Proxy Demonstrates UAVs

Unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer Proxy Aviation Systems, Germantown, Md., won a contract with the U.S. Air Force to demonstrate the capabilities of its SkyForce unmanned aerial vehicles. Proxy Aviation’s SkyWatcher and SkyRaider, which are controlled by Proxy’s Distributed Management System (DMS), are being used to test the cooperative flight of several unmanned aircraft flying in constellation formation, while simultaneously distributing sensor control and viewing capability among multiple end users. The first phase of demonstrations took place Feb. 8-10 in Florida, and the second phase is scheduled for early May in Nevada. DMS, Proxy’s network-centric unmanned aircraft system that performs group tactical goals to meet a wide range of mission requirements, consists of the company’s mission-oriented software system, a primary mission-management ground control station and mobile ground control user terminals. In the first flight phase, Proxy said a single SkyWatcher UAV successfully demonstrated cooperative flight with three simulated SkyWatchers, each UAV performing a different role. The single SkyWatcher flew four simulated constellation maneuvers and autonomously operated an onboard FLIR sensor, a thermal imaging and infrared camera, while simultaneously maneuvering with the other three UAVs through several operational scenarios.