Battle drones, reconnaissance and search and rescue have become 1 of the biggest attractions of this year's global Defence manufacture Salon. These are products designed to be utilized by both uniformed and civilian services. At the Kielce fair you can see the latest unmanned constructions, but besides the ones that have worked on the Ukrainian front.
She has prepared quite a few Prime Minister for the Kielce Fair WB Group bringing together more than 20 companies producing advanced defence and safety systems. The WB Group's offer includes FlyEye drones tested in combat conditions by Ukrainian soldiers or unmanned search and landing systems Gladius. Both Gladiusand FlyEye are already in the equipment of the Polish Army, and there are also contracts in the plans.
On XXXII global Defence manufacture Exhibition WB Group presented fresh Warmate line products. These are systems of ammunition circulating not only utilized by Polish armed forces. So far India, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine and the United arabian Emirates have decided to acquisition Polish combat drones.
Warmate family
Warmate 3 is simply a model based on Warmate 1, but the weight of the head has been increased. In the current version, the drone carries a burden of up to 3 kg. “In relation to the first version, any structural elements have besides been changed, making the drone lighter, but it can carry a larger load,” explains Remigius Wilk, the WB Group press spokesman.
Warmate 20 can carry a head of up to 20 kg by name. It's a powerful charge. It is utilized to destroy, for example, logistics centres, fuel centres, places of concentration of the opponent," says Remigius Wilk. Even more opportunities are available in Warmate 50. It's 1 of the most powerful drones called kamikaze. Unlike the another unmanneds offered in this series, it has no interchangeable head. This means that it is intended solely for carrying out missions of a combat nature. Of course, the maker does not supply accurate data on the possibilities and scope of the latest drones. However, they are known to hit targets respective 100 kilometres away. It's a very advanced system. Apart from optical sensors, we besides usage artificial intelligence – says Remigius Wilk. He adds that an crucial component of the full Warmate line of ammunition is the adaptation of unmanned vehicles to take off from a universal launcher that can be integrated into vehicles.
Another WB Group premiere in Kielce is the unmanned reconnaissance strategy Warmate TL-R. It's a tiny aircraft that is fired from a multiple launcher. It besides serves as a transport container. The ability to integrate it into the vehicle and control the drone from its interior is simply a solution that aims to increase the level of safety of soldiers. Warmate TL-R is the equipment of the Artillery Reconnaissance Truck. – It will initially go to artillery units, specifically – Company Fire Module Cancer. We besides see interest from another sides, specified as the Navy. Warmate TL-R could be utilized to defend ports or critical infrastructure, says Remigius Wilk.
A large attraction of the WB Group stand is the previously presented X-Fronter reconnaissance and impactless. It is simply a small, weighing about 1 kg of drone carried by a soldier on a protective or dressing vest. The strategy is modular, which means that depending on the request you can usage a head with either a camera or an explosive device. The launch takes place quickly, just deploy the drone and throw it into the air. The control panel is besides tiny in size and the soldier attaches it to the vest. X-Fronter may operate in swarms of 3 cooperating drones.
UAV: ReconSKY – flying wing from Polish Military Group
The Polish Military Group besides prepared its premiere on MSPO 2024. The UAV air drone of the ReconSKY series is presently undergoing investigating and was first presented in Kielce. Like the another Recon series drones, the drone is designed to monitor and defend critical infrastructure. It's an unmanned flying wing structure. – It moves at a velocity of about 50 km/h, and the working time is up to 2.5 hours, of course depending on atmospheric conditions. The biggest challenge is wind, while light rain is not an obstacle – explains Piotr Gniadek from the Polish Military Group. The drone weighs about 3 kg, its launch takes place utilizing a simple rubber launcher.
In the end, ReconSKY is to function as an component of an integrated strategy connecting ground, air and floating unmanned vehicles. – The most hard is communication between land drones, especially in urban conditions. By supporting broadcasting devices on ReconSKY unmanned vehicles, we can importantly increase the scope of operation of devices working on the ground," added Piotr Gniadek.
Military Institute of Weapons Technology with fresh developments
One of the prime ministers at the stand VIT There's a CyberHEAT rocket system. The drone is designed to carry GX-4 heads manufactured by Bydgoszcz Belma. The drone operated by 1 operator runs vertically from any surface, but can besides be dropped from the moving platform, which increases the scope of usage under different conditions. – Importantly, it is simply a strategy of ammunition circulating very cheaper and easy to produce. The structure is created quickly, with opposition wire and foam EPP – explains Michał Kuc, Head of the Unmanned Systems laboratory in Military method Institute of Arms.
CyberHEAT can operate within a 20 km radius at a ceiling of up to 3 km high. The maximum working time is 45 min. A large asset is the ability to operate in conditions of electromagnetic interference.
Another novelty at the WITU stand is CyberHUB. It's a quadruplary unmanned drone, a multitasking platform. It can be utilized to carry and drop various types of cargo up to 20 kg. CyberHUB operates within a radius of 15 km, maintaining in the air up to 90 min. It is operated by 1 operator.
– The fresh 1 we are showing here is besides a solution that facilitates the integration of market, civilian unmanneds with our warheads. This is possible both in the circulating ammunition strategy and in the discharge strategy serving up to six warheads, which we can dump from any host," says Michał Kuc. inexpensive combat systems, which thus form, are very much curious by companies supplying unmanned vehicles to the Ukrainian army.
Combat-tested solutions
Of all the companies presenting unmanned aircraft at the Kielce Fair, the Ukrainian defence sector offers a large deal of attention to visitors. The origin is obvious, all army in the planet is looking for solutions proven in combat, and drones produced by Ukrainian companies give specified tests all day.
Ukrspectsystems is 1 of the leaders of the manufacture in the field of unmanned aircraft. In Kielce, the company promotes 2 drones – Shark and PD-2. The first is simply a comparatively small, weighing about 12 kg and having wings with a span of 3.4 m reconnaissance drone. This device can spend up to 4 hours in the air, reaching a ceiling of 3 000 m and moving up to 80 km from the operator. Shark's cruising velocity is 80 km/h, and the maximum is 140 km/h.
The second bsp to advance Ukrspectsystems on this year's MSPO is the PD-2 reconnaissance and impact drone. This device has a wingspan of 5 m and can spend 8 hours (in its basic version) in the air, moving distant from the operator by 180 km. The maximum ceiling that can be reached is 4,500 m and its maximum velocity is 140 km/h. The weight of the burden that this drone can carry is 11 kg.
Another Ukrainian company, which is present at the NAUDI stand, the National Association of the Ukrainian Defence Industry, is Athlon Avia. This company decided to advance 4 of its products in Kielce. The orbiting ST-35 Silent Thunder can harm targets 30 km distant while in the air for an hour. This plan weighs 9.5 kg, of which the warhead 3,5 kg. Operating at 800 to 1200 m can fly at a maximum velocity of 140 km/h. On MSPO, ST-35 Silent Thunder was shown as a task force with Multicopter SR-1200. This multi-virtrator may not only supply an ammunition operation circulating detailed coordinates of detected targets, but also, if necessary, be a launch platform for ST-35, amounting to respective 100 metres.
In addition to these designs, Athlon Avia presents 2 reconnaissance drones in Kielce: "Furia" – model A1-SM and A2-S. The first has wings with a span of 2 m, and at a weight of about 5.5 kg it can spend in the air up to 3 hours, moving at a cruising velocity of 65 km/h.
The second model, A2-S Furia 2, has wings with a span of 3.6 m and weighs depending on the kind of detection systems installed from 15 to 19 kg. This drone can spend up to 4 hours in the air, flying at a cruising velocity of up to 80 km/h.
Latvian drones checked on the Ukrainian front
For the first time in Poland you could see the unmanned Atlas Aerospace from Latvia. Its founder is of Ukrainian origin and has since the outbreak of the war in the east intensively supported Ukrainian armed forces with their products. In Kielce, you can see 2 of the ones that have already worked on the front.
The Micro multi-gym is truly unique, with a weight of only 250 g it is equipped with thermal and optical camera, and in preparation is yet another improvement version supplemented with a lidar allowing smooth avoidance of obstacles. It's 1 of the smallest recon drones that can work at night. Unmanned scope is respective kilometres.
The designation at a greater distance leads to a larger Atlas Pro drone, with a scope of 10 km. – However, we can extend this scope due to the fact that drones work together, sending the signal further. It is besides possible to send a signal between unmanned people in the air and on land – says Adam Kowalczak of Uniforce. Against the background of competition, Atlas Pro is characterized by a docking station equipped with an instant battery replacement system. This means that the unmanned man is prepared for another mission in little than 2 minutes.
American news first time in Poland
The Skydio X10 drone premiered in the US in September 2023. On MSPO 2024 you can see it in Poland for the first time. The maker describes it as a ‘third generation drone’. Indeed, compared to the X2D model, previously offered by Skydio, the fresh drone has much greater possibilities. – What distinguishes him on the marketplace is simply a very advanced degree of autonomy. Thanks to the usage of six navigation cameras and the usage of advanced artificial intelligence, the drone is able to plan its best way and approach to objects. The operator only points – explains Adam Kowalczyk from Uniforce.
He adds that it is besides possible to install the NightSense module in the advanced part of the unmanned vehicle to avoid obstacles at night. This strategy can work with white or infrared light, making it invisible to the bare eye. Skydio X10 does not only conduct the diagnosis and transmits the camera image to the operator, but besides has the function of generating a three-dimensional model of the observed object.
