Issue 39 Unmanned Systems Technology August/September 2021 Maritime Robotics Mariner l Simulation tools focus l MRS MR-10 and MR-20 l UAVs insight l HFE International GenPod l Exotec Skypod l Autopilots focus l Aquaai Mazu

19 the US after World War Two and working for a while in the same office as Werner von Braun, of V2 rocket infamy and Saturn V/Apollo fame, before moving to Fairchild where he worked on the A10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft. He joined Mission Technologies after spotting the potential of UAVs in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War. Nyroth met Turner though the Swedish Navy target drone programme, the latter recruiting him to Mission Technologies. “Being able to work with such a person was a privilege,” Nyroth says. “He was not just my mentor, he was also my inspiration for meeting people and becoming a technology diplomat – introducing new technology to people who don’t really want to see new technology, that takes some skills. In the ’90s, for example, people looked at drones as oddities, things that didn’t have a real use.” He also learned a lot from working with Schiebel. “To see how a dedicated team can develop a world-class product without any support from its government or military, relying purely on export contracts, was eye-opening,” he says. FX450 evolution The FX450 was profiled in UST 21 (August/September 2018). Since then it has been flown in Norway for various projects including emergency comms support trials with mobile phone company Telenor in 2019, in support of the PACIS-6 secure satcom sharing programme in 2020, and this year for a tactical UAS r&d programme for the Norwegian Armed Forces. For the latter, an upgraded version with a focus on military missions and NATO compatibility is being developed by the team in Norway. Nyroth regards each of these programmes as a milestone in the FX450’s development. The emergency comms support effort involved integrating a 4G cellular base station that can cover an area with a radius of up to 50 km from an altitude of 10,000-15,000 ft, he says, providing mobile phone coverage for use by first responders and other relief workers. This development was spurred by local natural disasters, where cellphone connectivity had been lost. Niklas Nyroth | In conversation Unmanned Systems Technology | August/September 2021