Adapting drones for Army cargo delivery
A new drone delivery project, led by the North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems (NACAS) at Charles Darwin University (CDU) and supported by the Queensland Defence Science Alliance (QDSA), will focus on solving the technical, logistical and regulatory challenges of integrating large, heavy-fuel cargo drones into the battlefield operating system.
NACAS will work with Queensland uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) manufacturer SAIDYNAMICS to adapt the latter’s hybrid 2-stroke engine drone for long-range, cold-chain cargo operations, including the delivery of medical supplies. The project will also partner with Griffith University’s Centre for Enterprise Architecture Research and Management to develop navigation algorithms for drones to locate drop-off locations in GPS-degraded environments.
Visual line-of-sight trials are set to begin over the coming months in the Northern Territory, with longer beyond-visual line-of-sight trials (BLVOS) to start with regulatory approval.
NACAS Professor Hamish Campbell said the Australian Government was investing heavily into sovereign capability for the manufacture of UAS, but far less attention was being paid to solving the challenges of integrating these platforms into existing operating systems and the national airspace. He added that the Northern Territory’s low ground infrastructure and sparse population make it an ideal location for the project’s flight trials.
“NACAS is one of the leading organisations in Australia for research into UAS airspace integration, and this will be bolstered by the opening of the new Airspace Integration Research Facility (AIR-F) later in 2025,” Campbell said.
QDSA Director Stuart Blackwell said the Alliance is focused on collaborating with the best minds in the Northern Territory, Queensland and defence industry to solve key challenges faced by the Australian Defence Force.
“QDSA believes this particular project has real potential to solve some of the logistics distribution challenges in remote locations of Northern Australia,” Blackwell said.
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