Defense technology company AEVEX has become the 20th partner to join Persistent Systems‘ Wave Relay Ecosystem, bringing advanced autonomous unmanned systems into the alliance’s common network fabric.
Under the new partnership, AEVEX is integrating the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET) into its Atlas unmanned aerial system (UAS) as well as its Mako and Mako Lite unmanned surface vessels (USVs). The Atlas is a Group II UAS designed to support intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) alongside precision-strike mission variants. Meanwhile, the Mako and Mako Lite are modular USVs equipped for maritime sensing, ISR, communications relay, and mission-tailorable payloads.
The integration follows previous collaboration between the two defense technology entities. “Prior to AEVEX joining the Ecosystem, our Wave Relay® MANET was integrated into their Atlas UAS, which was selected for the Army’s Launched Effects-Short Range program following successful testing,” said Ed Fahrenkrug, Director of Programs at Persistent Systems. “We are excited to be partnering with a leader in precision strike unmanned systems and build on the Army’s success to meet future operational needs.”
The inclusion of AEVEX expands the alliance of unmanned systems and sensor companies leveraging the network. Persistent anticipates that autonomous systems will soon outnumber warfighters on the battlefield, making the creation of a common operating picture through resilient and highly scalable networking systems essential.
The capability of the MANET technology served as a primary driver for the integration. “We chose Persistent’s Wave Relay® MANET for communications because of its high scalability, resilience to Electronic Warfare (EW), collaborative behavior, targeting, and intelligence collection,” said Chris Robinson, Vice President of Business Development at AEVEX. “Additionally, Persistent’s Cloud Relay™ capability supports global connectivity in contested environments.”
With this expansion, the Wave Relay MANET continues to establish itself as a standard network framework designed to unite unmanned systems, sensors, devices, and warfighters across a global connectivity fabric.
