60 Show report | 2025 Paris Air Show & IDS Denmark environments, archaeological and cultural heritage documentation and forestry.” The RIEGL VUX-120-23 meanwhile performs with a 2.4 MHz pulse repetition rate, and is designed to provide very dense results from higher-thanconventional 720 m flight altitudes. The system’s NFB-scanning capability – the consecutive nadir-forward-backward scan direction – is noted by the company as an advantage in such applications as narrow, canyoning situations, allowing data capture on vertically oriented structures (such as buildings in urban canyons or mountainsides). Both sensors can be equipped with RiLOC, RIEGL’s GNSS-IMU solution (specifically, either RILOC-E-25 or RiLOC-F) for simplified provision of a fully integrated and calibrated system from a single supplier, without needing third-party software, maintenance or support. The combination of the scanner and RiLOC offers survey-grade performance in the smallest possible form factor and weight. Additionally, both systems may be installed on a wide array of aircraft, including small multi-rotors, and integrate sufficient computing power to process all trajectory and scan data onboard in RIEGL’s RiPROCESS software, and also to check survey completeness and perform other initial analyses in the field. Pipistrel exhibited its Nuuva V300 cargo UAV, a striking sight as one of the largest static UAV displays at the event. “The Nuuva V300 is a long-range, large-capacity hybrid-electric VTOL cargo drone, which has been in development for some time at Pipistrel, which is now part of Textron,” said Gabriel Massey of Pipistrel. “Developing this aircraft was appealing to us in terms of the efficiency and costreduction opportunities that bringing both hybrid-electric power and uncrewed autonomy into logistics presented.” The Nuuva V300 is so named as a rough match for its 272 kg ideal payload capacity, although the actual maximum cargo capacity is 408 kg, and its maximum range is estimated to exceed 600 nm (1111.2 km); in practical terms, the company anticipates the Nuuva V300 will carry 600 lb (272 kg) over 300 nm (555.6 km) as a comfortable operation. “It features eight electric lifter motors, and the engineering of those has drawn heavily from lessons we learned making our Velis Electro – presently, the only type-certified electric aeroplane in the world. In fact, the Nuuva V300’s lifter motors are a variation of the typecertified tractor prop motor in the Velis Electro,” Massey added. “There are eight batteries, one per motor, and those were all developed in-house and integrated with our own inverters. Meanwhile, we’ve also got a FADEC-governed reciprocating engine at the rear for horizontal thrust, which can fly on avgas or mogas – its fuel tanks sitting in the cargo hold.” In flight, once take-off is completed, the electric rotors align their propellers with the nacelle-like landing struts and upper tail booms (six rotors mounting on the former; two on the latter) to minimise drag, and then the gasoline engine takes over. “The body is 100% carbon composite, manufactured in Slovenia, to maximise weight efficiency and thus logistical costefficiency. That’s also key to maximising the lift-over-drag coefficient of each of the two wings, to really be flexible in optimising the design of the aircraft,” Massey concluded. Elmer Aviation is a spin-out from custom OEM race engine manufacturer Elmer Racing in Finland, which is aiming to provide highly specified, bespoke reciprocating engines to UAV producers and other professional aircraft companies. “Among the racing engines we’ve produced, our leading success has been our 4 L ‘Thor’ engine: a turbocharged, inline, four-cylinder four-stroke, and the highest power-to-weight ratio OEM circuit racing engine series ever made, recommended for 1500-2000 hp while weighing 150 kg complete, turbo included,” said Oskar Elmgren of Elmer Aviation. “We also have a 2 L i4 – essentially a bolt-in replacement for the Mitsubishi Evo X. Our newest engine, ‘Hel’, a 5000 cc, 4000 hp, 60° V6 made for drag-and-drive events is almost ready to ship to customers; a version of that with aviation-type lifespans would likely be about 1000-1500 hp and weigh 195-200 kg. We’re working on a 120° development of it [called ‘Fenrir’] August/September 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Pipistrel’s Nuuva V300 is an uncrewed cargo drone, designed to carry 600 lb (272 kg) over 300 nm (555.6 km) as a standard type of operation
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