NX70 drone system
Aix-en-Provence-based NOVADEM, has received at the end of 2020, from the France’s Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) a new order for about fifty more micro-drones NX70.
This is the third order in two years and proves, once again, the confidence existing between the French Ministry of Army and NOVADEM. Since the initial order in 2018, the fleet of drones NX70 used on external operations (OPEX) has never stopped growing every year. To date, there are about 150 NX70 drones and more than 200 associated equipment and spare parts that have been acquired, for a total amount of orders to more than six million euros.
New capabilities
This new order also demonstrates an evolution for NX70 night vision capabilities. In fact, thanks to the experience feedback of the soldiers on field, Novadem has worked and equipped its drones with a thermal camera with double resolution than the current one. This night performance is unrivalled by any system of this range. Half of the NX70 drones will be delivered with this new high resolution thermal camera, named 640, for the purpose of the most demanding night missions driven by units specialised in observation and research. This is added to the existing versatility of the NX70 fleet, which is already equipped with tethered power supply for continuous observation and protection missions, and also data link terminal placed on vehicles or directly handled by soldiers allowing information sharing on field.
The delivery will occur on the first half of the year, with the first units planned to be received by the DGA in April 2021. Then, after six months of work done by Novadem assembly teams in Aix-en – Provence, the rest of the systems, equipment and spare parts will close the delivery by the beginning of summer.
“These last three years, we move forward incredibly fast in NOVADEM’s History. This dynamic has only been allowed thanks to the massive deployment of our systems on field. Beyond financial benefit engendered by these three orders, we have been able to go further in the performances and reliability of our products. We are proud that our NX70 is one of the few drones to be “Combat Proven” and moreover MADE IN FRANCE, from the development to the manufacturing.”
Pascal ZUNINO, CEO and co-founder of Novadem
Photo: ADRIEN BASTE/MBDA
Source: Press Release