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25 Jul 24. Missiles not included: MQ-28A Ghost Bat will not carry weapons. In a surprise change of plans, the MQ-28A Ghost Bat drone will not carry weapons, instead being shifted to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles.
A government source this week confirmed to The Australian that plans to make the Ghost Bat a “killer drone” had been shelved after manufacturer Boeing lost out on a US program to make autonomous combat jets.
According to the source cited in The Australian, pivoting the Ghost Bat to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) will provide fewer hurdles for Defence, as it would not require “rules of engagement” for its weapons and will offer important military capabilities.
The aircraft, first unveiled to the world in May 2020, is the first military aircraft designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in over 50 years. It uses AI to help both crewed and uncrewed aircraft in mid-air, hence its previous Australian project name, Loyal Wingman.
A spokesperson for Boeing Australia told the newspaper it would keep working on the Ghost Bat and the MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueller drone, and that Boeing is “undeterred in our commitment to providing next-generation autonomous combat aircraft for US and global military customers”.
“The modular and open design of MQ-28 (Ghost Bat) enables it to supplement a broad range of ADF missions and we are currently working to develop an operational capability in a number of these areas, aligned with the National Defence Strategy,” the spokesperson said.
The Ghost Bat is set to cost more than $800 million, with the government in February announcing an extra $400 million investment into the project.
Defence said at the time that the additional funding would secure more than 350 jobs, with Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy extolling the program’s merits.
“More than 200 Australian companies have already contributed to the MQ-28A program, including more than 50 small and medium enterprises within the supply chain,” he said.
“This project demonstrates that with the appropriate support from government, Australia’s defence industry can continue to be a world leader and a key source of jobs.”
Additionally, March saw the beginning of construction on a new $550 million Boeing facility at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport to construct the Ghost Bat.
Once complete, the 9,000-square-metre facility at Wellcamp Aerospace and Defence Precinct will include manufacturing capabilities such as carbon fibre composites manufacture and advanced robotic assembly for major components. (Source: Defence Connect)
25 Jul 24. Airbus showcases Wingman as potential adjunct for GCAP. Airbus showcased its recently revealed Wingman concept at the Farnborough International Airshow running from 22 to 26 July, telling Janes that it could be brought into the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) of Italy, Japan, and the UK.
Marco Gumbrecht, head of Combat Air Systems, Airbus Defence and Space (DS), said on 24 July that with GCAP solely concerned with development of the manned sixth generation combat aircraft that will be known as Tempest in the UK (Italy and Japan have yet to decide their naming conventions), the Wingman could potentially serve as a ‘loyal wingman’ force multiplying adjunct.
“We could potentially partner with BAE Systems [or other GCAP companies] – that could be something that happens in the future,” Gumbrecht said.
While Airbus DS is the lead company in the remote carrier (RC) pillar of the rival Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) programme, the Wingman is a solely company-funded effort and sits outside of the scope of the Next-Generation Weapon System (NGWS) Phase 1B development contract that comprises the New Generation Fighter (NGF), RCs, and the Air Combat Cloud. As such, its inclusion in the GCAP project would not be at odds with Airbus’ FCAS/SCAF work.
“Airbus believes in the Wingman, which is fully internally funded – there is currently no customer contract,” Gumbrecht said. “We have brought it here to ‘GCAP-land’ [the UK], and we are very aware that people will ask that question [as to whether it might be offered to the GCAP programme].” (Source: Janes)
23 Jul 24. Boeing says it will shun fixed-price contracts for drone wingmen. A top Boeing executive said Monday the company plans to keep bidding to make drone wingmen for the Air Force — but not if it means agreeing to a fixed-price contract.
“If it’s a fixed-price development program that requires a ton of maturity … that is a recipe for failure,” Ted Colbert, president and chief executive at Boeing Defense, Space and Security, told reporters at the Farnborough Air Show in England. “It really is. The stuff that we do is really hard, and we’ve got to set ourselves up for success.”
The Air Force wants to create a fleet of autonomous drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft to fly alongside F-35s and the future Next Generation Air Dominance fighter. The service is now planning to create a fleet of about 1,000 CCAs to carry out a variety of missions including conducting airstrikes, jamming enemy signals, gathering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and serving as decoys in combat.
In April, the Air Force awarded contracts to Anduril and General Atomics to design and build the first round of CCAs. A second wave, or as the Air Force calls it, “Increment 2,” will follow, and Boeing plans to bid on it unless it means agreeing to a fixed-price contract.
Under a fixed-price contract, a company agrees to create a system for the military at a set price tag. If the program busts its budget, the company is on the hook for cost overruns.
Boeing has ended up taking bns of dollars in losses on fixed price deals for programs like the KC-46 Pegasus refueling tanker. In an October 2023 earnings call, Boeing chief financial officer Brian West told investors the company has not signed any further fixed-price development contracts, “nor [do we] intend to.”
Boeing’s newfound reluctance to agreeing to fixed-price contracts showed up late last year, when the company was disqualified from the contest to build the replacement for the E-4B Nightwatch “doomsday plane.”
Colbert said the deal to build the Survivable Airborne Operations Center would have entailed agreeing to fixed-price elements and other components that were unacceptable to Boeing. Sierra Nevada Corp. ultimately received the deal to build SAOC for the Air Force.
“We submitted a proposal on that … but we were disqualified,” Colbert said. “And that was it. … There were dimensions of that, that we just cannot sign up for. Especially given the complexity of that particular system.”
And when a program involves “immature technology” or a system that is among the first of its kind, such as CCAs, Colbert said Boeing will need to protect its own interests.
“This isn’t meant to be an adversarial comment,” Colbert said. “It’s about doing it right together with our customer. It’s about us acknowledging that these programs are really tough in the early years.”
Boeing’s work on the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, an autonomous drone primarily flown by the Royal Australian Air Force, and the MQ-25 Stingray autonomous drone refueler has laid the groundwork for more work on the CCA program, Colbert said.
Colbert predicted the Air Force’s future fleet of CCAs will be made up of a variety of different drones.
“Kind of like your families of car models,” Colbert said. “Small, medium, large, attritable, lethal. That whole market is set up for a lot of competition going forward, and we’re investing to make sure that we can compete in that market.” (Source: Reuters)
23 Jul 24. Larger, steadier: Ocius reveals new and improved Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel. Australian autonomous uncrewed vessel developer Ocius Technology has produced a larger and improved Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel.
The new, larger uncrewed surface vessel, designated as “BETH 2.0” in-house, was shown to Defence Connect by Ocius chief executive officer Robert Dane earlier this month.
The fiberglass yacht-shaped uncrewed vessels are fully autonomous and powered by solar, wind, and wave motion. Bluebottles have previously been purchased by the Australian Defence Force and deployed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions using radar and high-definition camera tracking.
The 6 per cent larger mould can produce a 30 per cent better sailing ability (righting moment) and carry an additional payload increase of 300 kilograms while still being able to be launched from an ordinary boat ramp and fit in a shipping container, according to Dane.
“The magic of scaling the boat to go a little bit bigger is that obviously, it provides a lot more volume,” he said.
It’s understood that for the boatbuilder, engineering and production teams, BETH 2.0 boats will be easier to build and “fit out 0148. They will use the same rudder/flipper, winch and internal mechatronics and power systems and sit on the same size trailer, fit into a standard shipping container, be towed by a standard SUV and launch and recover from a council boat ramp. The first BETH 2.0 boat out of the new mould is BB708 and is located at the Randwick facility before beginning sea trials in August.
The Beth 2.0 extra volume design will likely feature at the Australian Defence Force’s Exercise Autonomous Warrior testing event held in October later this year, according to Dane.
“So, all these extra-large underwater unmanned vessels (being announced for international defence) are sort of synergistic with what we’re doing. If they’re under the water and they need to be able to communicate and they need a gateway to communicate, we can be that gateway of communications,” he said.
“So, if you’ve got 100 Bluebottles across the top of Australia, then it’s like a cell network for things under the water. We can be doing stuff like Border Force, Fisheries, we can be all these other things on the surface, but we can also be doing other stuff.”
Earlier this month, it was announced that international maritime design and technical consultancy BMT had teamed up with Ocius under a new maritime data collection and management collaboration.
The partnership is aimed at deploying a fleet of 1,000 autonomous vessels globally within the next 10 years, with BMT and Ocius able to provide a persistent and networked system of remote sensors.
The teaming agreement between BMT and Ocius aims to develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of the Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel for providing data as a service.
The companies will focus on co-developing a commercial data collection and management model, initially targeting environmental monitoring for offshore wind development projects.
The Bluebottle USV is expected to be ideally suited for these projects, reducing the need for crewed data collection and benefiting from the sustained and persistent operations that a Bluebottle can deliver. (Source: Defence Connect)
23 Jul 24. Alkath Group, MSubs collaborate to accelerate Australian maritime autonomy. Australian defence company Alkath Group and United Kingdom-based submersible manufacturer MSubs have announced a new collaboration aimed at accelerating maritime autonomous system capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
The collaboration paves the way for cost-effective and versatile uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) to be available for a variety of applications, including defence, marine science, and commercial offshore survey operations.
This announcement comes in the lead-up to the Indian Ocean Defence & Security Conference (IODS) in Perth, where the collaboration will be further discussed among key defence and maritime stakeholders.
“Our collaboration with MSubs represents a significant step forward in bringing affordable advanced maritime autonomous technology with speed to Australia,” said Alkath Group managing director Phil Guy.
“Leveraging MSubs’ 20 years of expertise with the UK and US navies, we are poised to deliver cutting-edge USVs that meet the unique needs of our region. We aim to provide an innovative chartered autonomous USV service for payload development.
“Our collaboration allows us to utilise MSubs’ designs and integrate them with our local manufacturing capabilities. Bringing technology proven in the UK and US to Australia is an example of an AUKUS-inspired collaboration that helps meet the AUKUS Pillar II artificial intelligence, electromagnetic warfare and autonomy capability goals.
“This collaboration will create new opportunities for local and national SMEs to utilise our combined expertise in autonomous surface vehicles, payload development and integration, enabling affordable innovation in the Australian maritime industry.
“While research and development are a key focus for Alkath Group, we also recognise it is often best to avoid reinventing the wheel by adding value to existing advanced products, enhancing their capabilities and tailoring them to meet the specific demands of the Australian market. Building on MSubs’ class-leading technology, we offer USV solutions that are both cutting-edge and practical.”
Paddy Dowsett, managing director of MSubs’ newly formed Australian subsidiary MSubs Pty Ltd said the Indo-Pacific region presented immense potential for the deployment of maritime autonomous system capabilities.
“Our collaboration with Alkath Group will enable us to offer proven and cost-effective solutions for a variety of maritime operations across a range of industries, from defence to resources, to scientific research,” he said.
“This collaboration not only expands our market reach but also brings together the strengths of two companies in advancing maritime technology. We look forward to seeing the positive impact our collaboration will have on Australia’s maritime autonomous operations.”
The first vessel under this collaboration, the Oceanus, is expected to undergo trials in Australia in 2025 to ensure it complies with the Australian maritime regulatory framework. (Source: Defence Connect)
23 Jul 24. General Atomics touts future Royal Navy unmanned carrier air wing. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) is touting its future unmanned air wing for the Royal Navy’s (RN’s) Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, showcasing concept imagery at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 running from 22 to 26 July.
The large-scale imagery dominating GA-ASI’s stand at the biennial event showed one of the RN’s two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers operating a selection of the US company’s portfolio of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The UAVs seen aboard HMS Prince of Wales (R09) comprise the jet-powered Gambit, as well as the turboprop-powered MQ-9B Mojave and MQ-9B Protector RG1. These UAVs are shown alongside a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, highlighting the manned/unmanned mix that is likely to populate these RN ships over the more than 50 years of their projected service lives.
First revealed in March 2022, the Gambit is billed by GA-ASI as “an advanced concept aircraft”, utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to complete a variety of tasks without being prompted by an operator. Tasked as a ‘loyal wingman’, a swarm of Gambits could operate alongside the ship’s F-35s, providing offboard sensor and weapons capabilities and adding increased mass to the air wing. Gambit was developed for the US Air Force (USAF) Off-Boarding Sensing Station (OBSS) programme, and would need to be adapted for carrier operations with (presumably) strengthened landing gear, a catapult launch bar and arrestor hook, and measures to prevent salt corrosion. (Source: Janes)
22 Jul 24. The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) now has two Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) operating at RAF Waddington. The second Protector has started its ground trial at RAF Station Waddington with first flight expected in August. Protector is based on the MQ-9B SkyGuardian® RPA developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), and is specially configured for the RAF. The RAF has taken delivery of 10 of their total order of 16 Protectors from GA-ASI, with eight aircraft currently undergoing RAF crew training, test, and evaluation in the United States.
“We’re thrilled to see a second Protector operating at Waddington,” said Chris Dusseault, GA-ASI’s vice president of MQ-9B in Europe. “The Royal Air Force is a great partner for GA-ASI, and we look forward to additional MQ-9B aircraft operating in the U.K. and more broadly across Europe.”
Simon Holford, Uncrewed Air Systems Delivery Team Leader at Defence Equipment & Support, said: “Seeing delivery and assembly of the second Protector aircraft in the UK is yet another measure of the significant progress on this project and testament to the hard work of everyone involved. Together with the three aircraft we have already taken delivery of in the US (which remain in the US for use in trials and/or training), we have now taken delivery of five of the sixteen aircraft we have ordered.”
Officer Commanding 31 Sqn, Wing Commander Maccoll said, “I’m delighted to see another RAF Protector assembled at RAF Waddington, thanks to the hard work of our Programme team, Defence partners, contractors, and the skill of 31 Squadron personnel. This Summer, Protector will undertake further test and evaluation and we expect more aircraft arrivals before the end of the year. “
In another program milestone, the first of four cadres of RAF aircrew completed training on April 29, 2024, at GA-ASI’s Flight Test and Training Center (FTTC) in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The GA-ASI training involved RAF Operational Conversion Units (OCUs), which are comprised of eight crews, including pilots, sensor operators (SOs), and mission intelligence coordinators (MICs) from 31, 54, or 56 Squadrons.
The scope of the training is focused on foundational skills required to operate the Protector air vehicle and its equipment, including the Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Mission Intelligence Station (MIS), and System for Tasking and Real-Time Exploitation (STARE). Training involves building solid foundations for both normal and emergency operations in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems, instrument flying, and Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ATLC).
With the completion of the Protector Technicians course at GA-ASI facilities in Southern California on May 16, 2024, Number 31 Squadron now has another 21 qualified maintainers. As part of their training course, the RAF maintainers were able to directly support the training flights for their aircrew counterparts who were completing the live flying element of their Operational Conversion course from North Dakota.
MQ-9B is GA-ASI’s next-generation RPA System (RPAS), delivering exceptionally long endurance and range, with auto takeoff and landing under SATCOM-only control, and will be able to operate in unsegregated airspace using the GA-ASI-developed Detect and Avoid system. In addition to the RAF, contracts have been signed with Belgium, Canada, Taiwan and the U.S. Air Force in support of the Special Operations Command. The Japan Coast Guard is currently operating the MQ-9B for maritime operations, which the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) also selected for its Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Trial Operation Project. MQ-9B has additionally supported various U.S. Navy exercises, including Northern Edge, Integrated Battle Problem, and Group Sail.
19 Jul 24. UK Protector drone fleet to near 50% strength by 2024-end.
By the end of 2024 the UK will have seven RG Mk1 Protector drones in-country, with a further three airframes being kept in the US for training purposes. Protector aircraft PR009 and PR010 side by side outside 31 Squadron at Royal Air Force Waddington on the 19 July 2024. Credit: UK MoD/Crown copyright
The UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) RG Mk1 Protector drone fleet will near 50% of its planned strength by the end of 2024, with the recent arrival and assembly of the second aircraft in the UK due to be followed by a further five airframes in the months ahead.
According to a 22 July release from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), engineers from 31 Squadron RAF completed the build and initial testing of this second aircraft, prior to further test and evaluation over the coming months.
The RAF, working with Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), expect five more aircraft to be delivered by the end of 2024 as Protector prepares to establish aircrew and technician training in the UK this year and take over operations from the MQ-9A Reaper fleet in 2025.
The RG Mk1 Protector drones are UK variants of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian remote piloted aircraft system (RPAS), developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), which also produces the MQ-9A Reaper, and earlier Predator RPAS.
Rather than being flown over from the GA-ASI manufacturing sites in the US under their own power, the Protector drones are transported to the UK before being assembled.
The UK is investing in 16 Protector RG Mk1 for the RAF; the first eight will enable an Initial Operating Capability scheduled for 2025 at RAF Waddington.
UK total Protector fleet to reach double figures in 2024
The MoD stated that the delivery of this aircraft completes a busy period for the programme, with initial flight-testing using aircraft one conducted in November 2023.
Initial training is taking place at GA-ASI’s facilities in the US, utilising three other RAF-owned RPAS, where a Protector Technician Course began in February 2024, and the first Protector crews graduated from Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) in April the same year.
Holloman Air Force Base, situated in the US state of New Mexico, is a known international MQ-9 training hub.
Training will transition to the UK later this year utilising the first phase of infrastructure work recently completed at RAF Waddington, the home of Protector drone fleet in the UK. An international MQ-9B symposium was hosted by the RAF at RAF Cranwell in April this year.
Simon Holford, Uncrewed Air Systems Delivery Team Leader at DE&S, said: “Together with the three aircraft we have already taken delivery of in the US (which remain in the US for use in trials and/or training), we have now taken delivery of five of the 16 aircraft we have ordered.”
Equipped with a suite of advanced equipment and precision strike weapons, Protector will provide an armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability. A crucial difference for the type is its ability to fly in unsegregated airspace thanks to ‘detect and avoid’ technology with a potential endurance of more than 30 hours,
The Protector programme also includes expansion of 54 Squadron capability and new infrastructure at RAF Waddington such as a training centre for UK and international students.
UK tends to secrecy for its drone operations
The use of the RAF’s MQ-9B, and the new RG Mk1 Protector, drones are a closely guarded secret, with little-to-no public acknowledgement of their use, in either role or location. It is probably that the current MQ-9B fleet operate from the UK, as well as overseas bases in the Middle East, such as in the UAE, Qatar, or Oman.
However, such is the ‘remote’ nature of the aircraft that they can be operating in a different country to the controllers, with multiple ‘crews’ switching in and taking over operations during a long-endurance mission.
Reported in October 2023, the programme’s budget increased from the 2016 Main Gate Business Case, which approved a whole-life cost of £1.24bn ($1.6bn) – albeit with a “50% confidence” – according to official UK Government responses.
By March 2023, the whole-lift cost projection exceeded £1.76bn, comprised of a £325m difference in acquisition costs and around £190m in through-life costs. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
22 Jul 24. Following the success of Blue Magic events held in Belgium, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has scheduled its first Blue Magic event in the Netherlands on November 19, 2024. The Blue Magic Netherlands (BMN) event will be held in Eindhoven, a city known as a global technology hub. BMN will bring together Dutch startups, universities, government officials, aerospace leaders, and representatives from other high-tech industries, who will see technology advancements within the Dutch technology ecosystem and connect qualified partners with funding opportunities to support next generation dual use solutions.
Joining GA-ASI for the event will be partners Lockheed Martin Ventures, Brabant Development Agency (BOM), and the Netherlands Industries for Defence & Security (NIDV), as well as Brainport Development, an organization that develops regional economic strategy and projects, and promotes Brainport Eindhoven at home and abroad.
“We want to build on our successful Blue Magic concept, which fosters a collaborative partnering environment for technology ideation, and bring it to the Netherlands,” said Brad Lunn, Managing Director-Strategic Finance at GA-ASI. “We look forward to hosting thought leaders in the Dutch innovation ecosystem for a full day of technology interchange. Our goal is to provide a single forum for sharing ideas and implementation strategies that can shape the course of technology and defense systems and ultimately make the world safer.”
GA-ASI delivered its MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) in 2021 and recently announced an increase in the total order of MQ-9As in its service to eight.
GA-ASI held its first European Blue Magic event in 2019, with subsequent events held in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Since the inception of Blue Magic, GA-ASI has commenced work with a broad range of European and international businesses. For the Blue Magic Netherlands event, GA-ASI and other participants will hear technology pitches followed by a lively panel discussion and host a networking event where participants can meet with other high-tech businesses and leaders to see if their capabilities can be leveraged in new and useful ways.
Areas of focus for BMN 2024 will be artificial intelligence/machine learning, autonomy, advanced materials, sensors, advanced manufacturing, and space.
Businesses interested in participating in the BMN 2024 event should visit the event website for additional informationhttps://www.ga-asi.com/blue-magic-netherlands-2024/
22 Jul 24. THALES’ Drone Warfare Offering.
Drones and Remotely Operated Munitions (ROVs) now hold a central place on the battlefield. The ongoing high-intensity war between Ukraine and Russia is evidence of this strategic shift that is reshaping the future of air-land combat. To meet the equipment needs of armed forces in France and abroad, Thales is investing and increasing its firepower in this key area.
High Attrition Rates
Contact drones allow forces to act faster on the battlefield, with greater efficiency and without exposing soldiers to additional risk, all at a moderate cost. They have become strategic assets, which is the reason for their success. However, their attrition rates remain high.
Over 10,000 drones are destroyed every month in Ukraine.The lifespan of a drone rarely exceeds 5 flights.
The heterogeneity of the drone fleet, the command and control systems, the lack of secure communication links, and their vulnerability to electronic warfare countermeasures are their main weaknesses.
To better protect them and increase their combat effectiveness, recent operational feedback shows that forces need to have a complete range of solutions available:
- Rustic drones produced in large quantities, therefore inexpensive, through a simplified acquisition process.
- Drones with a sufficient level of sophisticated features to operate in contested environments (jamming communication links, denying GNSS signals).
- Drones incorporating AI to navigate even without GPS, designate targets, and provide autonomy.
- Improved payloads, including optical, electronic warfare, or military capabilities, especially for ROVs.
- Robust, cyber-secure, and stable data links.
- Highly mobile and standardized command/control (C2) stations capable of operating different platforms by a dismounted or vehicle operator, or even within more integrated systems.
Therefore, three key axes can be identified :
- Quantity and variety to cope with attrition and facilitate mission adaptation.
- Innovation to ensure equipment resilience in contested environments and maintain the element of surprise on the ground.
- Integration into maneuver operations
Thales’ Drone Warfare Approach
This is indeed the objective of Thales’ Drone Warfare approach presented in Paris during the “JIDAC” (Journée des Industriels des Drones Aériens de Contact) on May 28th, 2024, to all the actors of the French drone ecosystem.
As a concrete response to the need for a short circuit between the Defense and Security Industry Base (BITD) and theaters of operations, Thales, as a system architect and integrator, proposes to be the facilitator of an open, integrated, and standardized contact drone ecosystem, where every actor of the BITD will find its place.
The objective of this ecosystem is to provide a complete and coherent portfolio of drone solutions that can easily be integrated into combat systems, covering the full range of “contact drones” – from nanodrones to Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones – useful for the lowest tactical levels of ground forces up to interarm brigade levels.
These solutions will take into account the prerequisites of high-intensity warfare: standardization of interfaces, 3D deconfliction, and interoperability, which are essential for the armed forces. They will be able to accommodate system evolutions and the integration of new key components, with AI being a primary focus.
Only an organized ecosystem can meet the requirements of performance, quantity, availability, cost, and services imposed by current conflicts and future conflicts.
“We offer French (or other) drone users an open architecture comprising multiple elements – payloads, avionics, command/control systems, data links – within which industrial actors can make their innovative technological components available to develop rapidly deployable drone systems that are useful for each mission profile”
explains Gilles Labit, Director of the Contact Drones Department at Thales.
Drones and AI
If drones have become strategic on the battlefield, the number of operators and the availability of the radio communications spectrum remain limiting factors for more extensive drone usage. In Ukraine, there is one operator behind each drone.
To overcome these limitations and achieve decisive saturation effects on the field, it is necessary to give drones as much autonomy as possible to operate in swarms. Only trustworthy AI will enable the development of systems capable of managing such complexity while providing a simple and intuitive Human-Machine Interface (HMI) that allows the operator to maintain permanent control of the mission without increasing their cognitive load.
The technological challenges related to the AI capabilities of drones include:
- Geolocation and navigation in GNSS-deprived environments
- Mission planning and swarm coordination
- Functional architecture for autonomy
The French Army currently has 100,000 personnel and 5,000 drones. Perhaps in 20 years, thanks to autonomy, it could have a structure of 50,000 personnel, 50,000 drones, and 100,000 ground robots. (Source: UAS VISION)
22 Jul 24. Tiny Solar-Powered Drones Could Stay Aloft Forever. An aerial robot weighing 4 grams is powered by tiny solar panels that produce extremely high voltages – an approach that could enable drones to fly indefinitely
A drone weighing just 4 grams is the smallest solar-powered aerial vehicle to fly yet, thanks to its unusual electrostatic motor and tiny solar panels that produce extremely high voltages. Although the hummingbird-sized prototype only operated for an hour, its makers say their approach could result in insect-sized drones that can stay in the air indefinitely.
Tiny drones are an attractive solution to a range of communications, spying and search-and-rescue problems, but they are hampered by poor battery life, while solar-powered versions struggle to generate enough power to sustain themselves.
As you miniaturise solar-powered drones, their solar panels shrink, reducing the amount of energy available, says Mingjing Qi at Beihang University in China. The efficiency of electric motors also declines as more energy is lost to heat, he says.
To avoid this diminishing cycle, Qi and his colleagues developed a simple circuit that scales up the voltage produced by solar panels to between 6000 and 9000 volts. Rather than using an electromagnetic motor like those in electric cars, quadcopters and various robots, they used an electrostatic propulsion system to power a 10-centimetre rotor.
(Source: UAS VISION)
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