In the SOFLAB and SOFTECH area, where start-ups were showcasing their systems, the visitor of SOFINS 2025 could find many innovative developments. Among them two companies, Asterodyn and Hawai Tech, which are joining their skills to develop a drone which mission will be to kill its similar. The former company is exploiting its skills in high speed drones developed for video-making purposes, adapting them to the new role as they have the right speed and manoeuvrability, while the latter is providing the software for planning and executing the mission
Asterodyn drones are made of a central body, which contains batteries and electronics, four arms protruding from the body and organised as an X with 90° angles sustaining the motors and propellers. A whole family of such UAVs is available, a simple system allowing to identify them, the first number, one or two digits, is the propeller diameter in inches, while the second is the number of motors, which corresponds to that of propellers. Therefore the smaller one, the 54, has 5-inch propellers and four motors, while the bigger one, the 128, is equipped with eight motors and the same number of 12-inch propellers. Most of the structure is made in carbonfibre.
In the latter case each arm sustains two motors, one front and one back, which are counter-rotating; EDR On-Line understood that the rotational speed can be trimmed, therefore generating a couple that allows manoeuvring the drone. High manoeuvrability is key to follow flying object for video purposes, as well as to intercept an enemy drone killing it with a direct hit.
The 128 is the one selected for the counter-drone mission; its take-off mass is around 2 kg, it has a range of 20 km, and can reach 300 km/h in only 1.4 seconds, which means that even last minute engagements can be won. EDR On-Line understood that the approach is usually done at a lower speed, usually around 150 km/h, the dash speed being reached in the final attack phase, when it can go up to 400 km/h.
Depending on the situation the attack can be carried out from the back, the side or the front. In September 2024 a first demonstration was organised by Asterodyn, a second one in January 2025 having been done with the 128 used as a First Person View system, the operator being equipped with virtual reality goggles to pilot it, viewing the scene captured by the on-board camera.
The next step will be reached in summer 2025, when the drone will be used to autonomously attack an opponent. Here Hawai Tech comes into play. At SOFINS 2025 it was possible to observe on the screen the planning and execution phase of a reconnaissance mission conducted by two drones, the system allowing to autonomously replan the operation thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. The same will also allow optimising the hit kill mission in the antidrone role. The “brain” of the drone will exploit optronic sensors information to find the target, validate it, a man in the loop will always be present to confirm the target and give the green light for the attack, and then track it and destroy it.
The Asterodyn drones can be launched from a helicopter; providing a defensive layer around the main flying platform could well become another role for this type of UAV, a senior French SF officer having stated, during the SOFINS opening ceremony, that in the future helicopters might well be “escorted” by unmanned inexpensive systems, which would consistently increase the survivability of the main rotor-wing platform.
Photos by P. Valpolini