Airbus DS test flies its new UAV in South Africa

South Africa’s Overberg Test Range was the site of the first flight of the Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) Sagitta jet-powered unmanned air vehicle (UAV) demonstrator, the European company announced on Tuesday. The aircraft, a flying-wing design, flew autonomously over the test range (which is owned and operated by South Africa’s State-owned Denel defence industrial group) for seven minutes, following a pre-programmed route. The UAV has been developed in a cooperative programme between Airbus DS and a number of institutions in Germany: the German Aerospace Centre (better known by its German initials, DLR), the University of the Federal Armed Forces, the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences and the Technical Universities of Chemnitz and of Munich. This programme was part of the national Open Innovation/Sagitta initiative, which was started by Airbus in 2010, and intended to create leading edge technologies for UAVs. “With Sagitta’s first flight, we have proved just how successful a cooperation between industry and academic partners can be in the area of basic research,” enthused Airbus DS Engineering Head Grazia Vittadini. “We are increasingly shifting our focus towards these kinds of innovative concepts, in particular for the development of UAVs, so that we can develop products quickly and efficiently for a growing market.”