"Rheinmetall and Auterion said they will jointly develop standardized software for a range of military drones, which is expected to step up the West's deterrence efforts.
The German arms producer and the U.S.-based drone-software company said Monday that they reached a deal to create an industry standard for controlling and operating unmanned aerial, land and naval drones.
Auterion, founded in Switzerland and headquartered in Arlington, Va., commercializes an all-in-one computer and flight controller, named Sky-node, which it says can't be jammed and has already been tested in combat missions in Ukraine. The company says this is the first software to offer control of swarms of drones.
The Rheinmetall-Auterion partnership aims to allow NATO countries to operate drones together, by using a common operating system, akin to what Microsoft Windows meant for computer users when it launched in the 80s, Auterion Chief Executive Lorenz Meier said in an interview.
"For autonomous systems we do not have a common language. Every autonomous system in NATO countries right now is only working with its own ground station so it can't communicate, it can't be used interchangeably," he said. "Right now, a German brigade can't use a French drone, and that's very problematic because they might be operating together and they can't talk to a different drone."
This would simplify and speed up the training of drone operators, said Timo Haas, chief digital officer at Rheinmetall, which has deployed drones in Ukraine for several months.
"We see over 200 different aerial unmanned systems in Ukraine.
This makes military training very costly and time-consuming, and system interoperability is not guaranteed," Haas said. "Cooperation with Auterion and the development of a homogeneous operating system will enable the efficient and scalable deployment of unmanned systems."
The collaboration will pave the way for orders from NATO countries and its allies, Meier said, adding that Rheinmetall and Auterion have already shown the integrated drone technology to NATO forces in real scenarios.
Meier said large defense companies must team up with startups and innovative companies to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive against China, where industry is obliged to share its technology developments with the military.
Auterion has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense and its Defense Innovation Unit, also known as Unit X, for the past seven years.
"What we are seeing with Rheinmetall is a pivotal moment, not just for us as a company but also for the industry, because it now marks this moment when you have new technology at mass scale coming together with the established players," Meier said.
He expects the incoming U.S. administration, led by President-elect Donald Trump, to signal "even more openness and speed, and a focus on adopting more technology from new players."
Auterion is scaling up the number of Skynode units in Ukraine to the tens of thousands and is planing to increase the volume and types of drones that it is powering, Meier said.
The partnership shows that Rheinmetall, which derives most of its revenue from combat vehicles and ammunition, is agile when it comes to capitalizing on emerging technologies, said mwb research analyst Jens-Peter Rieck.
Rheinmetall shares fell 6% in Monday's trading." [1]
They well should be. Military drones without well developed consumer merchandise component become dying out species these days. Chinese are winning in consumer drone competition. Military grade iPhone anyone? It is resistant to kinetic impact, you can use it to crack nuts.
1. Firms Team Up to Standardize Software for Military Drones. Gallardo, Cristina. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Dec 2024: B.4.
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą