Martin UAV VTOL Unmanned Aircraft Taps Persistent Systems Wave Relay Data Link Technology

Mobile ad hoc networking provider delivers data link technology to Martin UAV systems.

Engineers at Martin UAV LLC in Rohnert Park, Calif., will incorporate Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET) technology from Persistent Systems LLC in New York into the company’s V-BAT small, vertical takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV  ), also commonly called an unmanned aircraft system ( UAS  ) or drone. The companies have entered into a five-year partnership.

“The military requires a smaller footprint for takeoff and landing, while also needing larger payloads and longer range,” Martin UAV Chief Operating Officer Phil Jones explains. “Using the V-BAT VTOL with the MPU5 and the Wave Relay MANET will enable us to meet all these requirements.”

Persistent’s Embedded Module integrated onto the Martin UAV V-BAT VTOL  system enables operators to switch rapidly between different radio-frequency (RF) modules – L-Band, S-Band, C-Band, and BAS-Band – to meet multiband RF mission requirements.

As part of the Wave Relay ecosystem, Martin UAV’s systems seamlessly connect to any Wave Relay-enabled UAS, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), sensor, and camera, officials say. Users of Persistent’s MPU5 handheld MANET radio will be able to interface with the V-BAT as well as other unmanned systems on the network.

“Persistent’s vision is to deliver the network to tactical operators. As Martin UAV incorporates Wave Relay MANET technology into the V-BAT, dismounted users gain an airborne network relay, while simultaneously increasing the V-BAT’s overall range and network performance,” adds Louis Sutherland, vice president of business development for Persistent Systems.

Martin’s V-BAT series aircraft is the only single-engine, ducted-fan VTOL with the ability to take off and land from a hover, fly 8-plus hours in horizontal flight, and make midflight transitions to “hover and stare” at any time throughout a given mission set, officials say. The company’s V-BAT UAS is a true VTOL, not a hybrid, capable of multimission transitions, near 100kt dash speed in a mechanically simple, scalable, payload-agnostic design, they add.

With no launch and recovery equipment and no exposed rotors, operators are safe from exposed rotor blades, propellers, dangerous catapults, and cumbersome recovery hooks. It translates into a tactical platform that is applicable across the spectrum of use cases – transportable and operational with a crew as small as two.

Martin UAV is an advanced technology company that specializes in building unmanned aircraft and associated flight control software. With offices located in Plano, Texas, and Santa Clara and Rohnert Park, Calif., Martin UAV systems are commercially developed to fill critical operational needs in genuine, tactical, and confined commercial environments with a near-zero footprint.

Headquartered in New York City since 2007, Persistent Systems LLC is a global communications technology company that develops and manufactures a patented and secure Mobile Ad hoc Networking (MANET) system: Wave Relay. Wave Relay transmits and receives data, video, voice and other applications under the most difficult conditions. Its suite of products is utilized in commercial, military, government, industrial, agriculture, robotics, and unmanned systems markets.

Courtney E. Howard  is editorial director and content strategist at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group. Contact her by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..