64 Show report | 2025 Paris Air Show & IDS Denmark onboard and in real-time thanks to a Qualcomm chipset.” Parrot also unveiled the ANAFI UKR drone range, which is a family of compact ISR UAVs aimed at defence, law enforcement and public safety applications, engineered for tight cybersecurity, resilient comms and navigation, and compliant with NDAA, Blue UAS and GDPR standards. The UAVs’ onboard software includes optical navigation via visualinertial odometry and intelligent positioning via image matching, as well as real-time classification and tracking of various targets. We first (indirectly) featured Norway-based STABLE and its gyrostabilised platforms in Issue 45 (Aug/ Sept 2022) for their use by Brazilian USV manufacturer and operator TideWise on the 1400 kg USV Tupan. At the International Drone Show Denmark in Odense, STABLE exhibited a working and powered demo of its scalable stabilised platform, and STABLE’s Rune M. Eriksen was on-hand to explain how its engineering has been optimised for various applications, including the safe landing and take-off of drones from moving vehicles. “It’s a fully electric system, all powered and driven by electric servo motors; it nominally runs on 230 V AC, but may be fed from 12-24 V DC inputs, and all control electronics and inertial sensors are integrated inside the system so that the end-integrator needs only to provide power,” Eriksen said. “By using electric systems rather than hydraulics to stabilise the platform against pitching and rolling, energy efficiency is greatly improved and mechanical complexity is reduced.” As standard, the platform architecture runs on just two servo motors: one for pitch and one for roll. The structure routes most loads to a central pedestal, such that the motors only provide balancing, rather than needing to be large or powerful enough to withstand or route forces. “We also integrate efficient planetary gears to translate high-force and -torque motion into the speeds of the motors; theoretically, we could achieve the same effect with linear actuators but we’ve had consistent and good results with this configuration,” Eriksen noted. “And our platforms can be customscaled to accommodate objects of theoretically any size and weight; to give you an idea of how literal that is, a partner asked us for a 20 m by 10 m stabilised paddleball court on a ship: ‘Why not?’ was our answer!” Elsewhere at the IDS Denmark, Frost Unmanned showed us its Tracer 160 UAV, which is designed as a low-profile, highspeed aircraft for applications such as tactical attack and interception missions, as well as reconnaissance and testing of targeting systems. “It has a flight endurance of 60 minutes, and a flight range of up to 200 km, with LOS comms providing connectivity up to 40 km,” said Kamil Poniatowski from Frost Unmanned. “The system flies using an AIbased flight controller operating our own custom software.” The 15 kg UAV is constructed with a lifting body design, with identical wings on both its left and right sides and its aileron servos embedded in the fuselage, easing wing replacement between flights. The system is catapult-launched, the company’s catapult integrating its own battery and data link so that it can be triggered and operated remotely. A bay on the Tracer 160, forward of the engine, houses a parachute for autonomous landings. A 100 mm diameter microturbine engine enables the UAV’s 160 knots maximum speed (110 knots cruise), with just under 14 kg of thrust produced. “It’s a good engine, running up to 230,000 rpm at full throttle, and you can fuel it with Jet A-1, or just diesel is fine if you add 5% turbine oil,” Poniatowski added. August/September 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology STABLE’s stabilised platform has been optimised for various applications, including the safe landing and take-off of drones from moving vehicles Frost Unmanned’s Tracer 160 UAV can reach top airspeeds of 160 knots and has a flight endurance of 60 minutes
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