New Delhi: Hensoldt and Dronamics will build a joint unmanned airborne platform and Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) solution.
Built around the Dromamics’ Black Swan long-range cargo drone and Hensoldt’s MissionGrid suite, the fully European Airborne Early Warning system combines the endurance, payload and range of the former with latter’s mission sensor systems, including MissMarvin mission management software and the PrecISR Synthetic Aperture Radar, to detect and target airborne, ground and maritime threats and address critical coverage gaps in national airspace.
According to Dronamics, the new defence platform, powered by its flagship Black Swan UAV, is intended to close a national security gap by enabling countries to continuously detect and target multi-domain threats from the air, ensuring European sovereignty over European skies. Early demonstrations are planned for later this year, followed by operational deployment focused on Europe’s Eastern Flank, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, with the partners describing the system as 100 per cent made in Europe.
Dietmar Thelen, Member of Hensoldt’s Group Executive Committee and Head of Hensoldt’s Multi-Domain Solutions Division, said, “The cooperation between Hensoldt and Dronamics reflects our commitment to provide our customers future-oriented and capable integrated airborne solutions to close capability gaps and to enhance Europe’s safety and security, especially at our Eastern Flank. “Thus, we are also setting a pioneering example for Software-Defined Defence.”
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dronamics, Svilen Rangelov, stated, “Dronamics Detect & Defend is built on the solid foundation of our proven and tested drone technology. Its ability to integrate different functional payloads, combined with a market-leading endurance exceeding 24 hours, makes the Dronamics Black Swan a uniquely strategic platform to build on. We are thrilled to have as a launch partner a market leader like Hensoldt, with the common aim to leverage the most advanced European aerospace technology to keep Europe safe and secure and to enable a prosperous future for all.”
As per Hensoldt, MissionGrid is a scalable mission system that integrates its radar and electro-optic sensors with data fusion and MissMarvin software, enabling a single aircraft to carry out multiple missions, while PrecISR is a new family of compact AESA airborne multi-mission surveillance radars designed to operate around the clock in all weather conditions.
Dronamics is Europe’s first licensed cargo drone airline, co-funded by the European Union under the European Innovation Council programme. The company’s Black Swan is a long-range, heavy-lift unmanned aircraft with a cargo capacity of 350 kg and a range of 2,500 km, used for logistics, civil protection and defence.
