AUSA 2024: Quantum-Systems targets big 2025 with UAS developments
Quantum-Systems has been upgrading its UAS family, with new versions of the Vector, Reliant and Twister drones set for release throughout 2025.
Echodyne has announced on 8 November the first successful test of an airborne Detect and Avoid (DAA) radar onboard a small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV), providing an opportunity to open up the national airspace system to beyond-visual-line-of-sight UAV operations.
Echodyne's DAA radar was set up on a commercial UAV that flew multiple missions below 400ft over several days. The size, range and payload of the vehicle were suited for infrastructure inspection, agricultural monitoring and package delivery applications according to the company.
The radar enabled the SUAV to identify stationary and moving obstacles as it flew through airspace beyond the operator's line of sight. The tests were conducted using Echodyne's developer kit radar with its proprietary MESA technology, along with an undisclosed partner.
During the tests, the radar successfully scanned a broad field of view and tracked multiple aircraft types, including an SUAV, an ultralight aircraft and a Beechcraft Bonanza flying through its airspace. The radar also provided a 4D cube of radar returns that depicted stationary obstacles such as barbed wire fences and ground vegetation, as well as the tracked aircraft flight paths.
The developer kit radar is a precursor to Echodyne's MESA-DAA radar that will be able to detect and track objects the size of a Cessna aircraft up to a range of 3km, and UAVs up to 750m. The radar is expected to launch commercially in early 2017.
Quantum-Systems has been upgrading its UAS family, with new versions of the Vector, Reliant and Twister drones set for release throughout 2025.
The service has been using a Directed Requirement (DR) approach to speed up the deployment of a Medium Range Reconnaissance capability.
AeroVironment’s portfolio will grow thanks to the eVTOL P550 aimed at battalion-level tactical forces.
The Royal Australian Air Force is advancing its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities across three key programmes as it works with the likes of Boeing and Northrop Grumman to reshape Australia’s defence strategy.
Prototypes from Griffon Aerospace and Textron Systems recently passed through MOSA conformance trials and flight tests.
Funds for the second phase of this effort will be allocated in the US Department of Defense (DoD) FY2026 budget request.