Kraus Hamdani Aerospace to demonstrate drone teaming at US Army exercise

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace makes the solar-powered K1000ULE unmanned aircraft. (Kraus Hamdani Aerospace)

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KHA) plans to highlight the teaming capability of its K1000ULE unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the US Army's ‘Project Convergence 2022' exercise, according to an official at the US-based company.

At Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, KHA will operate multiple UAVs simultaneously, demonstrating their ability to work together to cover a wider area, KHA chief technology officer and co-founder Stefan Kraus said on 20 October. The flights are scheduled to begin the week of 24 October and continue through mid-November.

The aircraft will fly in a ‘swarm' but not as the menacing mob that the term might suggest. “People typically think of swarming in terms of formation flying,” Kraus told Janes. “This is not that. This is machines teaming together to solve problems autonomously in the air. They don't have to be physically next to each other to do that.”

As conditions change on the ground, the K1000ULEs will adjust their positions to ensure troops can continue to communicate over long distances. “We're taking the network to where it needs to be,” Kraus said. For example, “if you have terrain in the way or your radio's not powerful enough, the K1000 bridges that”.

Although ‘Project Convergence' will be the first time KHA has demonstrated swarming to a military audience, the company has participated in many other exercises, Kraus said. For example, the K1000ULE provided communications relay for the army's Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE) 2022, which took place at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in April and May.