TX066 UAVテクノロジー
US Air Force Research Lab advances program for unmanned aggressor aircraft
新たに受注した空軍研究所小規模企業革新研究契約は、空軍の戦闘機のパイロットのための敵機（ADAIR）訓練ミッションをサポートする無人航空機の設計を開発するものです。
空軍研究所航空宇宙システム部門 (Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate)は、敵対的航空（adversary air – ADAIR）訓練ミッションを支援する無人航空機を開発するため、ブルー・フォース・テクノロジーズ社に中小企業技術革新研究契約を発注しました。バンディットプログラムの契約は、AFWERXによって選ばれた戦略的資金調達（STRATFI）提案の結果として、初期値900万ドル、最大4機の飛行体の設計と製造を完了するオプション付きで授与されました。
バンディットプログラムの下で、ノースカロライナ州に拠点を置く小規模な航空宇宙・防衛企業であるブルーフォース・テクノロジーズ社は、空軍の戦闘機のパイロットが訓練に使用できる高性能無人飛行体の設計を成熟させる予定です。この無人航空機は、空軍、海軍、海兵隊の戦闘機乗組員に、現在の有人機よりも大幅にコストを削減した対空訓練を提供する自律型システム提案の一部です。
この12ヶ月の取り組みでは、AFRLの主題専門家の技術指導の下、車両設計を重要設計レベルまで成熟させ、エンジン地上試験を実施し、エンジン搭載設計の検証を行います。この契約のオプションが行使されれば、設計とエンジニアリングのタスクが完了し、最大4機の航空機が製造され、初期飛行試験が完了することになります。
AFRLのバンディットプログラムマネージャーであるアリソン・トゥーリ氏は、「これらの小型無人ADAIRシステムは、訓練シナリオで飛行させることができ、戦闘機パイロットは、脅威を代表する任意の人数で戦術的に関連する敵に対して訓練することができます」と述べています。目標は、同様の活動能力を持つ第5世代の敵のように見える無人プラットフォームを開発することです。”
The Bandit program aims to provide an air vehicle solution for the unmanned ADAIR capability which, when integrated with autonomy, mission payloads and sensors, will revolutionize the adversary air training mission and provide key opportunities for pilots to interact with the unmanned systems in a training environment.
バンディットプログラムは、無人ADAIR能力（機能）を持つ航空機システムソリューションを提供することを目的としています。このシステムに、自律性、ミッションペイロード（ミサイルなどの搭載品）およびセンサー（例えば、Target Aquation センサー）等をインテグレートさせた場合、敵に対応する為の航空訓練ミッションに革命をもたらし、パイロットにとって訓練環境における無人システムとの対話（コミュニケーション）の重要な機会を提供することになります。
Blue Force TechnologiesとのSBIR業務は2019年に始まり、無人ADAIRをサポートする構造試験品の初期要件開発、航空機設計、分析、構築をカバーしています。
AFRLは、BanditプログラムをAir Combat Commandと調整し、無人ADAIR能力をサポートする航空機開発作業を整えました。ACC司令官Mark Kellyは、2021年8月に開催された空軍ライフサイクル管理センターのライフサイクル産業デーで、コストのかかる敵航空出撃に対する代替アプローチの必要性を訴えています。Source: AFRL
UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE
March 11, 2022
Sponsored by The British Robotics Seed Fund
空軍研究所が新たに受注した中小企業技術革新研究契約は、空軍の戦闘機のパイロットのための敵機（ADAIR）訓練ミッションをサポートする無人飛行体の設計を開発するものです。
http: www.britbots.com/fund
10 Mar 22.
米空軍がバンディットの製作を開始
アメリカ空軍（USAF）は、バンディットと呼ばれる「アグレッサー」無人航空機の製造を開始しました。空軍研究所航空宇宙システム本部（AFRLASD）は、3月9日に発表し、敵航空（ADAIR）訓練ミッションを支援するシステムを開発するため、Blue Force Technologiesに小規模企業革新研究（SBIR）契約を授与した、と述べました。
“バンディット “プログラムのもと、ノースカロライナ州に拠点を置く小規模な航空宇宙・防衛企業であるBlue Force Technologies社は、（米）空軍の戦闘機のパイロットが対人訓練に使用できる高性能な無人飛行体の設計を成熟させる予定です。オハイオ州のライトパターソン空軍基地にある空軍研究所（AFRL）は、「この飛行体は、米空軍、米海軍、米海兵隊の戦闘機乗組員に、現在の有人能力（パイロットが操縦する航空機）と比較して大幅にコストを削減した対空訓練を提供する、自律性に基づくシステム案の一部です」と述べています。(出典：Janes)
09 Mar 22.
中国とサウジアラビアの企業が、王国で軍用ドローンを製造する合弁会社を設立。サウジアラビアと中国の産業界が手を組み、王国で軍用ドローンを設計・製造することになりました。Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems Co.はChina Electronics Technology Group Corp.と協定を結び、両社は3月6日から9日までリヤドで開催されたWorld Defense Showの中で提携を発表しました。Aerial Solutionsと名付けられたこの合弁会社は、CETCが研究開発センターを設立し、さまざまな種類のUAVシステムを製造するチームを作る予定です。通信、飛行制御、カメラ、レーダー、無線探知システムなどが含まれる予定です。CETCは、電子機器、通信機器、ソフトウェアを含むセキュリティ電子情報システムの製造を専門としています。新会社は、電動垂直離着陸ドローン、アンチドローンソリューション、分析、ヘリコプター製品、レーダーシステムの開発にも注力する予定です。Aerial Solutionsは、科学的研究、製造、国家エンジニアの訓練を通じて、インフラの保護と技術革新の地域化を目指していると、同社の声明は述べています
ACES said on Twitter that the move is in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to grow local industry. This is not the first time China and Saudi Arabia signed a contract allowing the kingdom to procure Chinese unmanned aerial systems. In 2017, Saudi Arabia ordered Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones. Chinese news agency Xinhua described the deal as the country’s largest-ever arms export. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. also previously signed a partnership with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to build a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia for the CH drone class. CETC took part in the World Defense Show this year — the expo’s inaugural launch. Other Chinese companies at the show included China North Industries Group Corp. Limited (NORINCO), China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp. (CATIC), Star Vision, and China Aerospace Long March International Trading Co. (ALIT). (Source: Defense News)
09 Mar 22.
Tomahawk Robotics Integrates AeroVironment UAS Into Kinesis Ecosystem. Tomahawk Robotics, the leading innovator of common control solutions, has integrated the AeroVironment RQ-11 Ravenã unmanned aircraft system (UAS) into the Kinesis Ecosystem with AeroVironment’s Crysalis™ on Tomahawk Robotics’ KxM edge processor. Kinesis allows operators to benefit from the unique advantages of battle-proven fixed-wing platform(s) from AeroVironment while simultaneously controlling any other robot in their arsenal – all within a single application on a single pane of glass. AeroVironment’s RQ-20 Puma is the next UAS slated for Kinesis integration via Crysalis. Kinesis users can look forward to this capability in the next Kinesis release.
Kinesis allows operators to benefit from the unique advantages of battle-proven fixed-wing platform(s) from AeroVironment while simultaneously controlling any other robot in their arsenal – all within a single application on a single pane of glass.
AeroVironment is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems, tactical missile systems, unmanned ground vehicles and high-altitude pseudo-satellites, serving the U.S. Department of Defense and more than 50 allied nations. Crysalis, a next-generation integrated hardware and software-based ground control system that enables third-party command and control of compatible AeroVironment UAS and their payloads through Crysalis, provides additional capability to the warfighter.
The collaboration between AeroVironment and Tomahawk Robotics extends the variety of robotic platforms that Marines are able to control via the Radio Agile Integrated Device (RAID) Program. The RAID Program enables control of tactical unmanned systems fielded at the battalion and below level through a single pane of glass enabling safe, efficient and simplified unmanned systems control for the Marine in harm’s way. This work also allows the Marines to execute more sophisticated collaborative robotic operations and aligns with the Commandant’s Force Design 2030 goals.
About Tomahawk Robotics
Tomahawk Robotics is the leading innovator of common control solutions that transform how humans and unmanned systems work together to make the world more safe and secure. From the battlefield to remote industrial sites, our products and technology safeguard users working under the most extreme and stressful conditions. Designed from the ground up with the user in mind, Kinesis is the only multi-domain, cross-architecture, AI-enabled control system that unlocks intuitive interaction with remote environments from across the room or around the world. (Source: PR Newswire)
08 Mar 22.
IDF details Iranian UAV incursions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have identified two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that it intercepted a year ago as a previously unknown Iranian type called the Shahed-197. In a briefing on 7 March, senior military sources said the two UAVs approached Israeli airspace from the south and east in a previously unreported incident on 15 March 2021, without saying where they were launched from. The Israeli Air Force also released a statement saying four F-35I Adir fifth-generation fighters were scrambled (two from 116Squadron and two from 140 Squadron), with one pair crossing into a neighbouring country to identify and then shoot down the UAVs, making this the first time anF-35has shot down a hostile aircraft. (Source: Janes)
08 Mar 22.
MSubs and Sonardyne to collaborate on advancing autonomous naval platform capabilities. Submersible manufacturer MSubs and marine robotics technology company Sonardyne have signed a strategic partnership to advance the capabilities of long endurance, autonomous underwater platforms for the UK defence sector. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will see the two companies working to integrate and evaluate Sonardyne’s commercial-off-the-shelf navigation, communications and imaging payloads into MSubs 9 m-long extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) to provide naval forces with enhanced situational awareness across the underwater battlespace. From Plymouth, south-west England, where both companies have research, trials and manufacturing facilities, Sonardyne will supply and support a suite of its technologies to MSubs. These will include SPRINT-Nav X, a hybrid inertial-Doppler navigation sensor that’s suitable for GNSS-denied environments; AvTrak 6, a long-range tracking, command and control instrument; and Vigilant, a forward-looking obstacle avoidance sonar (FLS) jointly developed by Sonardyne and sister company Wavefront Systems. MSubs’ XLUUV has been selected by the UK’s Royal Navy to help it understand the future roles for XLUUVs for surveillance, reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions, and deliver new capabilities to the organisation years earlier than otherwise be possible. In 2021, MSubs and Sonardyne took part in the first phase of the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle Testbed – Opportunity to Integrate competition, run jointly with the Royal Navy and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). As part of the demonstration, MSubs’ XLUUV used bathymetric data gathered by its Vigilant FLS to navigate in open waters off Plymouth. Today’s announcement builds on this success, with the two companies targeting further emerging opportunities from the UK’s Ministry of Defence, such as Project CETUS. This will see the design and build of an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which may one day work alongside the Astute-class attack submarines.
Brett Phaneuf, Managing Director of MSubs said: “The integration of Sonardyne equipment on our extra-large AUV is a key factor for our continued success, helping us to move the state of the art forward swiftly. The operator-centric approach to engineering from Sonardyne and MSubs makes it easy to enhance our vehicle performance and reliability through applied research, bringing much needed capability to the underwater domain and greatly reduced timelines and budgets.”
Ioseba Tena, Head of Defence at Sonardyne, added: “Our two companies are at the forefront of the development of unmanned platforms and payloads that are reshaping the underwater battlespace playbook; delivering tactical edge to navies and governments facing new and increasingly capable underwater adversaries. We’re excited to be opening a new chapter of collaboration with the MSubs team, and where better for that collaboration to be centred than Plymouth, the UK’s marine autonomy city.”
04 Mar 22.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announced its new category of future-forward unmanned aircraft systems, focused on information dominance and airspace supremacy. Leveraging three decades of experience across millions of successful combat flight hours, the new Evolution line of advanced UAS joins GA-ASI’s existing Predator-class and Mojave-class aircraft in delivering next-generation UAS that lead the pack in advanced, affordable, attritable and autonomous combat power.
The name Evolution refers to the evolutionary path GA-ASI has followed as it chartered the realm of unmanned aircraft through its rich, 30-year history of UAS innovation, designing for the future, and the force-multiplying power UAS provide modern warfighters. In the past three decades, GA-ASI has launched more than 25 UAS variants, beginning with the Gnat in 1992.
Evolution establishes a third aircraft class within GA-ASI, joining the well-known Predator® line and recently announced Mojave line of expeditionary UAS featuring short-takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. Evolution includes the development of GA-ASI’s next-generation UAS solutions designed to meet the needs of the U.S. Air Force’s vision for its future force, as well as new UAS concepts such as Defender, Sparrowhawk and the recently announced Gambit.
“We’re continuing to grow and respond to the rapidly changing world,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “As we celebrate our 30-year anniversary as a company, our new Evolution-series aircraft will merge our unique heritage of advanced and affordable UAS technologies with innovative technologies for the future. We’re looking ahead to new concepts and never-before-seen aircraft that meet the needs of our customers today and tomorrow.”
07 Mar 22.
SYPAQ Submits Sovereign Solution for Land 129 Phase 4B4.
SYPAQ Systems has submitted its CorvoX Unmanned Aerial System (system as a sovereign Australian solution for Land 129 Phase 4B, which will deliver a man-portable small UAS for Army. CorvoX will provide Army commanders with the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support needed to maintain ‘over the hill, down the road and around the corner’ situational awareness, says the company. CorvoX was designed, developed and demonstrated specifically to meet the unique requirements of Land 129 Phase 4B. It combines vertical take-off, hover and landing capabilities with fixed wing flight mode – all designed to reduce the physical and cognitive load on the operator.
SYPAQ CEO Amanda Holt highlighted the unique capabilities CorvoX would offer Army end-users, as well as its 90% Australian Industry Content.
“CorvoX will provide crucial operational advantages that will contribute to the enhanced safety and effectiveness of Army personnel, including rapid set-up and almost instant loitering and surveillance capability.”
SYPAQ’s General Manager Innovation and Strategic Programs, Michael Partridge, said the company’s bid was the culmination of an extensive collaborative process with local technology partners and Defence engagement to ensure CorvoX offers the best of Australian Industry Capability whilst aligning to Defence’s specific need.
“CorvoX is the result of a four-year innovation journey responding to the requirements identified by Army and the Defence Innovation Hub Special Notice,” he said. “The system is proof of the world-leading autonomous systems capabilities in Australian industry, which we have seen right across our local supply chain.”
In addition to close collaboration with Defence, SYPAQ’s bid has been strengthened by the Victorian government’s support in developing the Defence Autonomy Centre of Excellence (DACE), located next to Melbourne’s Fisherman’s Bend innovation precinct.
Ms Holt said the DACE represents a significant investment in SYPAQ’s R&D and manufacturing capabilities, allowing the company to “continue developing our innovative technologies and intellectual property related to autonomous systems, sensor systems, military systems integration, artificial intelligence and cyber security.” (Source: Rumour Control)
————————————————————————-
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.
PORTABLE GROUND-TO-AIR SYSTEM
Introducing the Auto-Tracking Antenna System – a deployable system that works in concert with the MPU5 radio to deliver high throughput at long ranges to keep you in constant communication with your aircraft. Disassembling into five, easy-to-transport cases, the system can travel with you wherever you go. Long range high throughput communication to manned and unmanned aircraft has never been so simple.
RAPID SETUP
The Tracking System was designed for both rapid deployment and ease of use. Two people can set up the tracker in under 15 minutes to provide high throughput at long ranges. The system collapses into multiple, lightweight transport cases for easy portability, allowing you to set the Auto-Tracking Antenna anywhere without compromising performance.
AUTOMATIC SELF-CALIBRATION
Eliminate human error, track with increased precision, and simplify setup with automatic alignment and self-calibration. The Auto-Tracking Antenna System utilizes an Automatic Heading System to self-calibrate prior to operation.
The tracker provides higher accuracy than ever before, enabling your team to focus their attention where it truly matters: the mission
MIMO-OPTIMIZED DESIGN
Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna feeds provide long range and high throughput. All of the MPU5’s MIMO capabilities such as spatial multiplexing, maximal ratio combining, and other diversity transmission/reception techniques work perfectly with the tracking system. The tracker’s MIMO optimized design provides high bandwidth connectivity to manned and unmanned aircraft at distances further than ever before.
HD VIDEO & IP DATA
Mission success requires connectivity to all of your sensors and HD cameras over vast geographic distances. Data exfiltration requirements continue to grow at an unprecedented rate. The Auto-Tracking Antenna System enables you to transmit your data faster and further than ever before. The MPU5’s layer-2 connectivity connects all of your payloads to the enterprise.
Best regards,
Shoichi Sugiyama, Ph.D.
