August 14, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Will this hybrid drone give Russia a high-altitude advantage?

Is it still a tiltrotor aircraft if the whole body tilts? The new “Fixar” drone, set to be presented at Russia's MAKS-2019 airshow in late August, is a hybrid of sorts, a quadcopter with fixed wings. With limited moving parts and a flexible design, it's the kind of dual-use technology worth watching and, perhaps, even imitating.

“Many companies and UAV manufacturers will present their aircraft, concepts and models” at the MAKS-2019 airshow, said Samuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses. “This Fixar UAV is a ‘self-initiated' project by the manufacturer, with the hope of getting attention from potential civilian and military customers at the air show.”

Unlike the more eponymous tiltrotor craft, which switch distinctly from rotor-powered takeoff and landing to propeller-driven level flight, the Fixar instead has its four rotors in a permanently fixed position. The engines remain in position while the whole frame of the aircraft can lean backwards for more traditional vertical flights or stay level to operate as a fixed-wing machine.

While the Fixar's marketing photos show it working in fields of crops, manufacturer IKS also bills it as designed specifically to operate in windy conditions and in mountains, suggesting that the whole machine might have a role in ISR and cargo transport.

“What caught my attention in particular was that the drone can operate in ‘mountainous conditions' due to its unique design,” said Bendett. “In fact, Russian military has been practicing the operation of different UAVs at high altitudes and in high wind — so this Fixar UAV can prove useful right away.”

Like all duel-use platforms, a drone is only as useful as the payloads put on it. Cameras and supply storage are likely options, though nothing yet suggests any new demand on the airframe. An ability to fly fast and from small patches of land without a runway is valuable, but it needs to have a certain range and speed to be a better choice than the baseline low cost and simplicity of civilian quadcopters. A large internal security market might support that and could easily lead to the Fixar in police roles, as well.

“At present, there is no UAV in the Russian military that has characteristics similar to the Fixar, but given a steady rate of UAS acquisition by the MOD — at 300 UAVs per year for the next several years — it's safe to assume that the Russian military is looking to diversify its UAV fleet beyond the workhorses like Eleton or Orlan," said Bendett.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2019/08/13/will-this-hybrid-drone-give-russia-a-high-altitude-advantage/

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November 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Spatial militaire : «Nous avons les moyens de nos ambitions», selon le général Friedling (CDE)
DEFENSE Spatial militaire : «Nous avons les moyens de nos ambitions», selon le général Friedling (CDE) Dans le cadre du Paris Air Forum, le général Michel Friedling, Commandant du CDE (Commandement de l'Espace) au sein de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Emmanuel Chiva, directeur de l'Agence de l'innovation de défense, Franck Poirrier, PDG de Sodern, représentant des équipementiers au Cospace, et Philippe Gautier, président d'Hemeria, ont échangé au sujet de la stratégie spatiale de défense française. «L'espace joue un rôle essentiel et est au cœur d'une compétition sans précédent. C'est un thé'tre de confrontation avec ses enjeux propres», rappelle le général Michel Friedling. «Nous avons les moyens de nos ambitions, et nous avons déjà des résultats. Nous avons signé les premiers contrats de service pour la surveillance de l'espace. Nous avons formé nos premiers opérateurs spatiaux. Nous aurons nos premières infrastructures à Toulouse en 2023 et premier centre de commandement en 2025», relève-t-il. L'industrie travaille à mettre au point des démonstrateurs pour la capacité d'intervention en orbite, qui devraient voler dès 2023 et 2024. Sodern travaille ainsi sur des «capteurs d'intrus», qui détecteront les objets approchant des satellites Syracuse 4, basés sur sa technologie de viseurs d'étoiles, tandis que Hemeria étudie des petits satellites patrouilleurs Yoda, pour la protection rapprochée des grands satellites géostationnaires, à partir de son expérience sur le nanosatellite Angels. Franck Poirrier, PDG de Sodern, souligne : «l'industrie est là pour servir la souveraineté et c'est pour cela qu'il faut inclure la politique industrielle dans notre réflexion autour de la maîtrise de l'espace». Un «plan équipementier» a déjà été avalisé par Airbus Defence & Space, Thales Alenia Space et les trois ministères de tutelle : le ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de la Relance, le ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche et le ministère des Armées. L'Agence de l'innovation de défense (AID) joue un rôle majeur : «Nous sommes une usine à accélérer les projets, avec un budget d'environ 1 milliard d'euros», explique Emmanuel Chiva. «Nous sommes là pour piloter et orienter l'innovation de défense, mais également pour capter dans le civil les innovations pertinentes, car le monde spatial est éminemment dual». La Tribune du 26 novembre
October 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Opinion: Five Uncertainties Facing The Defense Market
September 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace

4 questions about innovation with the US Air Force’s vice chief of staff
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Will this hybrid drone give Russia a high-altitude advantage?

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