Announced at the DroneX Trade Show and Conference at the Excel Center in London, the partnership will deliver a mix of live and digital flight test activities focused on accelerating the development of Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS) technologies, as part of the National Drone Hub.
The National Drone Hub is a Test & Evaluation (T&E) facility for drones that is operated by Wholeship in partnership with the Royal Navy, with access to over 5,500km² of segregated airspace. It provides a world-leading environment for Visual and Beyond Visual Line Of Site (BVLOS) testing of drones and Ship-Air Integration.
The National Drone Hub brings together Industry, Government, Regulators and Academia to accelerate the development of drones and their associated technologies.
The partnering agreement between Nova Systems and Wholeship delivers unrivalled and independent T&E capabilities that will help drive economic growth and foster collaboration.
Gareth Dyer, Nova Systems International Managing Director, said the combined Nova Systems and WholeShip digital engineering toolsets would rapidly accelerate the development of UAS / Ship safe operating envelopes; a game-changed for the UAS Ship Air Integration T&E process.
“Our teaming with WholeShip to deliver on the vision for the National Drone Hub takes our respective capabilities to the next level,” Mr Dyer said.
“The site offers a unique and safe proving ground for uncrewed platforms which is an expanding area of innovation and development in the defence, security and civil sectors.
“Together we will build upon our existing digital T&E toolsets with the ability to rapidly test and assure systems in the real and virtual domains simultaneously. The result is faster test iteration and capability realisation, without the bureaucracy of using legacy range infrastructure. This is a real step forward for the industry.”
Dan Stembridge, CEO of WholeShip, said: “The National Drone Hub’s success is rooted in its strong partnerships with both industry giants and innovative SMEs.
“These partnerships have not only enhanced the capabilities of the National Drone Hub, but have also created a vibrant ecosystem where innovation thrives.”
John Ling, General Manager of Aerospace and Test at Nova Systems International, added: “Nova Systems is proud to work alongside WholeShip in the development of innovative Digital Test and Evaluation capabilities, where complex simulation and modelling techniques allows Nova and WholeShip to provide the National Drone Hub with a cutting-edge Ship-Air Integration capability.”