Radionor

0 hand launched fi ed wing with

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Objective for demontration of a 100 km range field test in non-line-of-sight conditions Norway’s geography arises a great challenge for UAV opera�ons due to its mountainous terrain blocking radio line of sight for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight opera�ons. The main objec�ve of this test was to provide a solu�on for this problem using Radionor’s Radio network consis�ng of long range phased array radio technology together with Robot Avia�on’s F 10 hand-launched fixed wing pla�orm.

Gaustatoppen is a mountain in Norway, located at coordinates 59.851473, 8.655659, with an eleva�on of 1756 meter above main sea level (MSL). At this location, 4 pcs. of Radionor's CRE2-189 are installed, providing a long range ground station with 360-degree coverage. The aircraft had a light weight CRE2-144-LW installed and the F 10 system used the wireless IP connectivity by the CRE2-144-LW radio unit for command and control, monitoring and video streaming. The F 10 aircraft also demonstrated the capability to roam from the local ground station at Eggemoen at take-off and landing, to the long range connection to the ground station at Gaustatoppen mountain during flight.

levation ro le of Gaustadtoppen to ggemoen

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The radio link budget calcula�ons and simula�ons indicated that it is possible to achieve connectivity from Gaustadtoppen to the Eggemoen airport with approx. 100 km range with a 200 meters al�tude above ground level even though this was at a non-visual range to Gaustadtoppen. In such conditions, close to the perimeter of the communications range, the system would automatically be set to 0.7 Mbps.

The F 10 system is capable of implementing both command and control, monitoring and live video at this data rate.

Simulated lin coverage at 00 meter flight above ground

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After the launch at Eggemoen airport, the local ground station was equipped with a CRE2-144 compact ground station for command and control of the airgraft. After the aircraft climbed to 200 meters above ground level, the on-board CRE2-144-LW connected to Gaustadtoppen and the command and control, monitoring and video was then using the Gaustadtoppen ground station.

The Cordis Array data link has a capability to detect non-line-of-sight conditions by measuring the precise distance to the aircraft and calculating the received signal strength compared to expected signal strength in line-of-sight propagation. The monitoring confirmed that there was additional signal loss due to obstruction from terrain, but the link was stable enough to conduct mission at this height. Finally, the link was roamed back to the ground station at Eggemoen airport where the aircraft was landed.

Screenshot of the S yview control panel after roaming to the ground station at 0

m range

Radionor Communica�ons AS Tel: +47 72 81 05 00 E-mail sales: contact@radionor.no www.radionor.no March 2021

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CRE2-189

CRE2-1 -8

Electrical parameters: Power supply Data interface Connector

: 19-55 VDC : Ethernet 10/100baseT : MIL-DTL-38999

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: 15 Mbps : AES-256

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: 366 × 366 × 137 mm : 12,5 kg (Antenna) 2,8 kg (Mounting bracket) : Light grey (RAL7040)

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: 15 Mbps : AES-256

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: 1ǕǓ × Ǚǘ × ǔǖǻǖ mm : Ǜǘ g

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Radionor Radionor Communica�ons CommunicationsAS AS Tel: +47 72 72 81 8105 0500 00 contact@radionor.no E-mail sales: contact@radionor.no www.radionor.no ƵŐƵƐƚ ϮϬϭϵ March 2021

f er f i

debrief

This test flight campaign successfully evaluated the objec�ve of the experiment and concludes that it is possible to do F 10 UAV opera�ons none-line-of-sight at 101 km range from a ground station using the Radionor phased array technology. The IP capability in the F 10 UAV and Skyview flight control software, as well as the capability to roam between ground stations, demonstrated capability of conducting long range flights over rural areas, and at the same time complying to regula�ons to maintain command and control of the vehicle and video feed from the sensor at all times.

This also brings the opportunity to take off in one loca�on and land in another, and con�nue the UAV mission if necessary. Similarly, if any other Radionor installa�on similar to the Gaustatoppen also can provide further coverage than depicted in the below figure. This is possible with Robot Avia�on’s current FX10 pla�orm with dual link capability to take off with its primary link and switch to the Radionor network and con�nue mission without geographical boundaries of radio line of sight.

Simulated coverage area from one ground station at Gaustadtoppen when flying 400 meters FX10 Specifications: Endurance: 2,5 hrs Wind resistance: up to 22 kts Weight: 6,5kg Wingspan: 2m -One-man operation -Backpackable -EO detection-range, vehicle si e target 8500m -Object tracking Geo-Location SkyView Specifications -Nato Stanag 4586 -Control Monitor all types unmanned remote sensors -Point Click vehicle control -World-Map Elevation terrain -Fly NO-Fly ones -On the move Convoy operations Inside view of radio installation

Outside view of radio installation

Radionor Communica�ons AS Tel: +47 72 81 05 00 E-mail sales: contact@radionor.no www.radionor.no March 2021