36 Fojtik explains, “If you’re broadcasting everything everywhere, it becomes potentially quite easy to find the aircraft, whereas if you’re just transmitting in the narrow general direction of your GCS or another preferred receiver, it’s quite difficult to find us.” While many tactical, MANET and mesh radios have been integrated and used with the One 150, Primoco prefers Radionor’s CRE2-179-UAV data link for tactical defence missions. This is a phased array ad hoc network product consisting of a panel enclosure with integrated radio transceiver and antennas, and typically mounted horizontally beneath the One 150’s fuel tank on its underbelly. The system has a bandwidth of 15 Mbit/s within 200 km (although 7 Mbit/s can be achieved for some range beyond this) and embeds AES-256 encryption, covering all end-to-end comms to prevent remote takeover by hostile actors. “It’s a super-large antenna for most UAVs, but it has really good bandwidth, encryption and beamforming,” Fojtik adds. “It’s good for meeting STANAG radio requirements, and it will probably always form the core of our comms in defence.” And wherever possible, Primoco avoids installing separate, differently ranged data links for different systems, despite it being common practice in the UAV world to use one link for flight telemetry and another for real-time video streaming (with an SD card storing raw survey data on board). Most of Primoco’s users do not want that difference in range. Up-to-themillisecond streaming of everything the One 150 sees is vital, and enemy combatants cannot be allowed to seize the UAV’s data should they shoot it down. The CRE2-179-UAV link therefore tends to be used by itself, with a ruggedised memory unit with self-erasing memory on board, and with the GCS van moving to keep the UAV and its operator within 200 km of each other. Future plans Primoco plans to expand its portfolio of offerings of the One 150, such as different wing types for different lift factors, as well as new sensor integrations across EO, SIGINT, electronic warfare and more defence and civilian applications. On top of that, it plans to exploit AI increasingly to make the UAS easier to operate, for instance through real-time analytics to track, classify and prioritise targets autonomously. All of this will however be done in compliance with STANAG 4703 and any other regulations the company thinks it is worth working towards. “It can be overwhelming for companies to go through the painstaking efforts involved with this kind of certification, and we can foresee a tremendous shift towards newer, more agile entities in the UAV industry in the future, because many companies once considered leaders in this industry will find it hard to revamp their operations to conform with EMAR 21 and hence STANAG 4703,” Fojtik says. “For our part, we plan to progress to even higher levels of certification to allow us to fly over more populated areas.” August/September 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Dossier | Primoco One 150 Primoco One 150 UAV Wingspan: 4.85 m Length: 3.65 m Height: 1.25 m Maximum take-off weight: 150 kg Payload: 30 kg Maximum LOS distance from GCS: 200 km Maximum flight distance: 2000 km Maximum endurance: 15 hours Maximum engine power: 25 bhp (18.6 kW) Cruising speed: 100-150 kph Endurance: 15 hours Maximum altitude: 3300 m (FL 100) Some key suppliers Autopilot: UAV Navigation Cable harnesses: in-house Connectors: TENEO 3000 Data links: Radionor Engine: in-house IMU: undisclosed Servo actuators: Graupner Synthetic aperture radar: IMSAR Transponders: Sagetech Specifications Routing the engine’s exhaust through the airstream of its pusher propeller greatly reduces the UAV’s thermal signature, minimising its detectability by IR sensors
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