RapidFlight, an integrated designer and mass manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), has announced the release of its customer-proven Mobile Production System (MPS). MPS enables the manufacturing and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from forward locations. MPS can be owned and operated by RapidFlight, or it can be used by the US Department of Defense (DoD), its allies, and defense contractor primes as an effective way to mass manufacture their UAVs anywhere in the world.
A single MPS can produce 28 Group 3 aircraft per month (or much higher quantities for Group 2 and/or Group 1). Each MPS unit can be operated independently or in coordination with other MPS units by two trained technicians. For example, 2,500 or more Group 3 UAVs of the same or varying designs can be manufactured in a year by deploying as few as eight MPS units. The footprint for this production would be half the size of a standard basketball court and set up in less than one week. MPS are easily transported by traditional ground, sea, or air vehicles.
MPS utilizes commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for ease of global deployment and compliance with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requirements. They are powered via any 110v-240v AC power source in the world. Operationally, MPS units are designed to function in the same environments that the warfighter is deployed. MPS can handle wet, dry, hot, cold, clean, and dirty environments with operational limits currently set from -20º F to 130º F and very high humidity.
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RapidFlight engineers have optimized the hardware and software technology stack specifically for MPS capabilities to give a customer the flexibility to quickly deploy new designs or iteratively add additional aircraft capability for the constantly evolving needs within operational theaters. Additional benefits include the small logistical and operational footprint, more resilient supply chain, and minimized inventory that the MPS concept enables. With multiple MPS units deployed in strategic locations, the customer can quickly create a distributed and resilient network of UAS production and support even in remote areas and austere environments.
“RapidFlight MPS enables deployed production of any UAV platform within a small operational and logistical footprint. We’ve designed over 20 different types of air vehicles that are customized for specific missions including: intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, communications, and strike,” said Jeff Ratcliffe, a panelist on the Additive Manufacturing & Advanced Materials Use-cases for Attritable Defense Unmanned Systems session at XPONENTIAL 2024 and business development executive at RapidFlight. “Leveraging MPS, RapidFlight ensures that commanders in the field have the flexibility to respond and adapt to any emergent need with real-time design and the unique ability to scale up production at the edge.”
SOURCE: PRNewswire