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Report by Dr David Maddison, VK3DSM The Australian International Airshow is held in Avalon, Victoria (near Melbourne) each year and showcases the latest in aviation and related technology. It features more drones each year, but there was other interesting technology on show, too. I have reported on previous Avalon Airshows in the May 2013, 2015, 2019 & 2023 issues, so this is my fifth report. It won’t include aircraft or equipment I have reported on before unless there have been significant developments since then. I can’t describe everything I saw at the airshow; there was simply too much, so the following are the highlights of this year’s show. According to the organisers, over 200,000 people attended over six days of the event. 350 aircraft were displayed and there were 902 exhibitors from 28 countries. 291 delegations attended from 43 nations, including 20 chiefs of air forces or similar, 65 conferences, symposia and presentations were held. The show was enormous in scope, as usual, and it was pleasing to see a significant turnout from the Australian aerospace industry. Here are the most interesting exhibits alphabetically: 18 Silicon Chip Airspeed Irukandji target The Airspeed Irukandji (Fig.3, https:// airspeed.com.au/) is a supersonic practice target under development for the RAAF. It uses an Australian-made solid rocket motor, developed in conjunction with Thales Australia and Defence Science and Technology Group. It is said to be aerodynamically similar to the Beechcraft AQM-37 target (not used by Australia), which was in use from 1963 to 2022. That one relied on difficult-to-handle hypergolic propellant (two components that spontaneously combust when brought into contact). Airspeed is based in Mawson Lakes, SA and testing is being performed at the RAAF Woomera Range Complex. ALADDIN Drone The Aircraft Launched Aerial Delivery Drone (Fig.2) by Sovereign Propulsion Systems (www.sovps.com.au) based in Seaford, SA is a drone that can deliver payloads of 20–30kg for Australia's electronics magazine defence, search and rescue or disaster relief applications. It is designed to be launched out the back of an aircraft such as a C-130 Hercules. It has a six-minute flight time with a 30kg payload, or a 25-minute flight time with a 5kg payload, but no range is specified. Maximum take off weight is 65kg and the motors produce 39.6kW of power. The ‘drone head’ is separate from the ‘payload module’; the latter can be designed by third parties for any required applications. For rescues at sea, the ALADDIN payload can be delivered directly to the party being rescued, such as a stricken boat, rather than the present situation of dropping supplies in a “helibox” package into the water for the party to retrieve by themselves. Ascent Aerosystems Ascent Aerosystems is a US company that specialises in coaxial drones (https://ascentaerosystems.com/). siliconchip.com.au Fig.1: a cutaway view of the Aussie Invader 5R land speed record attempt car. Fig.2: the ALADDIN Air Launched Delivery Drone on top of a 4WD. Coaxial rotor drones have advantages over traditional quadcopter or 6/8-multirotor designs due to greater ruggedness for commercial, military and rescue operations. They are also easy to store with folding rotor blades and a cylindrical shaped body. Guidance is achieved by adjusting the pitch of the rotors and their differential speed. The Helius model (Fig.4) weighs 249g, has a body size of 275 × 75 × 53mm, a rotor diameter of 300mm, flies up to 72km/h, a mission duration of 30+ minutes, carries a 12.3 megapixel low-light camera and has a suggested price of US$4,499 (about $7000). The Spirit model (Fig.5) is 305mm tall; its body is 106mm in diameter, while the rotor diameter is 648mm. Its maximum payload is 3.0kg and the maximum take-off weight is 6.1kg. With two batteries installed, mission duration is 58 minutes with siliconchip.com.au Fig.3: the Australian Irukandji target drone uses a solid rocket motor. Fig.4: the Ascent Aerosystems Helius Nano UAV uses a coaxial rotor design. no payload or 32 minutes with maximum payload. Its top speed is over 100km/h. You can see a video of the Spirit model at https://youtu.be/J1tJGhiNrG0 and another about the Helius model at https://youtu.be/6X_LIZwTXUM Aussie Invader 5R This beautiful vehicle is a contender for the world land speed record, with hopes of achieving 1,600km/h (see Fig.1 & https://aussieinvader.com/). The vehicle is rocket powered; its Australia's electronics magazine Fig.5: the Ascent Aerosystems Spirit is larger but also has coaxial rotors. June 2025  19 Glossary • UAV: Unmaned Aerial Vehicle, an aircraft that flies autonomously or by remote control (including what is commonly referred to as “drones”). • UAS: Unmanned Aircraft System, a broad term that includes UAVs, plus the ground control station, communications equipment and other support systems. • VTOL: Vertical Take Off and Landing propellant is white fuming nitric acid (WFNA) as the oxidiser and turpentine as the fuel. That propellant mixture is hypergolic, meaning the two components spontaneously combust when combined. The combined weight of the propellant is 2.8 tonnes, which will be mostly consumed in 20 seconds. The liquids are pressure-fed at about 70bar (68 atmospheres) with no pumps for the sake of simplicity. The motor develops over 28 tonnes of thrust and, after 20 seconds, the vehicle will be travelling at 1600km/h or 1km every 2¼ seconds. At the expected speeds, there are a range of physics and aerodynamic behaviours that come into play; if this record attempt is successful, it is likely to stand for a very long time as technology is being pushed to the limit. Currently, the Aussie Invader team is looking for a long enough track to run the record attempt. It cannot be a salt lake due to a lack of grip; it needs to be a desert-baked mudflat surface at least 25km long; level, smooth and straight, into which the wheels can sink in by about 2.5cm to give extra traction and stability. Sites are being investigated in Australia (ideally), South Africa and the United States. Fig.6: a model of the ASA Roo-ver. Australian Space Agency (ASA) Roo-ver The Roo-ver (see Fig.6 & https:// www.space.gov.au/meet-roo-ver) is an Australian-made lunar rover that is expected to go to the moon on an Artemis mission. Artemis is a NASA program to re-establish a human presence on the moon. The Roo-ver will weigh about 20kg and be about the size of a typical suitcase (as the ASA describes it). It will be controlled from Earth to collect lunar soil and help to develop capabilities necessary for an ongoing human presence on the moon. Its mission duration is 14 days. The lunar soil, also known as regolith, will be studied as a source of oxygen to breathe and as an element of rocket fuel. The industry consortium building the rover is called ELO2 and comprises start-ups, small- to medium-­ size enterprises, major resource companies, universities and others. Roover is expected to go to the moon later this decade. You can watch a video about it at https://youtu.be/ hZ7Lb4VJbR4 Fig.7: the DroneSentry-X Mk2 for detecting and optionally defeating drones. The Babcock Language Translation System The Babcock Military Aviation Language Translation System is proposed to solve the apparent lack of language comprehension of aviators within some of Australia’s military coalition partners. However, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), English is the mandated language for all aviation radio communications and procedures worldwide, at least within civil aviation. Pilots are expected to be proficient in “Aviation English”. The prevalence of the language problem was not stated by Babcock. The translation system “… utilises neural machine processing and edge processing to deliver real-time translation of pilot-pilot, pilot-ATC, and pilot-ground staff communications. … This system employs aviation Fig.10: a rendering of the Quickstep Brolga with DROPS payload. Source: https://www.quickstep.com.au/qaam/ Fig.11: the Corvus Launcher V1 with an Innovaero Owl-B. 20 Silicon Chip Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Fig.9: an artist’s concept of the Hypersonix DART. Source: https:// www.hypersonix.com/resources/ Fig.8: DroneSentry’s medium-range product. contextual understanding and deep learning architectures to reduce the cognitive burden of translation.” Quickstep Brolga Quickstep is an Australian company that received an Airshow award for their electric multi-mission UAS QU-1A Brolga (Fig.10 & https://www. quickstep.com.au/qaam/). It has a 6m wingspan, VTOL capability, can carry payloads of 20–30kg for up to 100km. Its automated payload interface can find, identify and attach to the correct payload. The payload container is a proprietary system by TB2 Aerospace (https://tb2aerospace.com/) called Drone Recharging Operational Payload System (DROPS). They also have a QU-3A Protean model with a 45kg payload capacity, 750km range at 160km/h and a hybrid powertrain using conventional fuels and with onboard batteries for a 15-minute hover or payload exchange time. For more details, see the video at https://youtu.be/5vpbRwzottQ Corvus Technology drone launcher Non-VTOL UAVs need some horizontal speed for launching, like conventional winged aircraft. Corvus Technology Solutions (https:// corvustechnologysolutions.com/) from Bayswater North, Vic, offers an Australian-made Electronic Launch System for any fixed-wing UAV. The Corvus Launcher V1 (Fig.11) siliconchip.com.au can launch up to 360 UAVs per hour, including ‘swarms’. It is silent, battery-­operated and mobile. It can launch UAVs weighing up to 31kg at around 90km/h. A custom cradle is required for each type of UAV. The Corvus Launcher V2 is under development. It will be able to launch 120kg UAVs at up to 90km/h and UAVs under about 20kg at 180km/h. DroneShield Small consumer or commercial drones are increasingly being used for hostile or unlawful acts such as smuggling, airport disruption or terrorist attacks. DroneShield (www. droneshield.com) is an Australian company that specialises in C-UxS (Counter Unmanned Systems), ie, the ability to detect and disable drones. They detect drones by a combination of radar and electro-optical sensors, using artificial intelligence to identify hostile drones and to disrupt their control, navigation and video data links. DroneSentry-X Mk2 (Fig.7) is suitable for mobile operations, such as mounting to a vehicle or on a tripod in the field. It has a detection range of up to 3km and a disruption range up to 500m. It weighs 46kg. DroneSentry (Fig.8) is a modular solution for close, medium or longrange detection (depending upon configuration) and optionally defeating drones. It uses optical, radar, and radio frequency (RF) sensors, edge Australia's electronics magazine computing systems and software to produce comprehensive detection and optional countermeasure solutions. Information from these sensors is correlated to provide maximum situational awareness for automatic identification and response to UxS intrusions or threats. DroneOptID is DroneShield’s AI-driven computer vision technology. It can also help to determine the drone’s payload, modifications and effectiveness of countermeasures being applied to it. The medium-range DroneSentry product (shown in Fig.8) features four Echodyne EchoShield radars, an HDC Ranger MR UC infrared (FLIR) sensor and a CompassOne navigation system to provide location, direction and heading data. It connects to the DroneSentry-C2 command and control software for sensor fusion and incorporates DroneSentry-X Mk2 detection and (optional) defeat capabilities. Hypersonix Launch Systems The Hypersonic Launch Systems (www.hypersonix.com) DART (Fig.9) is a test bed for hypersonic flight and testing anti-hypersonic weapons. DART is 3.7m long and can fly at Mach 7 (seven times the speed of sound) for up to 1000km while carrying a 9kg payload. It uses a SPARTAN fifth-­generation air-breathing hydrogen fuelled scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine. It has a 3D printed airframe and June 2025  21 weighs 300kg. DART is launched with unguided sounding rockets or guided rockets. It is fully manufactured at Carole Park in Queensland. Elbit Systems Elbit Systems (www.elbitsystems. com) had numerous products on display, including the following pilot low-light vision and helmet display systems (see Fig.13): • the BriteNite II night-vision sensor array (video at https://youtu.be/ y8xvk0G2R-E) • X-Sight helmet mounted display (HMD) for helicopter pilots (video at https://youtu.be/2rMK6p6r0rs) • HDTS (helmet mounted display and tracking system) – video at https:// youtu.be/uih6hA2uDR0 Honeywell Aerospace 757-200 We were invited on a demonstration flight of Honeywell’s 757-200 test bed aircraft, tail number N757HW, the fifth production 757 ever made. It started service with Eastern Airlines in 1983 and joined Honeywell (https:// aerospace.honeywell.com/) in 2005. They stripped out the cabin linings and most seats, reducing its weight by around nine tonnes, and modified it to take various equipment racks, engineering stations (Fig.12) a third engine mount (Fig.14) to test engines under development and various electronic equipment. It is used as a test and demonstration platform for the Honeywell Aerospace products. The systems they demonstrated include: • Satellite communications, such as L-band and Ka-band hardware. We were connected via onboard WiFi to the internet using the high-bandwidth Ka-band Viasat Global Xpress (GX) network via Honeywell JetWave X hardware. We then connected to Inmarsat’s global L-band LAISR network, giving 3+3Mbps data rates via Honeywell’s Aspire hardware. • Smart-X, Honeywell’s portfolio of runway safety products. These include Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) and SURF-A. RAAS gives alerts to the pilot during ground and air operations to avoid collisions, and includes optional SmartRunway and SmartLanding software. It uses GPS to determine an aircraft’s 3D position, track and ground speed 22 Silicon Chip and uses a detailed validated runway database of 3500 airports. It gives audio alerts to pilots, such as which runway they are approaching or on, which taxiway they are on, warns of short runways, distance remaining for a rejected take off, take off flap position, warning of a possible taxiway landing, distance remaining and other alerts. SmartRunway and SmartLanding use aircraft position data and a runway database to prevent runway excursions or incursions. SmartRunway prevents incidents on the ground such as crossing the wrong runway, crossing a runway without clearance, or taking off from a taxiway or short runway, or with the wrong flap setting. SmartLanding prevents incidents like running off the end or the side of a runway, an off-­ runway landing, landing on the wrong runway or landing on a taxiway. SURF-A enhances these by taking data from the ADS-B Out (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast Out) equipment, using advanced algorithms to identify any possible collision and alerting the pilots. ADS-B Out uses GPS and other sensors to give accurate position that is broadcast to other aircraft (it is more accurate for positioning than radar). • Weather radar; the aircraft was equipped with Honeywell’s next-­ generation Intuvue RDR-4000 3D weather radar that uses volumetric scanning and pulse compression technologies to provide a complete view of the weather from sea level to 18,300m altitude, with a 590km detection range. This allows for better avoidance of adverse conditions; using it, a 50% reduction in aircraft lighting strikes was reported, and less pilot fatigue. • Traffic Alert and Collision System (TCAS) is a suite of systems that operate independently from groundbased Air Traffic Control (ATC) for collision avoidance. TCAS involves two-way communication with other aircraft equipped with appropriate transponders. This enables a 3D map to be produced, allowing each aircraft’s range, altitude and bearing to be determined and establish whether a possibility of a collision exists. If a collision possibility exists, the TCAS responders negotiate an appropriate avoidance manoeuvre. The TCAS system also listens for ADS-B information transmitted from other aircraft. TCAS is mandated for aircraft over 5700kg take off weight or that carry more than 19 passengers. Honeywell offers several TCAS solutions. IAI APUS 25 long endurance quadcopter IAI (www.iai.co.il) has developed a long-endurance quadcopter called the APUS 25 (Fig.16), which has an endurance of up to eight hours with no payload. It achieves this using a single constant-RPM multi-fuel internal Fig.12: an engineering test station in Honeywell’s 757. Note the stripped interior. Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au combustion engine that drives four variable-pitch rotors. It has a maximum payload capacity of 10kg (with reduced endurance) and a maximum takeoff weight of 25kg. With a 5kg payload, its endurance is five hours; electrical power of up to 300W is available to power payloads. It can reach altitudes of 3353m and can hover for extended periods due to a liquid-cooled engine requiring no airflow, so it can be used for persistent surveillance. It has a maximum speed of 42 knots (78km/h) and can operate in high wind speeds, to 23 knots (43km/h). It is suitable for various missions, such as bushfire surveillance, and can perform disaster management, among many other tasks. Multiple sensor options are available. For more information, see the video at https://youtu. be/9lQ3ohSG9ss Fig.13: the BriteNite II night-vision sensor array, X-Sight helmet mounted display and HDTS helmet-mounted display and tracking system. Fig.14: Honeywell’s 757-200 has a third engine mount for testing engines under development. Innovaero Innovaero (https://innov.aero/) is a Perth-based company. They are now 51%-owned by BAE Systems Australia and work jointly on various projects. Among their products on display were the STRIX Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), which we covered in the May 2023 article on the Airshow of that year (siliconchip.au/ Article/15773). Then there was the Owl A (Fig.15), a precision loitering munition that can carry a 1.5kg warhead and has a range of 45km. A loitering munition, also known as a kamikaze drone, is a drone carrying a warhead that flies to an area of interest, then waits in a holding pattern, looking for a target. If a target is acquired, it is engaged. If no target is acquired, the drone can return to base to be recharged or refuelled for use on another occasion. The Owl B loitering munition (Fig.17) is electrically powered and designed to loiter for 30 minutes at a range of up to 100km and return if no target is acquired. Alternatively, it Fig.16: the APUS 25 long endurance quadcopter. Source: https://www.iai.co.il/p/apus-25 siliconchip.com.au Fig.15: the Owl A loitering munition. Fig.17: the Owl B loitering munition on a Corvus Launcher V1. Australia's electronics magazine June 2025  23 can have a maximum range of 200km with no return capability. Jabiru cargo drone Fig.18: Jabiru’s JCQ50 cargo drone with a JMIC trunk container payload. Fig.19: a rendering of MIRAGE operating in ghost decoy deception mode to deceive an adversary’s sensors. Source: https:// jackal-industries-dyfl0js. gamma.site/ Fig.20: Kratos target drones; the MQM-178 Firejet is in the front, with the BQM-177i behind it. Bundaberg, Qld-based Jabiru (https://jabiru.aero/) are well-known in the recreational aviation and training markets for their one-to-four seat composite light aircraft. At the airshow, they displayed their new JCQ50 “Donkey” cargo drone (Fig.18). It is being developed with the support of the Australian Department of Defence. The drone can carry a 50kg payload up to 150km at a speed of 105km/h. It has an unusual arrangement of coaxial rotors for lift, powered by a petrol engine, plus four electrically powered twin rotors on booms (similar to a traditional quadcopter) for steering, with electrical power for them generated by the petrol engine. This greatly simplifies the design of the vehicle, as there are no complex mechanisms as required for a traditional helicopter rotor. The Donkey can be disassembled and two can be carried in a standard full-size JMIC trunk, a container used by the Australian Defence Force and other militaries (1016 × 609 × 406mm). Donkey drones can be flown using real-time remote control or in an autonomous mode. They are powered by a petrol engine in a twin-V four stroke configuration that produces 26.5kW. Jackal Industries MIRAGE Jackal Industries’ MIRAGE (Fig.19) is an adaptable military drone that can be reconfigured between the roles of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), deception and electronic warfare/jamming. Kratos target drones Kratos had two target drones on display: the MQM-178 Firejet and the BQM-177i (see Fig.20). The Firejet simulates of a variety of threats. Its specifications are: • Length: 3.3m • Wingspan: 1.9m • Dry weight: 59kg • Engine thrust: 37kg • Maximum launch weight: 145kg • Internal payload capacity: 32kg • Wingtip payload: 18kg total • Wing station payload: 31.8kg total • Top speed: Mach 0.69 Fig.21: the Phoenix Jet target drone by Air Affairs Australia has a top speed of over 600km/h. 24 Silicon Chip Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au • Maximum altitude: 10,670m • Fuel capacity: 64.4L • Oil capacity: 1.9L (for making smoke) Neumann Space impulse bit (the smallest amount of thrust per pulse) of 236μNs and a total impulse (total thrust produced over time) of 1000N. It measures 96 × 96 × 100mm and weighs 1.4kg fully fuelled. For more details, see the video titled “Lab Sweet Lab - How the Neumann Drive Works” at https://youtu.be/ 4TVipU98g9s ACRUX-2 (www.melbournespace. com.au/projects) is a low-cost satellite rideshare program using a volunteer model to help students get satellites into space. The aim of this program is to take a photo of Melbourne from low Earth orbit (LEO). To do this, they are building a 3U CubeSat and a ground station. The Neumanm Space company (https://neumannspace.com/), based in Kent Town, SA, has developed the Neumann Drive, an innovative lowthrust electric ion drive for satellite propulsion. It can be used for satellite orbit raising, station keeping, formation flying and deorbiting. Unlike some other low-thrust propulsion systems, it uses solid metal as the propellant rather than liquid or gaseous fuel, which greatly simplifies its design and improves reliability. It is a Centre-Triggered Pulsed Cathodic Arc Thruster (CTPCAT). It uses a fuel rod of just about any metal (including scrap metal from space junk) that is solid at the temperatures likely to be encountered. It turns the metal into a plasma using electricity, which is ejected to create thrust. A capacitor bank produces a cathodic arc discharge to produce short (~200μs) pulses at high current (~3kA) and modest voltage (~200V) to turn the metal into a plasma. This plasma exhaust becomes detached from the spacecraft and moves away at velocities of tens of kilometres per second, imparting momentum to the vehicle. No accelerator grids are necessary, as with other systems, and the plasma is overall electron-rich and therefore electrically neutral, which means there are no spacecraft charging problems. The ND-50 model (see Fig.22) is designed for CubeSats and SmallSats. It interfaces with the spacecraft via CAN or RS422, has a supply voltage of 28V, has a power rating of 50W, a pulse rate of 0.42Hz, a specific impulse of 1800–2000s, an Fig.22: the ND-50 Neumann Drive for spacecraft maneuvering. Fig.23: the Point Blank loitering drone by IAI. The BQM-177i is designed to emulate an anti-ship cruise missile and can sea-skim at an altitude of 3.1m at Mach 0.95. Its specifications are: • Length: 5.2m • Wingspan: 2.1m • Dry weight: 281kg • Engine thrust: 453kg • Maximum internal payload: 45kg • Maximum wingtip payload: 78kg • Fuel capacity: 238.5L • Oil capacity: 8L (for making smoke) Macquarie University SkyLift Drone Macquarie University received an Airshow award for their SkyLift Drone, which is designed for parcel delivery in multi-story residences, directly to a recipient’s balcony. We would like to provide more information on this drone project, but there was no reference to it on their website at the time of writing (www. mqdronelab.com). Melbourne Space Program ACRUX-2 Rideshare siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine Phoenix Jet The Phoenix Jet (Fig.21) is a target drone manufactured by Air Affairs Australia (https://www.airaffairs. com.au/products/phoenix-jet-uav/) for use by the armed forces. Its specifications are: • Top speed: 330+ knots (600+km/h) • Endurance: 1 hour • Range: 100km range • Minimum altitude: 15m • Maximum altitude: 6000m • Maximum launch weight: 66kg • Payload: 3.5kg • Engine thrust: 40kg • Wingspan: 2.2m • Length 2.4m • Launched by: catapult • Recovered by: parachute Point Blank VTOL Precision Strike Missile Point Blank (Fig.23) by IAI is a hand-launched VTOL loitering drone that has the ability to hover above an area of interest and observe. The operator can decide to either engage a target or return to base. It weighs 10kg and is about a metre long. Praxis Aerospace Praxis Aerospace (https://www. praxisaerospace.com.au), based in June 2025  25 Fig.25: a Robinson CubeSat PCB assembly. Fig.24: Pyxis in flight, its nose cone assembly and internal electronics. Brisbane, won an Airshow award for its Sparrowhawk swarming UAS crop sprayer. Pyxis Pyxis received an Airshow award for a small thrust vectoring rocket (see Fig.24). Their objective is to “... develop a low cost and scalable guidance and control package for Australian Defence and space”. It has a wide variety of suggested uses. RAAF MQ-28A Ghost Bat The Ghost Bat (Fig.29) is an unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) being developed by Boeing Defence Australia and the RAAF. It will perform a range of missions traditionally performed by fighter aircraft, as well as assisting with operations of crewed fighter aircraft. It is the first Australian-designed combat aircraft to be produced in 50 years. Its maximum operating range is 3700km. RAAF Transportable Land Terminal system and HCLOS The RAAF and other parts of the Australian military use several satellite ground stations for communications: the Panther (0.6m dish), Hawkeye III Lite (1.2m dish) and Hawkeye III (two 2.4m dishes) – see Fig.30. They can use the X, Ka and Ku bands. The RAAF also uses the Panther II Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) portable satellite ground stations built by L3Harris (www.l3harris.com) – see Fig.31. These are used with Ka-band transceivers built by EM Solutions (www.emsolutions.com.au), based in Tennyson, Qld and now owned by UK company Cohort PLC. The Panther and Hawkeye terminals communicate with the Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS), a high-capacity United States Space Force satellite communications system that is also accessible by the Australian military because Australia funded one of its satellites, WGS6. The militaries of Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand also have access, as they funded WGS-9 as well. There is also the RAAF High Capacity Line of Sight (HCLOS), which can provide communications up to 80km with a bandwidth of 5MHz, 10MHz, 20MHz or 40MHz at 4.4–5.875GHz with a power between 0.5W and 5W (see the centre of Fig.30). Rafael Rafael (www.rafael.co.il) had several products on display. One of particular interest was an active ‘hard kill’ system to destroy hostile drones. Systems that disrupt radio data links and GPS to bring down a drone are ineffective against fully autonomous drones using inertial or optical terrain-­ following navigation. Fig.29: the Boeing Ghost Bat uncrewed jet fighter with one of Australia's 12 EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft behind it. 26 Silicon Chip Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Fig.26: setting up a Robinson CubeSat. Fig.27: a Rafael Typhoon 30 remote weapons station (on the left) in a recent test to destroy hostile drones. The sensors on top of the tower help to guide it. Source: Rafael. However, Rafael’s Typhoon 30 RWS (Remote Weapon Station), shown in Fig.27, can be configured to shoot down hostile drones. Australia and several other countries use this system. For more details, see the video at https://youtu.be/IZf0HLwTym0 RedTail Australian company RedTail Technology (www.redtailtech.com.au) have developed a counter-drone technology called “The Katoomba”, based on a high-power laser beam capable of delivering sufficient damage to a hostile drone to disable it (see Fig.28). Its beam is directed with the aid of AI to ensure no invalid targets are engaged, and there is a high probability of a hit. It can be mounted on various platforms and is mainly for use against inexpensive commercial (hobby) drones, otherwise classified as Group 1 according to the US Department of Defense classification scheme. Robinson Aerospace Systems an Adelaide-based company that makes educational CubeSat kits called RASCubes for schools, universities and companies to build these tiny 10 × 10 × 10cm satellites – see Figs.25 & 26. Students from across the world are also designing and building payloads that will be part of Project Space Call and go into Robinson’s RASCube-1, which will be launched into space; see siliconchip.au/link/ac5r for more details. Shield AI V-BAT The Shield AI (https://shield.ai/) V-BAT is a combustion engine powered drone that can take off and lands vertically but the rest of the time, it Fig.28: two views of The Katoomba anti-drone laser system. Source: www.redtailtech.com.au Fig.31: an RAAF Panther satellite ground station. Robinson Aerospace Systems (www.robinson-aerospace.com) is Fig.30: the Hawkeye III Lite communications dish (left) with a Hawkeye III (right). The HCLOS mast is in the centre. siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine June 2025  27 Fig.33: a Stralis fuel cell assembly. Source: siliconchip.au/link/ac5u Fig.32: a group of V-BATs operating in a swarming (they call it a “Teams” configuration). Source: https://siliconchip.au/link/ac5t flies horizontally (see Fig.32). It has a mission duration of 13+ hours, using a ducted fan for propulsion. It can also hover by transitioning from horizontal flight. It can fly autonomously in environments where communications are subject to electronic warfare. It optionally has AI pilot software called Hivemind, which allows drone-swarming or what they call “Teams”. This is powered by an Nvidia GPU loaded into V-BAT’s modular payload bay. It is 2.7m long, with a 3.0m wingspan, has a gross weight of 57kg, a maximum speed of 90km/h, a service ceiling of 6100m and a payload capacity of 18kg. It has infrared cameras for surveillance; many other payloads are available, including for satellite communication. SiNAB SiNAB (www.sinab.com) is based in Taren Point, NSW. One of their products is the Phoenix Pod, for long range day and night surveillance and live air-to-ground comms (Fig.35). It has several applications in military, training and civil purposes such as bushfire spotting, mapping, border protection and disaster management. It can operate independently of aircraft systems, and just needs to be attached to an aircraft stores pylon. Stralis hydrogen-powered generator Stralis (www.stralis.aero) received an Airshow award for the development of their next-generation high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) fuel cell to power electric aircraft instead of batteries (see Fig.33). By running the fuel cell at a high temperature, it is six times lighter than the current state-of-theart. They state that their hydrogenelectric aircraft will travel ten times further than battery-electric alternatives, and will be 50% cheaper to operate than fossil fuel-powered aircraft. The fuel cell can be used in new clean sheet design, to replace batteries in existing electric aircraft, or to retro­ fit an aircraft powered by an internal combustion engine with electric propulsion. Stratoship Australia Fig.34: Swinburne’s hydrogenpowered VTOL SHADE drone. 28 Silicon Chip Stratoship (https://stratoship.au/), based in Brisbane, is developing a high-altitude solar-powered aerial platform called Stratoship (see Fig.36). It is intended to be stationed at 20km altitude for various purposes such as agriculture, bushfire spotting, Australia's electronics magazine communications relay, defence, security, natural disaster management, observation of transportation and infrastructure, research and others. 20km high is above most clouds and jetstreams (9–15km), with relatively low wind speeds, and around 10km above commercial air traffic. The coverage area is huge; an aircraft at that altitude can see in a radius of about 500km. Stratoship is designed to provide persistent surveillance for periods from weeks to months. For more on this concept, see our article on “High-Altitude Aerial Platforms” in the August 2023 issue (siliconchip. au/Article/15894). Swinburne hydrogen UAS Swinburne University of Technology has introduced hydrogen fuel cell technology into two different UASs (uncrewed aerial systems), in a project known as H22S (Hydrogen to the Skies) – see Fig.34 and siliconchip. au/link/ac5s Tests showed comparable or enhanced performance compared to an electric or internal combustion engine UAS with a comparable takeoff weight and payload capacity. One vehicle had a payload capacity of 2kg, stored hydrogen in a 10L tank at 350bar of pressure, had an 8kW motor with hydrogen fuel cells producing 3kW continuous power or 5kW peak, and had supplementary lithium batteries. UNSW (Canberra) Cybersecurity The University of NSW (Canberra) received an Airshow award for a proposal to enhance Air Force communications security through lattice-based cryptographic protocols that are siliconchip.com.au resistant to decryption by quantum computers. Fig.35: the SiNAB Phoenix Pod provides long-range day/night surveillance and air-to-ground comms. VeloDX VeloDX (https://velodx.com/) has developed an integrated AI “system of systems” that supports all elements of all drone operations, both on the ground and in the air. Their drones are the HOLI (extended range loitering munition), POD (AI avionics suite for on-drone operations) and CASTLE (the human-machine interface). Vertiia long range hybrid VTOL Vertiia (www.amslaero.com) is an Australian long-range hydrogen-electric VTOL aircraft with a 1000km range, 300km/h top speed and triple redundancy (see Fig.37). It can carry a 500kg payload, refuel in ten minutes, is quiet (with a 65–70dBA noise level) and has 70% lower operating costs than a helicopter. Apart from hydrogen, it can also run on SAF (aviation biofuel), diesel or jet fuel. It can be configured for medical transport, cargo or passenger use. On the 18th of November 2024, Vertiia completed its first free flight by remote control and on battery power at Wellington, NSW. It’s said to be the most complex civil aircraft ever developed in Australia. They have received orders for 26 aircraft. Hydrogen testing begins this year. Fig.36: a Stratoship test-inflated with helium. Fig.37: Vertiia’s hybrid VTOL aircraft. Source: https://www. amslaero.com/our-product Wisk Wisk (https://wisk.aero/) now a subsidiary of Boeing, is developing what they say is the world’s first all-electric VTOL autonomous four-passenger air taxi (see Fig.38). Apart from cost savings by not having a pilot, they say most aircraft accidents are caused by pilot errors, so by removing the pilot, they expect to enhance safety. While the vehicle is autonomous, there is human oversight over operations at a flight operations centre, where a person will oversee the flight of numerous vehicles. They are currently working to obtain US FAA approval for this aircraft. Its specifications are: • Wingspan: 15m • Range (with reserves): 144km • Speed: 110–120 knots (200–220km/h) • Charging time: 15 minutes Forward thrust is produced by tilting one set of propellers. SC siliconchip.com.au Fig.38: a rendering of the Wisk air taxi. Australia's electronics magazine June 2025  29