WASHINGTON \u2014 Rare is the flying machine whose most interesting feature comes into play when it is sits stationary on the ground. Bell\u2019s APT-70 tiltbody is, primarily, a resupply vehicle, a flying solution pitched at meeting urgent needs in small landing zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all essential hardware for flying located in the airframe of the vehicle \u2014 instead of the detachable pod (delivering a 70-pound, or in the case of the smaller APT-20 version, a 20-pound payload) \u2014 the utility of the frame itself is what offers new options as a platform. And in a fixed position, it is what lets it work as temporary infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe APT-70 can function as a comms repeater,\u201d said John Wittmaak of Bell, speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wittmaak described a scenario where an APT-70 drone is used for resupply as part of disaster relief. After missions depositing water, food, cooled blood if need be and batteries, an APT-70 fitted with a communications signal repeater could land at a high vantage point, restoring signal to the cellphones of people cut off from communication until a more permanent solution can be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a relay rotorcraft could also land on a hill in an organically denied environment, where mountains and other terrain get in the way of useful radio signals. The ability of a commander to call into place a comms repeater would extend command-and-control capability into otherwise distant or difficult areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to make urgent, time-sensitive resupply casual,\u201d Wittmaak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The APT-70 flies autonomously, taking off and landing like a quadcopter and then pivoting toward more horizontal, fixed-wing flight once in the air. After that transition, the craft draws 50 percent less power and can travel at twice the speed, increasing the range over traditional quadcopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Autonomous navigation is guided by GPS, with inertial sensors and onboard cameras contributing. The APT-70\u2032s communications are encrypted. Users can hard-code mission constraints into the navigation, which would prevent the flying machine from going off course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
APT-70 will be at Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment 2020. As for the drone\u2019s future, Bell says ship-to-ship takeoff and landing is in the works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At AUSA 2019, Bell displayed its APT-70 transport drone, and discussed some novel uses for the platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":55248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"10":{"categories":["unmanned","techwatch","industry","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","digital-show-daily"],"primary_category":"unmanned"}}},"categories":[59,106,29,32,25,21,111],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3021],"class_list":["post-18022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-show-reporter","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JPU6KJTZ6NFJLOVH24JHLN6RWE","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/2019\/10\/14\/this-drone-may-restore-comms-after-disasters\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n