announced that Lockheed Martin Procerus Technologies (LMPT) joined the Wave Relay Ecosystem, an industry alliance of unmanned platform and sensor manufacturers using Persistent’s Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET).
LMPT will now offer special operators a version of the Indago 3 unmanned aerial system (UAS) that runs on Persistent’s Wave Relay MANET, including the MPU5 radio.
“This is a big win for users in the Special Operations community,” said Shane Flint, Vice President of Business Development for Persistent. “The users understand that, to truly network the battlefield, you need a robust, scalable solution that allows for unmanned systems and sensors to operate on a common network, empowering the whole team, and reducing weight on the operator. LMPT’s integration of Wave Relay makes this possible.”
In a MANET, each radio — whether on the ground or in the air—acts as both a receiver and a relay station. So, in true peer-to-peer fashion, users can share voice, video, text, sensor and location data without having to depend upon fixed communications infrastructure or a vulnerable central hub.
“The Indago 3 not only provides full motion video to the SOF team, but also extends the MANET through its advantaged airborne position over the team,” Flint added.
Persistent’s MPU5 radio connects to the Indago 3 controller, while the lightweight Embedded Module is integrated inside the UAS. The system is available with either an S-Band or L-Band RF module depending on the needs of the user.
The quiet, all-weather Indago 3 UAS weighs less than five pounds and can be folded for compact transport and unfolded for rapid deployment, getting airborne in just two and a half minutes. It can also stay in the air for up to 40 minutes while carrying a 250-gram payload.
The equally tough Wireless Hand Controller comes loaded with a Virtual Cockpit™ user-friendly mapping interface and powerful mission-planning tools.
The Wave Relay enabled Indago 3 is available now.
Source: Press Release