Unmanned Systems Technology 003 | UAV Solutions Talon 120 | Cable harnesses | Austro Engine AE50R and AE300 | Autonomous mining | AUVSI 2015 show report | Transponders | Space systems

19 available. There is also an ongoing FAA certification programme for the 240. However, UAV Solutions has so far found more customer demand for the compact 120, which is man-portable. “It has endless applications,” remarks UAV Solutions’ co-founder, CEO and technical chief William (‘Bill’) Davidson. He adds that the 120 has potential for fire and police department use. He also notes that while there is currently a lot of talk of using rotor craft for parcel deliveries, and that although UAV Solutions offers its own applicable rotor craft models, there is no reason why a fixed-wing craft couldn’t be used instead. The advantage of fixed wing over rotary is longer range for a given battery power source. Davidson emphasises that the reason UAV Solutions developed this fixed- wing craft alongside its existing rotor models was specifically for endurance. “Using commercially available batteries, the Talon 120 has an endurance of around one-and-a-half to two hours,” he says, “and we are always looking to new technology to increase that, albeit while keeping an eye on cost. With its VTOL capability, rotor is very popular right now, and we offer that as well. But there is always a need for a fixed-wing aircraft, whether it is for range or even altitude.” Talon 120 background Davidson explains that the philosophy of the 120 was to produce a small electric UAS that adopted “a lot of the thought processes, a lot of the ideas of those UASs that have been in [the US military] theatre in the past decade-and-a-half” and apply them to the commercial sphere. He is an engineer with a long involvement in the US government’s Department of Defense and its UAS requirements. Indeed, Davidson did a lot of work on fixed-wing UAVs before co-founding UAV Solutions in 2006. Aware that a lot more commercial opportunities for UAVs were emerging throughout the global market, by 2010 he had decided that his company should have its own fixed- wing platform. “With the 120 we are providing the type of solution that has been in theatre for anyone who wants it for commercial applications,” he says. “We wanted to build an alternative to those [existing military] UASs, such as the Raven and the Puma, at a much lower cost for the commercial market and in particular, at first, for universities for research. So the idea was to produce a complete UAS for $25,000-30,000. We were able to do that, using our own stabilised gimbal and video tracking, and to give 95% of the capability of a typical Department of Defense UAS for one-third to half the cost.” The 120 has been able to mature for more than three years and, says Davidson, “We have come full circle, to where Department of Defense clients are now very interested in it.” UAV Solutions is a keen supporter of various universities, and when it came to the inception of the Talon 120, a study for a fixed-wing UAV was seen as a good student project. Davidson explains that the 120 started life as a senior- UAV Solutions Talon 120 | Dossier Unmanned Systems Technology | Summer 2015 With the 120 we are providing the type of solution that has been in [the military] theatre for anyone who wants to use it for commercial applications Exploded view of the Talon 120