Mind Your Necks, Enemies of Freedom

Cambium—the California-based U.S. defense contractor specializing in hardening electronic and digital technologies for use on battlefields or similarly hazardous environments—has partnered with Applied Aeronautics—the Texas-based manufacturer of The Albatross, an affordable, modular, long-range drone system—for purpose of designing, manufacturing, and commercializing low-cost, high-production rate, enhanced-survivability Group 1, 2, and 3 unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for defense and commercial customers.

Engineered with emphasis on durability, customization, the new drones will be hardened against laser attack, sustained heat and fire, and feature flexible launch and recovery systems, and rapid in-field deployment.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) classified as Group 1, 2, or 3 range in size from less than twenty-pounds maximum-gross-takeoff-weight (MGTW) to as large as 1,319-pounds MGTW. That Cambium and Applied Aeronautics intend to cover all three classes suggests an extensive and ambitious undertaking.

Applied Aeronautics and Cambium assert the ruggedized aircraft resultant of their partnership will reliably serve U.S. and NATO forces—even in surge deployment scenarios—as well as customers in the renewable energy, oil & gas, and wildfire-fighting businesses.  What’s more, the new drones are to be manufactured in the United States from domestically-sourced materials and components.

Applied Aeronautics Co-founder and CEO Ryan Johnston said of the partnership: "Cambium has assembled a highly skilled team from aerospace, military R&D, and biotech. We look forward to augmenting and expanding our UAS offerings through this partnership and are confident that together, we'll bring to market products well suited for complex missions in austere environments.” 

Cambium Co-founder and CEO Simon Waddington added: "As a young, nimble company focused on putting new products into the field to address emerging threats, Applied Aeronautics and their flagship aircraft, the Albatross, are the perfect platform from which to build a new pipeline of next-generation drones using Cambium’s advanced materials and Manufacturing Innovation System.”

The companies are also advancing a modular, air, land, or sea-transport-ready, crate-based, battlefield-friendly manufacturing system—presumably to build drones under-fire …

FMI: www.appliedaeronautics.com, www.cambiumdefensesolutions.com