The prototype of a new drone capable of long-distance surveillance operations over oceans has been revealed by the MITRE corporation, which says the 3D printed craft can recharge itself during extended flights using solar panels on its wings.
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A barrage of aerial and ground infrastructure trials have been held this month by the UK’s Open Skies Cornwall consortium, which is seeking to organize airspace into which regular UAV activities – including ship-to-shore operations – can be integrated above and around Falmouth Harbour, and enable future ship-to-shore and other operations.
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The UK’s Skyports Drone Services has added a new activity to its ship-to-shore aerial activities with the introduction Cash-to-Master (CTM) operations, shuttling reserves of money between anchored and harbored vessels and officials on the ground.
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Three semi-autonomous uncrewed marine drones have set sail from Honolulu for a six-month mission collecting data off the coasts of Hawaii’s larger islands to measure the acidic effects of climate change on nearshore oceanic environments.
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Ukraine has used both military and consumer UAVs with maximum effect in defending itself from invading Russian forces, and now it’s seeking to replicate that effectiveness at sea by creating a fleet of naval drones, or uncrewed surface vessels (USV).
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Leading European maritime drone surveillance and data collection company TEKEVER has announced its partnership with global shipping giant Scorpio in an effort to accelerate deployment of UAVs for security and other operations above the seas.
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Singapore-based ST Engineering, Sumitomo Corporation, and Skyports are joining forces for a nine-month drone delivery pilot, wherein drones will be used for shore-to-ship parcel delivery of maritime essentials.
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Abu Dhabi is hosting a global competition with a prize pot of more than $3 million to challenge innovators from all over the world to design autonomous drone systems for maritime safety and security.
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Two French companies are getting closer to perfecting an asset that will allow naval forces to launch small UAVs from the surface of – or beneath – the bodies of water they’re patrolling.
The French maritime defense company, Naval Group, has teamed up with the Toulouse-based drone startup Diodon to adapt a specialized, compact UAV for water deployment by navy, coast guard, and other forces policing the seas. The partners have already worked together in use scenarios with a current version of the craft, and plan on testing the next-generation upgrade of the vehicle next year.
There have, of course, been several projects initiated elsewhere to develop drones capable of making the transition from water to air (and in some cases, back into the drink again and again). The Naval Group-Diodon tandem, however, is close to deploying a specialized UAV that can be launched from submarines or boats, and almost immediately begin performing airborne missions with all the tech and flight capacities of exclusively aerial high-performance quadcopters.
A major difference between Diodon’s new HP30 iteration and other liquid-to-air craft under development is its expandable components. The body and foldable wings are surrounded by a tough but collapsible skin that is inflated before deployment. That approach makes the craft lighter and more compact in storage, and far more buoyant when rising to or floating on surfaces of water. The encasing is also highly puncture-resistance and entirely air-tight.
Diodon’s drones are intended for detection, patrol, reconnaissance, surveillance, and engagement with criminal or hostile targets under watch by official forces in France and the 18 other nations Naval Drone works with. The HP30 has a range of 8 km, maximum flight time of 30 minutes at top speeds of 55 km/h, and resists winds of up to 25 knots per hour. Setup to launch time is a minute or less.
Diodon officials say ongoing tests of the earlier model HP20 have been successful at depths of several meters under water, with trials of the HP30 intending to launch the craft farther down from submarines.
The British Royal Navy has been conducting experimental drills to test the efficacy of heavy-lift drones in helping rescue a sailor who’s fallen overboard. The trials are being undertaken by the naval warfare force’s innovation experts, the NavyX team.
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Searching for solutions to the morale-sapping effects that long, boring, or even dangerous missions can have on its sailors, US Naval authorities are testing uncrewed, automated marine drones to sail themselves. And their most recent results with those have been doozies.
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