ShinMaywa Develops New Unmanned Sea Plane Prototype before Commercial Use by Larger version
Unmanned flying boat takes off from the sea and successfully performs a figure-eight turn. 4-minute demonstration off the coast of Kobe;
An unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude of about 20 meters above the Port of Kobe under automatic control on September 2 (photo by Asako Nagamine)
Hyogo Keizai Plus reported a new seaplane prototype by ShinMaywa that succeeded in first flight off Kobe.
September 9, 2022
ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. of Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture, has been developing an unmanned flying boat that can take off and land on water. The aircraft made a figure-eight turn twice under automatic control, and when it landed on the water, it was greeted with applause from the audience.
The aircraft is 3 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 0.9 meters high. It is made of light and strong carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and weighs less than 25 kg. It is equipped with an electric twin propeller and cruises at a speed of about 60 km/h. A flight demonstration was held in Kobe, Japan. The flight demonstration was part of the "First Drone Summit" held in Kobe.
ShinMaywa Industries' unmanned aerial vehicle is taken out to sea for a flight demonstration at Minatojima 1, Chuo-ku, Kobe on September 2.
The development of the drone is aimed at improving and passing on the skills of engineers and tapping into the demand for unmanned aircraft due to the shortage of manpower in the aviation industry. It combines technology cultivated through the manufacture of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's US-2 rescue amphibian, the only one in the world capable of taking off and landing in the open sea, with a previously developed fixed-wing unmanned aircraft system capable of staying in the air for long periods of time.
The intended applications include transporting underwater drones and submersibles that survey resources and energy on the seafloor to their destinations and recovering them, as well as transporting supplies to remote islands. According to the company, the new aircraft is being developed with research into onboard sensors and flight control in mind, and a larger size is essential for commercialization.
During the flight demonstration, the aircraft was operated manually for takeoff and landing to ensure safety, but in theory, it is capable of fully automated flight. Satoshi Komatsu, manager of the Systems Section of the Engineering Department of the company's Aircraft Division, said, "We hope to bring this into reality within a few years.
