Kongsberg Geospatial and MartinUAV partner to provide real-time ISR Drone Solutions for the Canadian defence and security market


Kongsberg Geospatial, an Ottawa-based aerospace and defense geospatial technology company, and MartinUAV of Plano, Texas, a world-leading developer of disruptive UAV technologies, announced today that they have teamed to pursue integrated Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance solutions for the Royal Canadian Navy and CANSOFCOM.


Kongsberg Geospatial and MartinUAV partner to provide real time ISR Drone Solutions for the Canadian defence and security market A drone operator guides a Martin UAV V-Bat drone as it lands on the deck of a frigate after a night mission (Picture source: Martin UAV)


The Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UxS system integrates multiple disparate, real-time sensor feeds to create a highly accurate battlespace common operating picture and provides real-time calculation of aircraft separation, airspace monitoring alerts and communications line-of-sight prediction to also enable detect and avoid for safe Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

IRIS UxS provides a mission management system that combines NATO STANAG-4585 compliant flight controls with sensor data analysis tools and storage – enabling after-action review and providing what the intelligence analysis community calls a “Level 0-3 PED” (Processing Exploitation, and Dissemination) solution for managing mission sensor data gathered by the UAS.

The MartinUAV V-Bat is a truly disruptive UAS technology that combines zero-footprint VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) Performance with long endurance fixed wing aerodynamic efficiency. This game-changing technology enables a truly expeditionary UAS that can be launched and recovered with no ground equipment in under 20 minutes while also enabling long endurance missions.

The V-Bat is a small-to-medium sized UAS (military Group 2/3) that can carry up to a 8-pound sensor package (with max endurance fuel onboard), and is unique because drones of this size generally require a large area for take-offs and landings, while the V-Bat doesn’t. The MartinUAV V-Bat was one of the two initial platforms down-selected to compete for US Army Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS) development contest.

“The V-Bat is ideally suited for upcoming opportunities within the Royal Canadian Navy and CANSOFCOM. They have similar requirements for zero-footprint VTOL flexibility but also long endurance ISR missions” says Heath Niemi, Vice-President of Global Sales, MartinUAV. “Our partnership combines Kongsberg Geospatial’s expertise in UxS mission management with the disruptive technology V-Bat to provide Canadian customers with a tailored ISR capability to meet their unique requirements.”

“We’re very pleased to be working with a world-leading UAS innovator like MartinUAV” said Ranald McGillis, President of Kongsberg Geospatial. “Their technology truly is game-changing and will allow a wide variety of missions to be conducted by a single flexible platform. This is an ideal and complementary fit for our ground control station and mission management technology."