The Future of UAS: Vectored Thrust Flight Control

Today’s technologies allow reliable fixed-wing and vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) configurations. Advanced systems like our Aerosonde^® HQ UAS allow transition between VTOL and horizontal flight. But what’s next?

A global UAS originator, Textron Systems has been investing in vectored thrust flight control since 2017. Separately controllable pods can enable fast transition between these flight modes, representing an enormous step up in mission capability for users in contested, rugged and challenging locations.

Textron Systems already has demonstrated vectored thrust capability in a variety of form factors, the first of which was the X5-55 test bed shown at XPONENTIAL 2018. The team has accumulated hundreds of flight hours on its 55-pound configuration, although its vectored thrust capability is scalable both up and down size classes.