In collaboration with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia, UAVOS has developed and demonstrated a progressive flight control system capability for the Saker MALE UAS family.

The Saker-1B UAS has been flown under remote control with no need for a ground control station at the takeoff or landing site. When equipped with the flight control system capability, the UAS can automatically land in remote runways located thousands of kilometers away where a crew services it before it takes off for another mission.

UAVOS says that the flight control system represents a “major technological leap” in the remote operation concept based on advanced communication systems, combined with precise automated taxiing, takeoff and landing. The company adds that the system offers the “utmost operational flexibility.”

“UAVOS is pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with KACST on R&D projects,” says CEO and lead developer Aliaksei Stratsilatau.

“Our scientific partnership has demonstrated a breakthrough operational and technological capability of the flight control system for the Saker-1B MALE UAS family. The full-scale tests were important to confirm the interactions between the flight control system, command & control stations and integrated payload.”

The flight control system capability was successfully tested during flight testing; a process that included automated landing, taxiing on ground after landing, engine switching off and on, payload supporting, pre-takeoff taxiing and automated takeoff of the Saker-1B, which was fully controlled from the two remote control stations.

By eliminating the need to return to the original takeoff point for fueling, the advanced flight control system capability saves on command stations resources. According to UAVOS, two ground control stations controlling the flight at once makes it more effective to manage the operational capabilities such as UAS control, real time planning and updating of routes, updating the UAS behavior attributes, and real time receipt of mission data. This way, the technology saves flight time and fuel, increases the operational availability in the mission area and provides several options for routine and emergency landing, UAVOS says.

Equipped with this new capability, Saker-1B MALE UAS can be used in even more challenging missions such as pollution and search and rescue operations. Featuring state-of-the-art technologies including an automatic takeoff and landing capability and redundant flight control surfaces, Saker-1B has an endurance of more than 19 consecutive hours and the ability to ascend up to 16,500 feet. The UAS is also equipped with both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) data link systems for over-the-horizon operations.