Unmanned Combo for Maritime-Aerial Missions

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A new platform composed of a marine uncrewed surface vessel (USV) with an onboard aerial drone will allow users to conduct advanced operations in the sea and sky in the same, integrated mission.

The dual spatial unit will allow users to considerably expanded their operational capacity in activities like offshore infrastructure inspection, patrolling protected marine preserves, and an array of marine and airborne security and defense capacities.

The USV supplied by Marine Advanced Robotics can travel long distances without any outside support and remains sturdy, reliable, and fully operational even in rough sea conditions. The craft can be outfitted with data-collecting sensors both above and below water levels. It is part of the company’s line of Wave Adaptive Modular Vessels (WAM-V). The craft are frequently deployed for marine surveys, remote observation, maritime domain awareness, oceanography, maritime security, and disaster response.

The aerial drone component is supplied by Plank Aerosystems, which develops navigation and autonomy solutions for tethered and free-flight operation, enabling use from moving platforms and in GPS-denied environments. The company’s Autonomous Control Engine navigation technology has been integrated into over 30 different UAV craft of various sizes and configurations. 

Paired together, the partners say, the USV-UAS combo provides powerful capacities for missions requiring both marine and air drone activity – and without having to separate those two domains into individual phases, according to dronedj.com.