Unmanned Systems Technology 025 | iXblue DriX I Maintenance I UGVs I IDEX 2019 I Planck Aero Shearwater I Sky Power hybrid system I Delph Dynamics RH4 I GCSs I StreetDrone Twizy I Oceanology Americas 2019

Rory Jackson reports from this year’s International Defence Expo and Conference with highlights of the latest land, sea and air systems 50 T he central location of the UAE in the Eurasian landmass makes it a useful meeting point for aerospace and defence companies from across Asia, Australasia, Africa and Europe. The 2019 iteration of the International Defence Expo and Conference, or IDEX, reinforced this – hundreds of exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors attended the event, and a vast range of new developments and achievements for unmanned systems were on display. Unmanned vehicle developer Threod Systems has unveiled an update for its largest UAV, the Stream C, which is now available in VTOL configuration. Like Threod’s EOS mini-UAV, two booms with four electric motors (one on each boom end) are mounted on the wings. The company wanted to keep the 6 kg useful payload capacity of Stream C in the VTOL version, which in turn means a slightly bigger engine displacement and larger wingspan. “The wingspan of the Stream C has thus increased by 60 cm in VTOL configuration, and the engine also changed from 50 to 75 cc,” said Kristjan Tiimus. “This has also resulted in an increase in the MTOW.” This increase is from 38 to 45 kg, but at the cost of a lower endurance, from about six hours to around five. Also, the inverted V-tail has been changed to a standard V-tail design. The Stream C VTOL uses the same proprietary autopilot algorithms as the EOS, even though the Stream has a fuel-injected engine and the EOS is fully electric. The flight algorithms had originally been developed with notably larger aircraft in mind than the EOS and the Stream C, which are further along Threod´s development roadmap. Tiimus added, “VTOL capability brings a lot of mobility and convenience to end-users, especially in difficult terrain conditions. It enables the use of the UAV in confined spaces, such as inside compounds and in urban conditions. “It also aids operations in restricted natural environments such as forests or mountainous areas. And perhaps most important, it can be launched and recovered from stationary navy ships or rescue vessels that lack space for a runway or launch catapult.” April/May 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology Defence in depth Threod’s Stream C now has a VTOL update