Photos of the OWL are scarce, but this image shows the basic configuration of the air vehicle. Image: Innovaero.
The Australian Army has ordered an unspecified number of loitering munitions for its Special Operations forces.
Perth-based Innovaero has designed its One-Way Loitering – or OWL – munition to be interoperable with other army uncrewed systems such as the new Insitu Integrator currently entering service.
The OWL has been in development since 2022 and successfully demonstrated several operational concepts, including its ability to be launched from the same pneumatic catapult as the larger Integrator, meaning units can operate both systems together.
To this end, Innovaero collaborated with Insitu Pacific on the OWL’s development, and leveraged some of the autonomous systems technologies developed by BAE Systems Australia (BAESA), which is a joint-venture partner with Innovaero.
In October 2023, Innovaero founder and managing director Mike von Bertouch said the joint venture with BAESA added tremendous value as the company matured as a trusted long-term supplier on major defence and civil aerospace projects.
“It provides the ideal balance between maintaining our SME [small to medium enterprise] agility and culture while leveraging the strength of a global defence leader to supercharge our accelerating growth,” he said.
Innovaero has also partnered on the development of BAE’s larger Strix UAS, which was unveiled at the 2023 Avalon Airshow. Strix is an ungainly-looking car-sized uncrewed system able to take off and land vertically, and to carry sensors or employ precision-guided weapons.
Insitu Pacific managing director Andrew Duggan said his company’s collaboration on the OWL was designed to achieve seamless integration with current ADF systems.
“This unified approach would combine uncrewed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and long-range strike capabilities to rapidly deliver direct effects in the engagement zone, without the need for crews in larger air assets being put at risk,” he said.
Insitu Pacific and Innovaero developed, tested and fielded the collaborative system using Insitu’s common ground control station (GCS) and INEXA software to control both the Integrator UAS and the OWL. They said operators would command both systems through the common GCS.
As the OWL name suggests, loitering munitions are in essence one-way drones that can be launched and sent downrange to predetermined targets, or to seek out targets of opportunity and loiter until the target is positively identified and an order to attack is sent. The OWL, which carries a small warhead, then strikes the target.
The 30 kg OWL has a wingspan of 1.6 metres and a range of about 200 km, but in practice will likely trade off that range for persistence closer to its operators.
It has a battery-powered electric motor and uses an optical sensor to spot its target, sending imagery back to its operator likely through a datalink relay via another UAS such as an Integrator orbiting at a safe distance.
A Defence spokesperson told the ABC that an unspecified “future loitering munition capability is due to be introduced this calendar year”.
“In line with the National Defence Strategy and the Integrated Investment Program priorities, Defence is continuing trials from maritime, land and air platforms with Australian and overseas suppliers to ensure the Australian Defence Force can deploy the latest technology and maximise its advantages,” the spokesperson said.
“The introduction into service of loitering munitions into most Australian Army combat units into the future will be driven by the results of these trials.”
