A2TECH - Unmanned Military Vehicle Design, Development and Support

Advanced Aviation Technology (A2TECH) was established in 2004 as an unmanned vehicle industry support company. A2TECH is an Italian centre of excellence in the field of design and development of unmanned vehicle component and systems for civil and military applications. The company offers a comprehensive list of products that enable a modular building approach on new unmanned vehicle systems (UAS).

Custom military manned and unmanned vehicle engineering

A2TECH also now covers solutions for manned vehicles in the field of civil defence and paramilitary applications. Engineering and application consulting services are available to assist in the development of customised manned and unmanned systems.

Rotary-wing unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV)

The RV-VTOL25 TAIPAN is a three-blade, single-engine UCAV developed to provide information/intelligence, surveillance, targeting acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), and attack capabilities and operations in tactical environments.

Its modular body architecture is made from a carbon-fibre-reinforced kevlar sandwich, aluminium and titanium. The rotors have no bearings and are able to withstand extreme operating conditions, such as deserts and highly humid climates. The TAIPAN features a nose-mounted sensor suite for pilot view, target acquisition and night-vision systems.

The 3DA model of the TAIPAN is equipped with the 3DA dome installed over the main rotor which houses a 3D shot direction-finder sensor system. The elevated position of the radome allows 360° detection of sniper shots and other suspect noises, and sends the direction in real-time to the ground crew. To accomplish a wide variety of customer and mission requirements, the UCAV features three payload sections.

Other features include:

• Centre fuselage (native 19in 3U rack capable or slung load)
• Pylons on stub-wings
• To reduce volume space during logistic operations, the nose, tail boom and rotor dome can be dismounted in order to fit the UCAV into a standard station wagon or 4x4 off-road vehicle
• The landing skids feature a shock absorber with ability to withstand hard landings
• Some landing devices options are available, such as snow shoes and emergency flotation devices

On-board avionic control and navigation suite

The TAIPAN's on-board avionic suite is based on A2TECH's DARWIN A3 advanced avionic architecture, driven by the CANaerospace command and control protocol. The UCAV can be programmed to fly an autonomous mission profile, controlled manually, or piloted in real-time using the RealityVISION universal ground-control cockpit.

The TAIPAN can be controlled in three modes:

• Autonomous mode using a laptop computer for programming the mission
• Reduced pilot-in-loop mode using the leg-mounted HOCASnano controller and head-mounted display
• Full authority pilot-in-loop combat mode using the RealityVISION universal ground-control cockpit

Cockpit touch and feeling combat-control system

RealityVISION UGCC provides fully immersive cockpit touch and feeling usually only found in professional helicopter simulators. Due to its dimension and weight, the UGCC can be installed inside a 4x4 truck or similar ground vehicles.

RealityVISION gives pilots full control over the UCAV, assisted by the on-board flight-control computer's flight laws and stability augmentation system, and allows them to perform extreme flight and combat manoeuvres that are not possible using only laptop computer controls.

Mid to long-range ISTAR manned aerial system

A2TECH offers an affordable and cost-effective mid to long-range ISTAR manned aerial solution based on Ultralight and LSA aircraft from Evektor Aerotechnik. These aircraft are equipped with A2TECH's UAV technology, such as camera gimbals, video and data links, autopilot, flight control, and multi-functional displays. At the customer's request the aircraft can also be armoured and armed.

UAV and ULM/LSA operation training, support and maintenance

Training is an integral part of the delivery of a UAV and ULM/LSA solution. A2TECH offers an operator-training course incorporating both theory and practice for its customers and operators of the UAV and ULM/LSA solution. This course gives the users a detailed insight into the UAV and ULM/LSA solution and its operations. It also allows new users the ability, over a period of time, to evaluate the UAV and ULM/LSA solution's performance and to learn in detail how the equipment is used.

UAV and ULM/LSA consulting, rental and leasing

A2TECH also provides UAV and ULM/LSA-related consultancy, regarding missions and ground control integration, and rents and leases its UAV and ULM/LSA solutions for short and long-term use.