San Diego Based Company To Deliver UAS Mobile Tethered Sensor Platform For US Military Tactical Vehicles

Planck Aerosystems (Planck Aero) was awarded a contract valued over $2M by the United States Department of Defense’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) to produce mobile tethered unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for integration onto tactical ground vehicles.

The mobile tethered UAS leverages Planck Aero’s autonomy and vision-guided navigation technology, which is ideally suited for flying from moving platforms, GPS-denied operation, and target detection & tracking. Planck’s Autonomous Control Engine (ACE™) technology unlocks the capability for rapid launch and recovery of UAS while on the move. This technology was built, tested, and refined by Planck’s team of robotics and aviation experts over many years. Existing unmanned aircraft systems use global positioning and not capable of autonomous operation from moving vehicles.

Planck Aero’s autonomy solutions have been integrated into several different unmanned aircraft platforms, providing push-button takeoff and precision landing from confined spaces, as well as from moving vehicles and vessels on land or at sea.

“From the beginning, Planck has been focused on developing and deploying the technologies necessary to provide mobile users with actionable, real-time situational awareness,” said Josh Wells, Planck Aero’s CEO. “This effort will enable us to deploy technology into the hands of those who need it the most – and quickly. We’re excited about moving forward with this effort, and to be able to work with the customer to the benefit of those on the tip of the spear.”

This contract with CTTSO is in addition to Planck Aero’s existing UAS autonomy and computer vision programs with the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, as well as work with international partners in applications such as oil spill response, tracking endangered whale species, and offshore asset inspection.

(Source: Planck Aerosystems news release)

FMI: www.planckaero.com