Unmanned Systems Technology 015 | Martin UAV V-Bat | William Sachiti | Sonar Systems | USVs | Desert Aircraft DA150 EFI | SeaCat AUV/ROV | Gimbals

24 Dossier | Martin UAV V-Bat a series of variants and iterations as the engineering team sought greater capabilities from it. The first flights of the V-Bat’s second version took place in February and March 2016. Both this and the third version were largely similar to Dr Morris’ original design, although from version 2 onwards the tube shape of the lower fuselage and lowermost part of the upper fuselage were turned into a square/cube shape in order to hold more fuel without affecting the aerodynamics. Each subsequent iteration would come with a new key feature. Version 4 brought in a new autopilot, version 5 introduced a new engine, and versions 6, 7 and 8 – currently being built and tested – will contain new avionics. Although MLB had conducted unpowered wind tunnel testing on small- scale models before its acquisition, it never had access to its own tunnel. That, plus the impracticalities and cost of testing a VTOL-capable tail-sitter UAV in a wind tunnel, meant testing and simulation relied far more on flight testing. To that end, Jones says, “We’re starting to invest in our own in-house CFD capability as we go forward, but we also have to work carefully with a few vendors to see what they can perform. “When the V-Bat is in a fixed regime, especially in hover, the CFD has always been fairly robust and reliable. The challenge though has always been the transition, and getting accurate results. That part is something where we really need to August/September 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology Version 3 (left) of the V-Bat carried a square- shaped lower fuselage to improve the fuel capacity, while version 4 (right) added a new autopilot Design and operation of the UAV is intended to foster manned/ unmanned teaming, by enabling shared use of VTOL infrastructure such as helicopter pads between manned rotary aircraft and the V-Bat