Sponsored by BCB INTERNATIONAL
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19 Dec 24. A British-led team of engineers has taken a leap forward in the race to harness the stratosphere for earth observation and communications, completing a new series of test flights of BAE Systems’ High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), PHASA-35, in quick succession. During the first flight at Spaceport America in New Mexico, US, in recent weeks, the solar powered aircraft flew for 24 hours climbing to more than 66,000 feet and cruising in the stratosphere, before successfully landing in a serviceable condition, meaning it was ready to fly again just two days later.
This is a major milestone in the development of PHASA-35, named after its 35 metre wingspan, demonstrating its ability to be launched, flown, landed, potentially reconfigured and then relaunched again so quickly.
Designed by BAE Systems’ subsidiary Prismatic Ltd to operate above the weather and conventional air traffic, PHASA-35, has the potential to provide a persistent and stable platform for uses including ultra-long endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Bob Davidson, CEO, BAE Systems’ Prismatic, said: “These latest flight trials are a significant step forward in proving PHASA-35’s capability for operations and a real moment of pride for our entire team. We’re committed to continuing to develop PHASA-35 at pace to make it available for operational activity as soon as 2026.”
The latest trials also saw the aircraft carry an active intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance sensor, known as a software defined radio, developed by BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business. This weighed more than twice as much as the previous payload it had flown to the stratosphere with.
At Prismatic’s site in Alton, Hampshire, UK the PHASA-35 team has now built the next iteration of PHASA-35. The new model has more than twice the onboard solar power generation and storage capacity than the current version. These modifications are expected to allow it to demonstrate stratospheric missions of increasing duration and complexity from next year onwards.
Prismatic sits within FalconWorks, the advanced research and development arm of BAE System’s Air sector.
Dave Holmes, Managing Director, FalconWorks at BAE Systems, said: “These latest trials draw on a huge amount of collaboration between Prismatic, the wider BAE Systems business and industry partners, including Honeywell and the UK Met Office.
“They demonstrate the credibility and capability of the system for operational use.”
The PHASA-35 team will now use data from these most recent trials to further improve and mature this novel technology.
- The latest flights took place from Spaceport America in New Mexico, flying in the White Sands Missile Range, and are sponsored by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center. These test flights at White Sands Missile Range were coordinated and directly supported by personnel attached to Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Detachment White Sands.
- PHASA-35 also has the potential to be used in the delivery of communications networks including 4G and 5G and could be used in a wide range of applications, such as disaster relief and border protection, as a cost effective alternative to traditional airborne and satellite systems.
- It has a 35-metre wingspan and carries a payload weighing up to 15kg, uses a range of world-leading technologies including advanced composites, thermal management, and photo-voltaic arrays to provide energy during the day which is stored in high performance rechargeable cells to maintain flight overnight.
- PHASA-35 forms part of a wider array of UAS capability which BAE Systems is developing to offer customers flexibility in range, payload and cost.
About BAE Systems
At BAE Systems, we provide some of the world’s most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions. We employ a skilled workforce of around 100,000 people in more than 40 countries. Working with customers and local partners, we develop, engineer, manufacture, and support products and systems to deliver military capability, protect national security, and keep critical information and infrastructure secure.
27 Dec 24. Palladyne AI Achieves Key Milestone with 1st Small Drone Autonomous Tracking Flight. Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN and PDYNW) (“Palladyne AI”), a developer of artificial intelligence software for robotic and unmanned platforms in the industrial and defense sectors, today announced that its Palladyne™ Pilot AI software platform has achieved a key developmental milestone with the successful first flight of a third-party small drone that demonstrated the ability to identify and prioritize terrestrial targets of interest and then interface with the drone’s autopilot software to follow the prioritized target autonomously.
Palladyne AI had previously successfully demonstrated the Palladyne Pilot AI platform’s ability to identify and prioritize targets on stationary nodes and with hovering drones. Last week’s test flight was the first to successfully integrate with third-party autopilot software to autonomously control the drone’s navigation while identifying, prioritizing, tracking, and following the desired target.
“Our first autonomous flight with Palladyne Pilot was able to track and follow a target, successfully demonstrating how powerful our AI platform can be by automating those functions where algorithms and machines excel while still leaving ultimate control in the hands of humans,” said Dr. Denis Garagic, co-founder and CTO, Palladyne AI. “Once we complete commercialization of Palladyne Pilot — which we expect to happen by the end of the first quarter of 2025 — small, economical drones will finally offer some of the same intelligence capabilities that larger, multi-m-dollar unmanned systems have had for years.”
The Palladyne Pilot AI Software Platform for UAVs transforms unmanned, tactical systems into highly efficient, autonomous force multipliers capable of persistent target tracking, dynamic collaboration, and enhanced situational awareness. With advanced perception, learning, and autonomous capabilities designed to reduce operational burden while dramatically improving mission effectiveness for military and defense operations, Palladyne Pilot stands ready to support and deliver mission effectiveness and success.
The development and continued advancement of Palladyne Pilot is the result of multiple contracts with the U.S. Air Force. From inception, Pilot was designed to be a collaborative sensing platform for small drone platforms and is one of the pillars, along with Palladyne IQ, of Palladyne AI’s technology offerings..(Source: ASD Network)
24 Dec 24. Polish acquisition of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for the protection of Homar-K (K239 Chunmoo) divisional fire module launchers. On December 24 this year at the Armament Agency, in the presence of the Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence Paweł Bejda, an agreement was signed for the acquisition of unmanned aerial systems for the protection of the divisional fire modules of the Homar-K launchers.
The subject of the contract concluded between the State Treasury – Armaments Agency and WB Electronics SA is the delivery of twelve sets of FORCE PROTECTION unmanned aerial systems, used for air reconnaissance and air cover of the Area of Operations of the HOMAR-K multi-rocket launcher division. Additionally the order also includes the completion of 72 HOMAR-K launchers and CD-10s fuel dispenser tanks with communication equipment, and the acquisition of a batch of UKART-2 universal artillery calculators for the needs of the K9 howitzer DMO. The order value amounts to over PLN 499 m gross, and deliveries will be made in 2025-2028.
Each FORCE PROTECTION set includes: two sets of four mini FlyEye unmanned aerial vehicle platforms, five sets of four micro X-FRONTER* UAV platforms and 44 sets of FP-SPECTRE radio-electronic reconnaissance systems. The agreement also covers the implementation of training as part of the training package and the delivery of elements of the logistics package.
* X-FRONTER is a mini-class unmanned aerial vehicle designed to conduct airborne image reconnaissance. This includes the implementation of tasks in the scope of: identification and recognition of targets; assessment of the effects of strikes; protection of troops; support of information activities; conducting reconnaissance; and support of operational activities. It allows for conducting covert operations from the air by performing observations in the visible and infrared bands, day and night, at any time of the year. (Source: joint-forces.com)
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LAND:
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SEA;
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AIR;
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