DroneSentry Integrates with Leonidas C-UAS System: DroneShield and Epirus Partner

DroneShield Epirus DroneSentry Leonidas counter drone systemDroneShield Integrates its DroneSentry with Epirus’ Leonidas C-UAS System

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

DroneShield Ltd and Epirus, Inc have successfully integrated DroneShield’s multi-sensor DroneSentry system with Epirus’ Leonidas high-power microwave (HPM) counter-electronics/counter-UAS effector. Together, these two systems enable a fully integrated C-UAS system capable of tracking multiple threats and engaging with high-powered microwave countermeasures, granting critical defensive capabilities to military, government and other customers.

DroneSentry leverages radio frequency, radar and electro-optic detection and tracking systems in addition to a smart jamming UAS defeat module, utilizing its innovative DroneSentry-C2 command-and-control system.

Epirus’ Leonidas counter-electronics system is capable of neutralizing a single threat in compact and congested areas, as well as disabling multiple threats at once across a wide area. The company’s groundbreaking approach to directed energy enables unrivaled counter-electronics effects, significantly reduces the system’s weight and size, and allows for increased operator control and safety. The system is mounted on a gimbal for greater maneuverability, and can be deployed as a fixed or mobile capability for wide-area rapid response.

Earlier this year, Epirus was awarded a $66 million US Government contract for the stand-alone Leonidas systems. Last November, it made an investment of A$3.7 million (roughly US$2.5 million) into DroneShield as it looks to expand its international partner ecosystem.

“The combined system provides significantly expanded options for our US DoD, and in time, global customer base,” said DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik. “Additionally, there are synergies on the business development front, which DroneShield and Epirus are already working on.”

“Epirus and DroneShield share a common ethos of rapid pace, high tech innovation, to provide the warfighter with advanced technologies to protect against the rapidly rising threat of drones and other electronic threats,” said Epirus CEO Ken Bedingfield. “We are pleased to continue deepening the engagement over time.”

This news follows a number of recent accomplishments by DroneShield, including two A$11 million orders from Government agencies of two separate countries in December and January, an initial UTM order in March, as well as a $2.2 million order and the release of the DroneGun Mk4 this past April.

Read more:

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer

Volocopter Continues Development Towards Type Certification with Integration of Swiss-AS MRO Software

Volocopter MRO software

Volocopter Integrates Swiss-AS AMOS into UAM Ecosystem

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Continue reading below, or listen:

Today, Swiss Aviation Software (Swiss-AS) and Volocopter cosigned a multi-year contract for Swiss-AS’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) software, AMOS, which will be employed for the management of Volocopter’s global electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft fleet. AMOS will guarantee fleet airworthiness, provide aircraft reliability monitoring and analysis, and serve as an interface to Volocopter’s VoloIQ digital operating system. This is Swiss-AS’s first collaboration within an urban air mobility (UAM) setting.

Next year, Volocopter is scheduled to receive type certification (TC) for its VoloCity 2-seater electric air taxi. Volocopter will be the first company to launch commercial UAM services in Europe, where it must satisfy the same strict safety standards as commercial airliners. A successful launch and future scale-up necessitate a reliable UAM ecosystem. Additionally, eVTOL fleets in global megacities will require faster delivery turnaround times in order to maximize vertiport and airport space and offer streamlined customer service.

Volocopter integrates MRO software Swiss AS

©Volocopter

Ideal for managing vehicle configuration traceability throughout its life cycle, AMOS covers component design/purchase dates, installation/replacement dates, and total operating hours. It will additionally observe ground handling operations, deploy relevant tools, manage ground staff assignments, and leverage AI for reliable monitoring for greater fleet management efficiency. Ground technicians will utilize the AMOSmobile/EXEC mobile maintenance solution for “live” data streams.

Volocopter’s VoloIQ will be utilized to monitor customer-facing services such as the booking process, in addition to aircraft location and status, and battery health. The integration of Volocopter’s air- and ground-side operations enables a rapid, transparent, and safe fleet management system to assist in the scaling of eVTOL operations.

“We are looking forward to stepping into the future of urban air mobility with Volocopter,” said Swiss Aviation Software CEO Fabiano Faccoli. “Signing with Volocopter is confirmation that AMOS stands for innovation! All Swiss-AS employees received the news with excitement and we look forward to cooperating with the UAM pioneer Volocopter, who is designing the customer journey from A to Z while complying with the highest safety standards.”

“With Swiss-AS as a partner, Volocopter is making strides to ensure that the maintenance of our VoloCity is managed and executed efficiently and foolproof,” said Volocopter Chief Risk & Certification Officer Oliver Reinhardt. “The AMOS software has a proven track record in the aviation industry – giving us confidence to obtain our Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) and Maintenance Organisation Approval (MOA), which is essential for our entry into service. Its compatibility with our VoloIQ is a must-have to provide outstanding customer service.”

Read more:

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

Observation Without Limits (O.W.L.) Radar: AeroDefense’s Layered Airspace Security System

AeroDefense O.W.L.AeroDefense Integrates O.W.L.’s Radar for Layered Airspace Security System

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Today, drone detection solutions provider AeroDefense announced that its AirWarden™ system will be integrating Observation Without Limits (O.W.L.) radar ground and air detection capability. The integration will support the O.W.L. GroundAware® family of 2D and 3D digital beamforming radar systems employed by critical infrastructure and government sectors worldwide.

Certain critical infrastructure entities necessitate a multi-layer technology approach in order to protect against unauthorized drones. The integration O.W.L.’s radar technology with the AeroDefense AirWarden RF spectrum sensing system results in a solution capable of detecting both RF-based and radio-silent, small to large, low speed to high speed drones and their operators right as the drone is powered on.

In order to satisfy drone detection users’ requests for maximum data to help in guiding their security teams’ responses, AirWarden’s user interface clearly displays each detection type and method in an easily identifiable manner.

“By combining the strengths of both systems, AirWarden offers our correctional facility customers a contraband prevention platform to detect and prevent airborne contraband deliveries by drone and ground-based contraband deliveries by people or vehicles,” AeroDefense Founding CEO Linda Ziemba. “It also gives our utility customers an integrated platform to detect both human and drone traffic at unprotected electric substations.”

“We have learned firsthand that layered security is essential for comprehensive drone situational awareness,” said O.W.L. President Tom Gates. “We are pleased to partner with AeroDefense to provide their customers an added layer of low-altitude airspace surveillance, plus simultaneous ground coverage for detecting and tracking drone operators.”

O.W.L. will showcase the new system at its exhibit in booth 11099 at ISC West, the country’s most comprehensive security industry conference, held in Las Vegas from March 29th-30th.

Read more:

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

ANRA awarded a contract to test BVLOS drone operations - sUAS News - The Business of Drones
ANRA awarded a contract to test BVLOS drone operations – sUAS News – The Business of Drones

SmartSkies safely integrates unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace

WASHINGTON, D.C. and TARTU – May 25, 2022 – ANRA Technologies was selected by Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) to provide its SmartSkies suite of technology solutions to support simulation and live drone flight operations at Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership UAS test site at Virginia Tech. The testing is part of a larger project to safely integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System and advance Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

Under the contract, RI&S will establish a ground-based surveillance supplemental data service provider (SDSP) test program consisting of local radar services using the company’s Skyler active electronically scanned array, AESA, UAS weather product services and UAS service suppliers.

ANRA Technologies will partner with RI&S and other program participants, including Virginia Tech, SkyGrid and Tomorrow.io, to test technologies that will support scalable, safe and compliant BVLOS drone operations at low altitudes.

ANRA will implement its SmartSkies airspace management and data services platform to gather detailed and comprehensive SDSP data to provide a holistic operating approach as the nation moves forward to create a safe and reliable environment for UAS and Urban Air Mobility.

For this project, ANRA SmartSkies FUSION will consume data feeds from the Skyler AESA and data transmitted from cooperative aircraft flying within the USS network to develop a well-defined and known airspace environment.

“ANRA is excited to work with our partners to implement our SmartSkies platform for this project,” said Amit Ganjoo, CEO of ANRA Technologies. “Our technology will enable testing and evaluation of systems that will pave the way for commercial BVLOS drone operations at scale,” said Ganjoo.

SmartSkies FUSION leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate a path-prediction capability to forecast into the future where aircraft will be positioned. SmartSkies CTR, in turn, enables the ability to aggregate and integrate networked and non-networked surveillance data with UTM, creating a complete airspace picture that can be distributed to authorized users. SmartSkies AWARE will integrate the Tomorrow.io weather intelligence platform into the system for flight planning and route optimization and other supplementary datasets already available in the system.

About ANRA Technologies

ANRA Technologies is an international provider of airspace management solutions for unmanned aircraft operators and airspace managers. ANRA offers intelligent and modular traffic management software capabilities as part of the SmartSkies family for standards compliant UAS Traffic Management (UTM)/U-space and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. For organizations that need an enterprise-class drone operations solution, we offer MissionManager, and for delivery solutions, we offer SmartSkies DELIVERY.  ANRA operates globally with with offices in Washington DC, London, New Delhi, and Tartu. Learn more by visiting www.flyanra.com.

Auterion Integrates Elsight Halo with Skynode for Multi-Network Broadband Connectivity
Auterion Integrates Elsight Halo with Skynode for Multi-Network Broadband Connectivity

Auterion integrates ElsightAuterion Integrates Elsight into Auterion Ecosystem for Multi-Network Broadband Connectivity

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Today, open-source drone software platform creator Auterion has announced that it will be incorporating Elsight into its growing ecosystem. Elsight’s Halo communications module is able to be seamlessly integrated into drones and other autonomous systems, and is now being made available for Auterion ecosystem partners through its integration with Skynode.

“Elsight is a leader in providing drone connectivity solutions, and the Halo integration further strengthens connectivity functionality for Auterion customers,” said Auterion’s vice president of engineering, Markus Achtelik. “Halo runs connections with different carriers at the same time, combining multiple, flexible communication links with advanced bonding algorithms to provide a multi-network, agnostic solution, ideal for communications in beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights. Those flights are fast becoming the present and future of commercial drone use.”

Having dependable communications and data connectivity is essential to the deployment of enterprise drones. Radio frequency connectivity sometimes struggles with range and line-of-sight issues, and satellite connectivity, despite its exceptional range, coverage and uptime, can have issues with latency and budget. Reliable cellular connectivity fulfills all field requirements, while also foregoing issues with bandwidth and cost. Elsight’s Halo provides a multi-SIM solution that connects to multiple cellular providers, checking for channels suffering from communications “dead zones” and automatically rerouting to the channel with the most suitable connection.

“We’re thrilled about the integration of Halo with Skynode,” said Elsight’s vice president of product and business development, Ronny Vatelmacher. “Halo’s state-of-the-art module provides a degree of reliability and safety that’s close to 100%. It offers full redundancy, high bandwidth, low latency, data security, and overall operational safety by aggregating all available IP links, 4G, LTE and 5G cellular and others as necessary, into one bonded link. Combine that with Auterion’s autonomous mobility platform and you’ve got an unbeatable BVLOS solution, boosting your chances of obtaining regulatory certification. Robust flight control systems like Auterion’s Skynode are important to regulators considering BVLOS drone ops. Of course, the integration helps with VLOS too, when there are areas where the reception of a specific carrier is bad.”

Auterion’s continuously growing open-source ecosystem offers customers flexible solutions that meet enterprise quality, scale and regulatory requirements.

“Auterion’s partnership with Elsight is the continued execution of our strategy to build the largest drone ecosystem based on open source and open standards, which provides end users with the best options,” Achtelik added. “Our ecosystem flywheel is driving the growth of our platform. More partners are joining the Auterion ecosystem which, in turn, is attracting more partners. That cycle leads to greater solutions for end users.”

Read more about Elsight:

Read more about Auterion:

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

NUAIR and Aveopt: Integrating Communication Infrastructure into NY Drone Corridor

NUAIR and AveoptNUAIR Integrates Aveopt Communication Infrastructure into NY Drone Corridor

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, Inc. (NUAIR) has announced that Aveopt Inc. is joining the NUAIR Alliance. Additionally, Aveopt’s Communication Infrastructure Mesh (CIMTM) system concept is being integrated into New York’s 50-mile drone corridor in order to further the reality of safe and secure commercial drone operations. The Aveopt CIMTM incorporates cross-communication between multiple modes of communication such as cellular, satellite and remote sensors, resulting in a multi-redundant, reliable communications network for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations. A safe and reliable communications network is essential for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system, beyond visual line of sight flight, and commercial drone operations.

“A safe, reliable and functional UTM system cannot be built by one company,” said Ken Stewart, CEO of NUAIR. “It’s going to take a myriad of specialized companies throughout different industries, government support and cross-state collaboration. Aveopt’s cross-communication technology and expertise is a key addition to our Alliance, advancing the reality of safe and reliable commercial drone operations.”

“Mobility, to include Aerial Mobility, is a significant contributor to the enablement of disruptive technologies. Disruptive technologies such as AI, Robotics, Remote Sensing and IoT are expected to contribute substantially to the global economy over the next 10 – 15 years,” said Aveopt Inc. CEO Art Kahn. “We see the NUAIR Alliance as a focal point for the advancement and adoption of AAM/UAM operations. The Aveopt team is proud to have become a member of the NUAIR Alliance.”

Signal availability, strength and reliability all vary by location. The Aveopt CIM™ is engineered to actively monitor the communication signals in the local area where a drone is flying in order to identify the optimal signal in terms of strength and reliability. It then designates that signal as the primary communication source for operations, moving the other signals “down the list” of backup communication networks. The system will also feature the ability to alternate between service providers to obtain the most reliable signal for safe drone operations.

Safety and reliability remain crucial elements in establishing a UTM system and routine commercial drone operations such as package and medical deliveries. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA continue to look to NUAIR and the UAS industry for assistance in the establishment of rules, regulations and systems needed to safely incorporate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system.

Read more about NUAIR, the NY Drone Corridor, flight over people, and UTM.