Jammer resistant drone designs spark search for countermeasures
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven another stage of evolution for drones and the counter measures to defend against them.
Rolls-Royce and Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre have announced a collaboration for the development of remotely piloted and autonomous ships, Rolls-Royce announced on 14 November.
The strategic partnership will design, test and validate the first generation of autonomous vessels with the aim of entering the commercial market by 2020.
Working with VTT will allow Rolls-Royce to assess the performance of remote and autonomous designs through the use of both traditional model tank tests and digital simulation, allowing the company to develop functional, safe and reliable prototypes.
VTT brings expertise to the collaboration including the development and management of safety-critical and complex systems in demanding environments such as nuclear safety, physical tests such as model and tank testing, and digital technologies such as data analytics and computer visualisation. The company will also use field research to incorporate human factors into safe ship design.
Karno Tenovuo, Rolls-Royce, vice president ship intelligence, said: ‘Remotely operated ships are a key development project for Rolls-Royce Marine, and VTT is a reliable and innovative partner for the development of a smart ship concept. This collaboration is a natural continuation of the earlier User Experience for Complex systems project, where we developed totally new bridge and remote control systems for shipping.’
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven another stage of evolution for drones and the counter measures to defend against them.
The new Amorphous software is a universal controller that would allow a single operator to control a swarm of “thousands” of uncrewed systems, from drones to underwater platforms.
India UAV supplier ideaForge has launched the Netra 5 and Switch V2 drones at Aero India 2025, boasting of enhanced endurance, AI-driven autonomy and improved operational capabilities.
The UAV market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with innovations in technology and battlefield applications driving demand across military sectors. From the battlefields of Ukraine to NATO exercises and beyond, drones are transforming how wars are fought and supported.
Launched at AUSA in October, the company’s multi-stream video codec is attempting to bring a new lease of life to drone technology through its AI accelerator.
Quantum-Systems has been upgrading its UAS family, with new versions of the Vector, Reliant and Twister drones set for release throughout 2025.