Persistent Systems has entered into a five-year partnership with MartinUAV that will result in MartinUAV incorporating Persistent’s Wave Relay Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) technology into its small vertical takeoff-and-land (VTOL) UAS known as V-BAT.

“Persistent is proud to have been selected out of the many commercially available datalink solutions,” says Louis Sutherland, VP Business Development for Persistent Systems.

“This agreement cements Persistent’s line of Wave Relay MANET products as the exclusive communications solution for MartinUAV’s unmanned products.”

MartinUAV’s systems are now a part of the Wave Relay Ecosystem, meaning that the systems can seamlessly connect to any Wave Relay-enabled UAS, UGVs, sensors, and cameras.

Users of Persistent’s MPU5 handheld MANET radio will be able to interface with the V-BAT, as well as other unmanned systems on the network.

“The military requires a smaller footprint for takeoff and landing, while also needing larger payloads and longer range,” explains Phil Jones, Chief Operating Officer of MartinUAV.

“Using the V-BAT VTOL with the MPU5 and the Wave Relay MANET will enable us to meet all of these requirements.”

Persistent’s Embedded Module is integrated onto the MartinUAV V-BAT VTOL system, which allows operators to quickly switch between different RF modules, such as L-Band, S-Band, C-Band, and BAS-Band, to meet multi-band RF mission requirements.

“Persistent’s vision is to deliver the network to the tactical operators,” Sutherland says. “As MartinUAV incorporates Wave Relay MANET technology into the V-BAT, dismounted users gain an airborne network relay, while simultaneously increasing the V-BAT’s overall range and network performance.”