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

32 Dossier | Martin UAV V-Bat operate multiple payloads including Lidar, SAR, hyperspectral cameras, laser target illuminators and a SIGINT package from VStar Systems. The maximum payload varies according to the weight of the selected fuel tank – at 22 lb of fuel, 7 lb of payload can be carried. The company also plans to offer a tactical wireless comms payload from Virginia-based start-up Fenix Group following a partnership signed between the two companies in April 2017 aimed at accomplishing a form of UAV-based 4G LTE network provision for remote and rural areas. That is similar to Google Loon but at reduced cost and complexity of technology, and to reach the market faster owing to the smaller sizes of companies involved. “As technology shrinks from the size of a cell phone tower down to that of a UAV, people are becoming increasingly interested in the ad-hoc creation of mobile networks for faster-than-4G comms when needed,” Jones says. Communications The vehicle’s primary comms are transmitted over an IP mesh radio network, which operates in the 2.4 GHz band to deliver high-resolution video telemetry and other data. There is also a back-up command and control system, which operates over 900 MHz using a spread-spectrum two-way modem. In the event that the 2.4 GHz link is lost, the 900 MHz link can be used to command the V-Bat to return to its launch and recovery point. As a more recent addition, the V-Bat can now operate using an IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) system and ADS-B Out to provide mission-critical military actions such as combat identification, air traffic control or collision avoidance. Recent operations The Unitas exercise is an annual deployment in which a multinational force of navy and marine personnel and equipment circumnavigate South America, and the V-Bat’s flight mission from Panama City during the 2016 exercise involved conducting flight operations consistent with interdiction and humanitarian mission exercises over land and sea. “We had contact with Panama control on radar, and we were also feeding ADS-B Out data into any active players in the network so they could sense and avoid us,” Jones says. Hand-off to shipboard control stations was also demonstrated. Jones and the flight team launched the V-Bat from the shore while McAuliffe, stationed aboard a Colombian patrol vessel, was able to receive control to conduct flight demonstrations, before handing control back to the team on the shore. Such a system allows a V-Bat to be flown from a maintenance depot to a nearby user for ISR work, before being flown back to its technicians at the depot for checks and refuelling, McAuliffe says. Before this, the V-Bat was invited by the US Naval Post Graduate School to fly at the 2016 Joint Interagency Field Experimentation event at Camp Roberts, California, and most recently it was also invited to participate in the S2ME2 ANTX exercise 2017 at the US Marine Corps’ Base Camp Pendleton, in California. At the time of writing it had just completed new flight demonstrations in Florida as part of an as-yet unnamed exercise. As the newer iterations of the V-Bat continue to conduct high-profile test demonstrations, attracting partners and providing the team with crucial data on flight and operations in critical environments, future versions of it are expected to provide ongoing improvements in endurance, robustness, simplicity and precision. August/September 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology Martin UAV was invited to the S2ME2 exercises in April 2017 to demonstrate the V-Bat’s versatility