Autonomous Systems Are Getting Smarter And Smarter...

Atair Aerospace told Aero-News recently the company will exhibit its Onyx precision guided parachute systems and LEAPP Long Endurance Autonomous Powered Paraglider UAV technologies at the 2006 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition, which kicks off in Washington Monday.

Featuring the company's advanced "Flocking/Swarming" technology -- allowing the autonomously guided parafoil systems to mimic birds and insects -- Onyx systems (below) are designed to allow military cargo to be parachuted from high altitudes of up to 35,000 feet, autonomously glide for 30+ miles, and land within 150 feet of a preprogrammed target.

With this technology, multiple Onyx systems (50+) with payloads ranging from small ground sensors or small munitions to 2,200 lbs of mission-critical supplies can be deployed in the same airspace, guiding to one or multiple targets without the possibility of midair collisions.

Atair is the first company in the world to successfully develop autonomous agent swarming UAVs. The company was recently awarded a $3.2 million contract by the US Army to supply Onyx systems.

But Onyx isn't the only advanced system Atair will exhibit at AUSA. Atair will also debut its Long Endurance Autonomous Powered Paraglider (LEAPP) UAV technologies, with display of the Micro LEAPP ISR UAV and LEAPP UAV.

Micro LEAPP (below, right) is a light-weight, small-scale version of Atair's DARPA-funded LEAPP UAV, designed for special operations intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

Atair states Micro LEAPP can operate fully autonomously or be piloted by remote control via a portable base station computer and advanced software which allows continuous tracking, mission and flight planning, video and data downlink. Micro LEAPP is one-man deployable and transportable using a backpack. Mission critical features of Micro LEAPP include up to eight (8) hours of flight time and a max payload capacity of 50 lbs.

Atair's DAPRA-funded full-scale LEAPP UAV, which is designed for loitering surveillance missions of 48-55 hours aloft, utilizes the largest elliptical paraglider wing ever built with a wing span over 112 feet. Maximum payload capacity for the LEAPP UAV is 2400 pounds inclusive of fuel.

Atair Aerospace is a high-technology defense contractor dedicated to modernizing military and government logistics by creatively solving complex aerospace and engineering problems that integrate the state-of-the-art in parachute designs and guidance, navigation, and control systems.

Atair Aerospace will be available for questions and technology demonstrations at Booth #4511 during the 2006 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition.

FMI: www.atairaerospace.com, www.ausa.org/www/AM2006.nsf/Home?OpenForm