features and user interfaces to ensure accurate and selectable information is presented meaningfully.
“We want to get to the point in the UAM ecosystem where people will be able to generate revenue while the average person can afford to use it,” said Lou Glaab, Acting Branch Head for the Aeronautic Systems Engineering Branch at NASA Langley. “To achieve that, you are talking high density with lots of traffic and aircraft. I’m sure some companies could fly VTOLs instead of helicopters, but that will only serve a very small percentage of the population.”
ANRA is also responsible for integrating its fused surveillance data stream into its UTM solution for reducing and mitigating air risk for BVLOS operations. Using the same system deployed for numerous FAA projects, ANRA’s UTM platform provides core services such as strategic deconfliction and conformance monitoring, geozone creation, and alerting for uncrewed aircraft. By adding surveillance, the ANRA solution intelligently routes uncrewed aircraft to avoid the risk of air collision with both crewed and uncrewed aircraft.
ANRA’s platform also integrates other supplemental data (Remote ID, LAANC, weather, NOTAMs, etc.) to provide a single common operating picture that helps manage and coordinate all uncrewed air traffic from the Langley HDV Operations Center.
“I can’t think of another location with as many technologies for testing and developing safe operation and integration of AAM aircraft and their enabling systems,” said Amit Ganjoo, Founder and CEO of ANRA. “I believe Langley offers a critical first node for expanding operations in the Hampton Roads region, and I’m thrilled that ANRA is providing the engine to help power this innovation.”
The ANRA capabilities installed in support of the HDV subproject are designed for scalability and have been architected using international standards that align with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) vision for integrating drones and VTOLs into the national airspace system. The High Density Vertiplex subproject will work toward developing a prototype vertiport automation system – a vertical aircraft takeoff and landing pad plus terminal – to assess scalable and efficient aircraft operations, flight and airspace management procedures, and interoperability of capabilities needed to support AAM operations, especially in an urban environment.
Glaab also stated, “We are performing rapid prototyping and assessment of a future UAM Ecosystem allowing a view of the future through integration of representative elements involved with onboard automation and automated airspace to develop a vertiport automation system. We have much more work ahead of us, but this simulation and flight test with subsequent demonstration proves that we took a big step forward for AAM.”
About NASA Langley
NASA’s Langley Research Center is comprised of nearly 200 facilities on 764 acres in Hampton, Virginia, and employs about 3,400 civil servants and contractors. Langley works to take revolutionary improvements to aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere and develop technology for space exploration.
About ANRA Technologies
ANRA Technologies is an international provider of airspace management solutions for uncrewed aircraft operators and airspace managers. ANRA offers intelligent and modular traffic management software capabilities for UAS Traffic Management (UTM)/U-space and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. For organizations that need an enterprise-class drone operations solution, ANRA offers Mission Manager, and for delivery solutions, ANRA offers DELIVERY. ANRA is a FAA certified LAANC provider and offers Remote ID and C-UAS solutions. (Source: UAS VISION)
02 Aug 23. Iran to Export Drones to Bolivia. In a visit to Tehran last week, Bolivia’s Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo Aguilar clinched a deal with his Iranian counterpart that is expected to include the delivery of Iran-made drones to La Paz.
At a joint press briefing in Tehran, Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani expressed Tehran’s readiness to provide the Bolivian military with “the equipment it needed to combat drug trafficking and secure its borders.” Such cooperation, the Iranian brigadier general said, “could serve as a model to our friends in South America,” according to a report by the state-run Fars News.
Upon his return to La Paz, the Bolivian defense minister spoke of his government’s interest in receiving Iranian drones. While details as to what types of Iranian drones are to be shipped remain murky, the Tehran agreement has already drawn concern from the United States.
“We urge all nations … to carefully consider before they enter into defense arrangements with a nation like Iran,”
said John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the US National Security Council, in an interview with Voice of America.
The worry has been graver in neighboring Argentina, which has had simmering tensions with Iran since a 1994 deadly bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center blamed on the theocratic state in Tehran. The Argentine government has called on Bolivia to clarify details of its military cooperation with the Islamic Republic. Yet the Bolivian defense minister has said his government is not looking to buy war weapons from Tehran, dismissing the concerns as “exaggeration.”
Hard-line loyalists of the Islamic Republic found a moment of triumph in the Iran-Bolivia deal, celebrating how a drone program developed by Iranians was paving the way for Tehran’s influence in Latin America. They were following the same pattern that has held for Iran’s controversial drone deliveries to Russia, which the West says are being used in the war against Ukraine. While the Islamic Republic officially denies such shipments, its hard-line supporters and ideologues have not shied away from expressive praise for the policy.
Iran has long considered Latin America as “the US backyard” where it could “deepen its strategic influence.” Last month, President Ebrahim Raisi visited Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba to sign multiple agreements with the three leftist states, with which Tehran is proud to share an anti-American agenda. In its stated foreign policy, the Raisi administration insists that cooperation with non-Western allies could salvage Iran from international isolation and remedy its battered economy.
In the wake of the Tehran-Bolivia military cooperation deal, reports have also come out indicating that Venezuela is already using Iranian fast-attack boats. Expert military platforms monitoring drills focused on a recent Venezuelan navy exercise where they specifically detected Iranian Zolfaghar boats on which Iran-made Nasr-1 cruise missiles were mounted. (Source: UAS VISION/ Al-Monitor; Twitter; YouTube)
01 Aug 23. Saltwater Stone, a dedicated maritime communications agency, announced its partnership with Neil Brown Ocean Sensors Inc. (NBOSI), a specialist developer and manufacturer of cutting-edge sensors for the maritime robotics industry. Run by a highly skilled team with extensive experience in engineering and oceanographic research, NBOSI is uniquely positioned to provide operators in the defence, offshore, and ocean research sectors with state-of-the-art Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) sensors for subsea and surface ocean vehicle operations.
Unique Value Proposition: NBOSI specializes in designing and manufacturing semi-custom CTD sensors tailored to meet the specific requirements of autonomous subsea and surface ocean vehicles. Operators in the defence, offshore, and ocean research sectors can now harness research-quality data on ocean temperature, salinity, density, and sound velocity to optimize vehicle performance, navigation, and acoustic payload functionality.
Advancements and Innovations: NBOSI brings a range of advancements and innovations to the maritime robotics industry. Their sensors deliver accurate and precise data, while being compact and hydrodynamically efficient, enabling seamless integration as externally-attached modular cabled sensors, or directly attached using a variety of custom hull penetrators. Additionally, NBOSI’s sensors feature convenient off-vehicle calibration, ensuring reliable measurements throughout the sensor’s lifetime.
Addressing Challenges and Gaps: NBOSI’s technology addresses existing challenges and gaps in maritime communications and operations. By providing essential oceanographic data in real-time, their sensors enable operators to optimize vehicle performance and payload capabilities. This leads to improved decision-making, enhanced situational awareness, and increased operational efficiency.
Effectiveness and Reliability: NBOSI has a proven track record of delivering high-quality sensors to researchers and vehicle manufacturers worldwide. The effectiveness and reliability of its sensors are widely recognized and trusted. Due to their reliability and performance, NBOSI sensors are deployed on underwater vehicles globally, and offered as standard equipment on leading platforms, including the Hydroid (now Huntington Ingalls Industries) REMUS family and the OceanServer (now L3Harris) IVER vehicles.
Contributing to Efficiency, Safety, and Sustainability: NBOSI’s sensor technology stands as a vital component in advancing the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of robotic operations in various marine applications. The sensors are designed specifically for hydrodynamic efficiency ensuring low drag to prevent any interference with vehicle movement. Seamlessly integrated into the hull, they further reduce the risk of snagging, and their robust construction allows years of reliable service.
Since the company’s inception, the sensors have experienced significant demand for their application in underwater vehicles used for defence. By enabling accurate remote operation instead of human intervention, they ensure improved personnel safety, for tasks such as mine-hunting and EOD. NBOSI likely has more sensors deployed worldwide than any other manufacturer for this purpose.
The impact of NBOSI’s sensors goes beyond safety; they deliver accurate and real-time oceanographic data, allowing operators to optimize vehicle performance. This optimization leads to reduced energy consumption and a minimized environmental impact, contributing to a more sustainable and responsible approach to maritime activities.
Track Record and Experience: NBOSI has a long history in implementing robotics solutions in the maritime sector. Founded in 2003 by Dr. Ray Schmitt, a renowned scientist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), along with WHOI engineers Bob Petitt and Neil Brown, the company has consistently pushed the boundaries of sensor technology for mobile ocean platforms. With the addition of President Dr. Dave Fratantoni, an experienced ocean scientist and engineer, NBOSI’s team comprises experts with a wealth of experience in developing and operating oceanographic instrument systems and autonomous marine platforms.
Partnerships and Collaborations: NBOSI has established long-term partnerships and collaborations with industry players, research institutions, and government agencies. These collaborations allow NBOSI to continue to drive technological advancements, along with contributing to the development of standards and best practices in the maritime robotics industry. The company’s commitment to collaboration underscores its dedication to driving innovation and delivering exceptional solutions.
Saltwater Stone is pleased to have been chosen by NBOSI as its marketing partner, to help elevate the brand’s presence, and increase the recognition of NBOSI’s contribution in advancing mobile marine platforms.
31 Jul 23. China curbs exports of drone equipment amid U.S. tech tension. China on Monday announced export controls on some drones and drone-related equipment, saying it wanted to safeguard “national security and interests” amid escalating tension with the United States over access to technology.
The restrictions on equipment, including some drone engines, lasers, communication equipment and anti-drone systems, will take effect on Sept. 1, the commerce ministry said.
The controls also affect some consumer drones, and no civilian drones can be exported for military purposes, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
“China’s modest expansion of the scope of its drone control this time is an important measure to demonstrate our stance as a responsible major country, to implement global security initiatives, and maintain world peace,” the unidentified spokesperson said.
Authorities had notified relevant countries and regions, the spokesperson said.
China has a large drone manufacturing industry and exports to several markets, including the United States.
The Department of Defense and Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Congress in 2019 banned the Pentagon from buying or using drones and components manufactured in China.
U.S. lawmakers have said that more than 50% of drones sold in the U.S. are made by Chinese-based company DJI, and they are the most popular drone used by public safety agencies.
DJI said on Monday it always strictly complied with and enforced laws and regulations of the countries or regions in which it operates, including China’s export control regulatory requirements.
“We have never designed and manufactured products and equipment for military use, nor have we ever marketed or sold our products for use in military conflicts or wars in any country,” the drone maker added.
A German retailer in March 2022 accused DJI of leaking data on Ukrainian military positions to Russia, which the company rejected as “utterly false”.
China’s commerce ministry said in April this year that U.S. and Western media were spreading “unfounded accusations” that it was exporting drones to the battlefield in Ukraine, adding the reports were an attempt to “smear” Chinese firms and it would continue to strengthen export controls on drones.
The drone export curbs come after China announced export controls on some metals widely used in chipmaking last month, following moves by the United States to restrict China’s access to key technologies, such as chipmaking equipment. (Source: Reuters)
28 Jul 23. Throttle Aerospace nimble-i micro-UAV enters Indian service. Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) Pvt Ltd of RattanIndia Enterprises has delivered its nimble-i micro-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the Indian Army.
The nimble-i was unveiled at the 4th Drone International Expo, which was held in New Delhi from 26 to 27 July.
TAS told Janes, “Work on [developing] nimble-i started in 2017 followed by flight tests in late 2018.” The company received an order to supply two nimble-i UAVs to the Indian Army and the UAVs were delivered in May 2023.
The nimble-i is a multirotor, electric-powered, micro-UAV developed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The UAV is designed totake on civil and military roles such as border surveillance, disaster management, and forest and wildfire monitoring.
The UAV features four detachable arms ending with landing legs housing electric motors powering the fixed-pitch two-bladed propellers. The central mast is attached with arms, a three-axis gimballed electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) turret, and a battery at the bottom. The electric motors support vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) operations. (Source: Janes)
28 Jul 23. Skyhawk Aerospace reveals Pushpak and C35-E UAVs. India-based Skyhawk Aerospace showcased its indigenously designed fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) multirole Pushpak and C35-E unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the 4th Drone International Expo held in Delhi on 26 and 27 July.
The Pushpak is a tactical UAV designed to conduct high-altitude cargo operations. The UAV features a skid landing gear system and can fly up to a maximum altitude of 5,700 m in what company CEO Jayesh A described as “near gale conditions” and at temperatures between -30° C and +55° C.
Speaking to Janes , Jayesh said, “The development of the UAV started in November 2020 primarily to support cargo operations based on the inputs given by [the] Army Design Bureau (ADB).”
The design of the Pushpak includes shoulder-mounted moderately tapered straight wings spanning a length of 6.28 m, a twin-boom-mounted tail that has vertical stabilisers joined by a horizontal stabiliser at the top, and a hook placed beneath the fuselage near the wing section to carry the cargo. (Source: Janes)
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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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