Persistent Systems has announced that Textron Systems will join the Wave Relay Ecosystem, an industry alliance of unmanned platform and sensor manufacturers sharing Persistent’s Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET).
As part of the five-year agreement with Persistent, Textron Systems will incorporate the compact, lightweight, MANET-enabling Embedded Module into its Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) for select applications.
“We are extremely excited to have Textron Systems join the Wave Relay Ecosystem. Their products will be a part of building the future of battlefield networking,” said Louis Sutherland, Vice President of Business Development for Persistent. “This integration provides the Aerosonde SUAS with a reliable communication link, necessary for a wholly networked battlefield.”
Each radio, each communications node, in a MANET acts as both a receiver and a relay station. This allows for a robust, self-forming, self-healing network of voice, video, text and sensor data — all without a vulnerable central node or fixed communications infrastructure.
“It is critically important for an unmanned aircraft system to have a reliable communication link, as our customers depend on our system during thousands of operational flight hours each month,” says Textron Systems Vice President of Tactical Mission Systems Chris Mallon. “The integration of the Wave Relay MANET technology helps us provide this reliability to our customers.”
Textron Systems’ Aerosonde SUAS, which offers proven multi-mission performance in land- and sea-based applications, has accumulated more than 315,000 flight hours of operational maturity. The platform is equipped for real-time, full-motion video and communications relay within a single flight, day or night. The Aerosonde system features a range of 75 nautical miles, 200 watts of available payload power, more than 14 hours of endurance, distributed manned/unmanned teaming capability and is deployable in 20 minutes or less. With its Lycoming EL-005 heavy fuel engine, the Aerosonde is the only platform in its class with a propulsion system completely supported by a manufacturer with such manned aviation expertise, including a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Production Certificate.
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