Halcon, a subsidiary of UAE’s Edge Group, unveiled a tube-launched swarming drone system known as Hunter 2-S.
Hunter 2-S is part of the family of the Hunter 2 series of unmanned aerial vehicles. These drones are expected to share information with each other for tracking and maintaining positions and engaging with the right target.
“Through a certain algorithm, the drones can communicate with each other through [a] main channel, which communicates to all of the drones, giving each of them a certain mission to fly to the target,” Saeed Al Mansoori, Halcon’s chief executive.
Al Mansoori told the communication channel allow the drones to maintain a certain flight profile, particularly when they divide into a smaller group to hit a target.
The maximum take-off weight for Hunter 2-S is 8 kilograms, or nearly 18 pounds. It has a wingspan of 1.44 meters, or just shy of 5 feet, and length of 1.25 meters. The swarm’s targets may include enemy fighter jets on the tarmac at a military base or an incoming convoy of enemy armored vehicles.
Al Mansoori told the swarming drones application can fire 36 drones and control them. “They are equipped with [friend or foe identification] systems,” he added.
Each Hunter 2-S tube launcher can carry 21 drones, but Al Mansoori said the company aims at launching and controlling up to 70 drones, launched from one truck equipped with 3 launchers.
The company plans the first testing of the complete system in 2023 and production by 2025.