Page 27 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2019

Whilst exact operational capabilities are classified, SYPAQ said this will no longer be a problem.
“That’s not a challenge for us,” Osborne said. “The SUAS requirement is for a sys- tem with a flight time endurance of around an hour, which is what Wasp does. I don’t think future SUAS will focus on vastly ex- tended endurance, but from a dash speed perspective, to be able to keep up with ve- hicles is certainly a requirement we’re work- ing towards.
“I think we’re there.”
The second project the company has in the works is the PPDS, which looks to fill the same small package delivery niche that Amazon and other delivery companies are aiming for in the civilian space, but on the battlefield.
“There’s a number of ways you can look at package delivery with a UAS, whether it’s delivering burritos or Amazon products,” Osborne said.
However, whilst civilian package drones must be able to return to base, SYPAQ has taken the intriguing step of designing the PPDS as a single-use, flat-pack system made predominantly of cardboard.
“There’s a number of ways you can look at package delivery with a UAS, whether it’s delivering burritos or Amazon products,” Osborne said. “Our approach is quite unique and quite different – and not well suited to delivering burritos. But for military appli- cations and humanitarian applications, the disposable concept is unique and well-suited.
“Within our business it’s known as the cardboard aeroplane. It is very affordable, and the requirement to retrieve isn’t there. It means we can extend the range because we only need to fly one way.”
“The initial mission set is all about spe- ciality distribution, so it would naturally fit with our logistics units,” LTCOL Joyce said. “So if you’re in the middle of nowhere and need a spare part to continue the mis- sion, if it’s under three kilos and fits in the shoebox that is the PPDS, then 30 minutes later you can keep going.
“There’ll be very simple instructions for [soldiers] – they simply pull the avion- ics out, pull the motor out, and that is just a handful of electronics. The rest can be burnt or crushed up.”
Multi use
The PPDS will also be able to carry radio equipment to act as a temporary commu- nications relay using a high level of in-built autonomy. On show at the latest Army
www.australiandefence.com.au | May 2019 | 27