ShinMaywa INSIGHT

Achieving Practical Applications of the Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle XU-S : (2)

November 11, 2020

Aircraft Division Research and Development

A Successful Extended Flight Test

On October 22, 2020, the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) “XU-S” (Experimental Unmanned/Utility aircraft by ShinMaywa) developed by our Aircraft Division., which we introduced in a post on November 6, 2019, conducted a flight test in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, and successfully achieved its goal of flying for an extended time.

The XU-S is a next-generation aircraft with the ability to stay in the air for a long time while being eco-friendly due to its power source consisting of LiPo (Lithium Ion Polymer) batteries that do not produce exhaust gases. We hope to use it for a wide range of applications such as monitoring and surveillance, and communication, and we are conducting research and development in collaboration with a number of institutions and companies.

This demonstration test was conducted as part of these efforts, with support from Niigata City in the form of subsidies and flight locations. This was the second demonstration test since October 9 of last year.

In addition to a long flight time of 3 hours and 42 minutes, we also achieved a flight distance of 135 km during this attempt, which confirmed the aircraft’s ability to fly far beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in unmanned areas and to perform the extended flights required for various types of investigations.

Here are some comments from Mr. Miyauchi of the Planning and Research Section of the Engineering Department that is involved in the development of this unit:

Many unmanned aerial vehicles have already undergone demonstration tests in recent years. However, with the XU-S, we have focused on developing a unit that satisfies the need for excellent performance at a low cost of operation, thus clarifying what sets it apart from other aircraft. In particular, the XU-S is an extended flight-type fixed-wing aircraft (that specializes in extended flight times or large payload capacity) that can be operated repeatedly in real environments, including outdoor locations such as beaches and meadows, and in terms of aircraft dimensions and weight, it can be considered the largest in Japan. The success of the recent demonstration test has confirmed and proven its excellent performance.

We were able to successfully conduct this demonstration test thanks to the large amount of support we received from both within and outside the company. Going forward, we will continue to work hard with all parties involved to make the XU-S an even more practical unmanned aerial vehicle.