• Donation is independent of other AeroVironment systems already being provided to Ukraine by the United States Government

• Donated Quantix Recon unmanned aircraft systems will ship this week with more to follow

• Operational training services for donated systems will also be provided at no cost

Quantix Recon is a powerful, simple-to-use unmanned aircraft system that delivers rapid, automated reconnaissance and hands-free data collection to operators. (Image: AeroVironment, Inc.)

ARLINGTON, Va., April 19, 2022 –AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, today announced it will donate more than 100 Quantix™ Recon unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and operational training services to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and territorial forces amid the ongoing war against Russia. The donation was presented to the Ambassador and the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Ukraine by AeroVironment chairman, president and chief executive officer Wahid Nawabi during a face-to-face meeting last week.

“As the Ukraine military’s fight to protect their homeland and defend their nation’s freedom against Russia’s invasion intensifies, their need for solutions that can offer force protection and force multiplication capabilities continues,” said Nawabi. “This donation will provide operators with a tool that can fly undetected by enemy forces and unaffected by radio frequency jammers to deliver accurate and rapid reconnaissance of remote, inaccessible areas of the dynamically changing battlefield.

“Using the actionable intelligence gathered by the Quantix Recon, operators can conduct quick mission planning and verification to help keep Ukrainian ground forces out of harm’s way. AeroVironment is honored to support the people of Ukraine,” Nawabi added.

AeroVironment’s Quantix Recon UAS is a lightweight, easily deployable, fully automated reconnaissance solution that provides on-demand actionable intelligence using high-resolution, georeferenced terrain, vegetation and infrastructure imagery. With its unique hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) design, Quantix Recon combines the VTOL advantages of a multirotor drone with the range, speed and efficiency of a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. Featuring fully automated flight operation, the UAS can survey up to 1.6 square kilometers (0.6 square miles), or 20 linear kilometers (12.4 miles), per 45-minute single battery flight.

Delivery of the Quantix Recon UAS is independent of other AeroVironment tactical missile systems and UAS already being provided to Ukraine by the United States Government. The first half of the donated Quantix Recon UAS shipment is expected to be delivered this week with operational training commencing immediately.

DroneShield, an Australian/US global leader in Artificial Intelligence based platforms for protection against advanced threats such as drones and autonomous systems, has today announced an enhanced version of its DroneSentry-C2 Command-and-Control software, in partnership with location intelligence firm, Nearmap. Nearmap provides city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, geospatial tools, and high-resolution aerial imagery in Australia, New Zealand, and North America.

DroneSentry-C2 provides an intuitive and feature-rich software platform, providing counter-UAS awareness and reporting capability. It integrates both DroneShield and third-party C-UAS sensors and effectors. Those include multiple AI-enabled sensing and tracking products, such as RfOne long-range direction-finding sensors for UAS detection and tracking, and camera-agnostic DroneOptID optical/thermal camera AI software.

DroneSentry-C2 will come with a standard mapping solution for cost-sensitive customers, and an optional Nearmap mapping upgrade for best-in-class mapping data for high-performance environments, such as Government, intelligence, Homeland Security and defence markets, when precision and quality are critical.

The system receives regular secure software updates, capitalising on years of DroneShield’s extensive experience in the C-UAS arena.

DroneSentry-C2 with Nearmap location data

The software comes as an on-prem, air-gapped solution which focuses on intelligence, Homeland Security and defence users, or secure cloud for enterprise customers. The on-prem solution also includes a high-grade physical server. Both options come with regular mapping updates, including ability for the user to load own maps, for sensitive locations.

Oleg Vornik, DroneShield CEO, commented, “One of DroneShield’s differentiators is that we are both a sensor manufacturer and an integrator. Providing a streamlined and standardised hard/software bundle that gives our user community an easy to deploy and run command-and-control software, will be critical, as more fixed and pop-up site users seek to deploy counter-UAS products. Importantly, the offering is already validated by deployments such as US Air Force and Australian Army, amongst number of other tier 1 end users globally.”

Dr Rob Newman, Nearmap CEO and Managing Director, said, “Our customers tell us they prefer Nearmap because of the quality, city-scale coverage, and currency of our location intelligence offering. Combine this market-leading geo-spatial capability with DroneShield’s innovative software, and the ability to defend against the threat of autonomous aerial vehicles, including drones, is even more powerful.

“Nearmap continues to drive innovation in the use of geo-spatial data and tools. This includes harnessing location intelligence to help organisations plan smart cities of the future, support the growth of greener spaces, and assist recovery efforts after major natural disasters.”

DroneShield Limited (ASX:DRO) (“DroneShield” or the “Company”) is pleased to advise it has reached compliance with UK Ministry of Defence (UK MOD) SAPIENT format. SAPIENT is a common operating format for defence devices (with similar principles to the US Department of Defense ATAK system), originally developed by the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). It was since adopted as the standard counter drone communication system in the UK.

SAPIENT offers a standard approach for AI and autonomy in networked multi-sensor systems in security and defence, and is being evaluated as a potential NATO standard for counter-drone systems.

Additional information on SAPIENT is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/sapient-autonomous-sensor-system

Going forward, DroneShield’s AI-enabled counterdrone/C-UAS RfPatrol, RfOne, and DroneSentry-X products now have the capability to provide a SAPIENT compliant output.

Image: DroneSentry-X system, now with SAPIENT interoperability

Oleg Vornik, DroneShield CEO, commented, “In the current challenging geopolitical environment, DroneShield continues to substantially progress our engagement across the NATO militaries, and specifically UK, alongside Australia and the US. We have on-the-ground team members in all 3 countries, supported by a network of highly capable local partners – in the case of UK, our partner is BT with its substantial defence credentials, as well as being a household name in the UK market.”

“Compliance with the SAPIENT format was driven by end-user requests from our UK and European militaries. It ensures our networked devices are plug-and-play compatible to the common operating format of other devices and systems of those end-users. We are currently involved in meaningful acquisition tender processes with UK and European end-users, which require this compliance as part of the deployment.”

World Defense Show, March, 7th 2022 – TEKEVER, the European leader in Maritime Surveillance, and US-based Overwatch Imaging, a leader in airborne imaging systems for both piloted aircraft and drones, have successfully integrated the PT-8 Oceanwatch payload on the TEKEVER AR5 UAV, adding 360º automatic small target detection capabilities to the system.  The news was announced in Riyadh, during the World Defense Show.

VIDEO – we.tl/t-nlUQDi6ULy

World Defense Show, March, 7th 2022 – TEKEVER, the European leader in Maritime Surveillance, and US-based Overwatch Imaging, a leader in airborne imaging systems for both piloted aircraft and drones, have successfully integrated the PT-8 Oceanwatch payload on the TEKEVER AR5 UAV, adding 360º automatic small target detection capabilities to the system.  The news was announced in Riyadh, during the World Defense Show.

“The Overwatch Imaging payload enhances the situational awareness capabilities of the TEKEVER AR5, namely for 360º automatic detection of small targets. Like a radar, the sensor automatically detects targets, and allows the operator to recognize and validate the information. Because it’s based on visual data, the PT-8 Oceanwatch allows us to consider very significant information for automatic classification, such as the color of the targets. We believe it will greatly help us improve mission effectiveness”, said Tiago Nunes, TEKEVER’s Director of Products.

“The TEKEVER AR5 UAV is a very capable system with a large payload capacity and multiple state-of-the-art sensors operating simultaneously,” said Greg Davis, CEO of Overwatch Imaging. “Our PT-8 Oceanwatch enhances the system capabilities with AI software, creating an even more powerful maritime patrol UAS.”

The AR5 is a Medium-Altitude/Medium-Endurance, Fixed Wing UAS designed for missions such as land and maritime surveillance, extended patrols, and search & rescue. It is capable of BRLOS (beyond radio line of sight) by way of satellite communications. The AR5 offers superior performance with reduced operating costs, using a satcom terminal and multiple sensors that operate simultaneously.  

The Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch is a passive image-based radar system that enables much faster search for small or long-range maritime objects compared to traditional maritime patrol systems that use video or human-based search alone. Oceanwatch combines multiple high-resolution cameras and AI-enabled processing at the edge to automatically identify objects in water during the day and at night.

www.tekever.com