A provider of drone-in-a-box systems for applications like inspection and monitoring received a new certification that will make it easier to provide solutions to the defense sector. Easy Aerial recently announced its Easy Guard ground station—essentially a portable hangar for a drone—has received its certification of Military Standard Specification MIL-STD 810G, a standard and broadly recognized defense-industry certification that designates technology as field-ready military equipment.
This is significant because it underlines the growing crossover between UAV solutions developed for commercial applications like inspection and pursuits like surveillance and situational awareness that are used by police and military customers. A number of providers now move fluidly between commercial industries and public security & defense, making some privacy advocates uncomfortable.
But for a sector that’s growing but still trying to catch its footing as the regulatory environment evolves, UAV developers are keen to take advantage of the broad applicability of rugged and task-agnostic hardware, and defense and security, which are embracing drones, represent a market with deep pockets.
“In an era where safety and reliability are non-negotiable, we take great pride in the fact that not only do we offer state-of-the-art security technologies but that this technology is backed by hardware with a proven track record for withstanding even the harshest environments,” said Easy Aerial CTO Ivan Stamatovski.
The drone hangar known as Easy Guard, which resembles a Pelican case, enables a drone system to take off, land, and charge in the field, all while keeping the system mobile and easily deployable. It features an automated roof opening and closing system and is made from rugged and weatherproof military-grade materials. It can be deployed from a standard pickup truck traveling up to 25 miles per hour and is equipped with sensors and four external cameras for situational awareness at the deployment site.
Another company, Exyn Technologies, has been similarly pushing the development of switch-hitting UAV for security and defense applications, as well as commercial applications. Exyn began developing for the enterprise and is active in sectors like oil and gas and infrastructure inspection. The company’s drones are designed to work in complex, GPS-denied environments where unknown terrain and uncertain ground conditions can make life perilous for soldiers. Those abilities make the drones well-suited to defense applications as well. In contrast to other unmanned aerial vehicles used for ground warfare, which predominantly rely on a pilot, Exyn’s drones are fully autonomous and operate without the need for a human operator or pre-loaded maps, functionality original developed for the commercial space.
“Our aerial robots provide unique capabilities that the Government is seeking to develop and deploy. They are completely self-sufficient and a significantly valuable asset in providing superior situational awareness,” said Nader Elm, CEO of Exyn, told ZDNet last year.
Easy Aerial has experienced a dramatic increase in demand for its expanding line of ISO9001-certified free-flight, tethered, and hybrid drone systems. The company expects this trend to continue with the addition of Easy Guard MIL-STD-810G certification.
“With this superb achievement, Easy Aerial continues to revolutionize and set the standard for the drone-in-a-box industry by delivering robust and reliable products that fulfill an increasing demand for high endurance autonomous, drone-based, monitoring and surveillance systems for military and commercial customers around the world,” said Ido Gur, CEO of Easy Aerial.
