UAV Navigation is supplying its VECTOR-600 flight control system for SE Aviation’s DRIADE fixed-wing UAV, allowing the aircraft to perform fully autonomous missions with a high level of safety, precision, and reliability.
The DRIADE itself has an 820kg Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW), designed for reconnaissance and wildfire response missions.
The VECTOR-600 autopilot was first successfully integrated into the MCR 4S, one of SE Aviation’s manned platforms.
This demonstrated the system’s capabilities to control an Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) and create an unmanned aircraft, allowing the MCR 4S to be operated manually by an onboard pilot or remotely via UAV Navigation’s flight control system.
This stage consisted of multiple test flights, confirming the aircraft’s performance with UAV Navigation’s Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) systems and ensuring a smooth transition between manned and unmanned operations.
The company is currently designing an advanced flight control system architecture to meet the DRIADE UAS’ operational and regulatory requirements, which the VECTOR-600’s modularity and flexibility allows for.
Work includes the development of redundancy strategies, enabling high levels of fault tolerance in line with aviation safety standards.
Laura García-Junceda, Project Manager at UAV Navigation, stated, “This collaboration reinforces our commitment to delivering advanced, modular and reliable flight control solutions tailored to each customer’s mission needs, while incorporating the necessary levels of redundancy and safety to support high operational certification standards.”
UAV Navigation brings much expertise in critical UAS operations in complex environments as well as having strong knowledge in guidance, navigation and control solutions.
The DRIADE project demonstrates UAV Navigation’s delivery of robust and reliable flight control technology, technical support and mission-specific developments to meet evolving needs of customers, as well as emphasizing SE Aviation’s place as a reliable European UAV manufacturer.
