New British UAV helicopter manufacturer opens for business

British manufacturer, Advanced UAV Technology Ltd (AUAVT), announced on 16 July the launch of commercial operations and one of the widest ranges of unmanned rotorcraft to the global aerospace market.

AUAVT is offering a range of seven fully autonomous machines, covering payloads from 1.5kg to 350kg, and mission endurance from 30 min to over 6 hours. The seven models range from the man-portable AT-10 machine to the brand new 350kg dry weight AT-1000. Full technical details can be found at the company’s website: www.auavt.com.

AUAVT is a new venture backed by ASM Europe Ltd, a well known distributor of advanced surveillance and protective products to police forces and other enforcement agencies. ASM Europe has enjoyed a number of firsts during the past 2 years in the European UAV market:

• first rotorcraft flight at ParcAberporth, the UK’s only dedicated civilian UAV development centre – in wind conditions with gusts of up to 42 knots;
• only flying exhibitor at DSEi in October 2009, when it demonstrated launch and recovery of an unmanned helicopter from a floating platform in London’s Royal Victoria Docks;
• one of its customers was the first to receive “permit to fly” authorisation under CAA guidance CAP722.

The superior performance of AUAVT’s machines comes thanks to its advanced flight control software suite which is implementable on any existing rotary wing design: whether unmanned or manned. This software suite is subject to ongoing development and addition of new functionality. By the end of 2010, AUAVT believes it will be the only helicopter UAV systems manufacturer to be able to offer products with all of the following features:

• Autonomous waypoint navigation;
• Real-time mission control from any computer connected to the internet;
• Autonomous landing on moving platforms such as vehicles and ships; and
• Ability to operate in a GPS-denied environment.

Pietro Amati, Managing Director of AUAVT said: “We are excited to be able to offer our own range of machines which meet a clear market need for cost-effective helicopter solutions with the added benefit of a low environmental impact in terms of fuel consumption and emissions. We look forward with confidence to the next few years when we expect to see an accelerating adoption of UAV solutions in the military, civil, maritime and homeland security markets”.

Source: AUAVT