Loitering munitions featured prominently at the Land Forces 2024 exhibition. One Australian company operating in this realm is Innovaero, of which BAE Systems holds a 51 percent share. Innovaero has a growing family of three OWL aircraft, which stands for One-way Loitering Munition.
The OWL-B, which is 6 feet (1.8 metres) long and possesses a 14 pounds (7 kilogram) warhead, will move forward after the company announced a new agreement signed with the government. The aircraft is moving into a third phase of development, comprising manufacture, test and evaluation in order to refine its performance, reliability and interoperability.
The Australian Army and related agencies have been testing the OWL-B since last year. It has completed successful flight tests and payload integration, including live-fire kinetic tests at Woomera in September 2023.
Innovaero Chief Executive Officer Marcus Colman noted this OWL-B contract underscores the company’s commitment to establishing a sovereign guided-weapons capability. “This new phase builds on these successful tests and positions us to deliver a combat-ready system that meets the evolving needs of modern warfare.”
Additionally, the latest agreement represents a critical step towards operational readiness. It entails further development, manufacture and rigorous testing of new units. Colman added, “This brings us one step closer to getting this world-leading capability into the hands of the operator.”
Australia announced in July it had ordered AeroVironment’s Switchblade 300, but the tandem-wing OWL-B is in a different class thanks to its far greater range of 124 miles (200 kilometres). Such weapons are better suited to the long distances present in the Indo-Pacific region, Greg Tunny, Innovaero’s Chief Strategy and Development Officer, told Asian Military Review.
Other members of Innovaero’s OWL family include the OWL-A and OWL-X, with the former making its debut at Land Forces 2024.
The 2ft (610mm) long OWL-A is competing in the Army Innovation Day’s theme of enhanced tactical lethality. If awarded a contract, Innoverao would turn the design into an aircraft with a 25 miles (40km) range, 50-minute endurance and 88mp/h (142km/h) cruise speed. It has a 2.2-pound (1 kilogram) warhead.
Tunny expected it would take around 18 months before operational testing of the OWL-A can commence.
The OWL-X, meanwhile, sits between the OWL-B and OWL-X in size. It is nearly 4ft (1.2m) long. Powered by a turbojet, the speedy, expendable aircraft aims to target larger, hostile UAVs and even unmanned surface vessels on water.
After Innovaero received a technology demonstration contract from the Australian Army midyear, Tunny said the first phase of the canister-launched OWL-X’s development should be completed in 2025.
Innovaero is also building the Strix UAV in conjunction with BAE Systems. Compared to the mock-up unveiled last year, the design now features straight rather than canted wings. It is awaiting its first flight.
by Gordon Arthur, Melbourne
