September 5, 2022

ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. (Head Office: Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture, President and CEO Isogawa Tatsuyuki) announced on Friday, August 26th, the unmanned amphibian "XU-M (EXperimental Unmanned / Utility aircraft - Marine type)" which is currently under development. successfully made its first flight.

On September 2 (Fri.), we participated in the 1st Drone Summit (hosted by the Cabinet Secretariat and Hyogo Prefecture), and conducted a demonstration flight (exhibition flight) of the XU-M off Port Island in Kobe City, unveiling it to those concerned.
The "XU-M" is an unmanned aircraft based on the amphibian technology that we have developed over the years, and is being developed to promote research related to the sensing and control of STOL Flying Boat and to accumulate remote operation results and various ocean-related data.
We aim to develop an unmanned aircraft that will help solve and alleviate the problems of resources, energy, security, and population decline in the vast ocean areas by taking advantage of the STOL Flying Boat 's ability to take off and land on the water.
As part of this effort, we exhibited our previously developed fixed-wing unmanned aircraft "XU-S" at the International Frontier Industry Messe 2022, which was held concurrently with the Summit. The "XU-S" is a drone with excellent long-dwell time capabilities, and in 2021, it succeeded in a demonstration test of aerial photography of marine debris in Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture, using Level 3 flight the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the first such test in Japan.

At our Aircraft Division, we will continue to conduct research using various developed aircraft, including the unmanned amphibian "XU-M," which successfully flew for the first time, and will work to expand new business areas through the accumulation of technologies that contribute to solving various social issues.