Navigation without GPS
Satellite signals can be jammed, spoofed or simply absent. Knowing where you are using what you can see and sense is foundational, not optional.
System 01 · Unmanned Aerial
Unmanned aerial
systems.
Autonomous aircraft that fly a mission and report what matters, with the operator supervising rather than piloting. We develop UAVs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and for force protection — systems that can watch, understand and report from positions we would rather not put people in.
The Idea
Fewer pilots.
More understanding.
A conventional drone moves the pilot from the cockpit to the ground. That is useful, but it still consumes a trained person for every aircraft in the air. Autonomy changes the ratio: the aircraft handles flying, and the person handles judgement.
Our emphasis is on the part that is genuinely hard — autonomy that holds up when the picture is incomplete. Reliable navigation, useful onboard perception, and sensible behaviour when conditions, weather or communications turn difficult. An aircraft that only works on a clear day with a strong link is not an aircraft you can plan around.
What It Does
Built around the mission, not the airframe.
The airframe is a means to an end. What determines whether a UAV is useful is the software: how it plans, what it notices, and how it behaves when something goes wrong.
- Autonomous flight & navigationPlan, fly and adjust a route without a person on the sticks — including where satellite navigation is unreliable.
- Onboard perceptionDetect and track what matters in real time, on the aircraft, and report it clearly rather than dumping raw video.
- Resilient behaviourSensible, predictable action when the link degrades, the weather turns, or the picture is incomplete.
- Operator supervisionA person sets the task and can intervene at any moment — command stays human.
Mission RolesISR
SurveillancePersistent observation of an area
ReconnaissanceAnswering a question about a place
Force protectionEarly warning around people and sites
Situational pictureFeeding what it sees back to command
StageResearch & development
Hard Problems
What we're actually
working on.
The engineering that decides whether an autonomous aircraft is a demo or a dependable tool.
Perception that earns trust
Detecting and tracking reliably in clutter, poor light and bad weather — and being honest about uncertainty rather than guessing confidently.
Degraded-link autonomy
Continuing the mission sensibly when the radio link thins or drops, then re-joining cleanly when it returns.
Endurance vs. payload
Every gram of sensor costs time in the air. Getting useful capability inside a strict weight and power budget is a constant trade.
Safe failure
What the aircraft does when something breaks matters more than what it does when everything works.
Clean hand-off
Handing control between autonomy and operator without confusion about who is flying.
This system is under active research and development. Nothing described here has been fielded, and we do not publish specifications or performance figures. Our first end-to-end mission test is planned for December 2026. Detail is shared directly with partners, evaluators and the armed forces under appropriate terms — get in touch.
Talk To Us
Evaluating autonomous
aerial systems?
We share technical detail with partners, evaluators and defence programmes under appropriate terms.