Conceptual Design of an Interoperable Vertical Take-off Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Operations with Unmanned Ground Vehicles – An Overview

The ongoing global military operations and related defence research have placed emphasis on future conflict environments from a complex terrain/urban perspective, including threats from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Conventional countermine equipments and doctrines needs to be re-considered for the development of a new operational philosophy from an unmanned technology perspective. The Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre for Aerospace Design Technology has embarked on investigations and conceptual design studies of a VTUAV for IED detection. The conceptual design process under development at the Wackett Centre is based on a systems approach that focuses on mission analysis, and mission payload design in a network centric operational environment. In this paper, the conceptual design of an interoperable Vertical Take-off Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (iVTUAV) in collaboration with an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) is investigated for countermine operations.