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FAQ's
WHY IS FLIGHT ENDURANCE IMPORTANT?
The real cost of a uav is fundamentally influenced by payload kg x sensor time-on-station. High duration uav's reduce clients' costs by offering higher sensor time-on-station per uav. For persistent 24h surveillance operations, long duration uav's translate into smaller uav fleets, which, in turn, result in reduced capital acquisition costs, reduced payload and comms costs, reduced personnel requirements, reduced operational costs, greatly increased operational efficiencies, increased availability and utilisation and greatly reduced sensor-hour costs.
At ShadowfaxUAS we understand that, whilst we might be hugely fascinated by low Reynolds number aerodynamics, our clients are fundamentally interested in obtaining the most cost-effective solution per sensor flight-hour, and our uav's have been optimised to offer this.
WHAT DOES ITAR-FREE MEAN?
Our products are all ITAR-free. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a United States regulatory regime to restrict and control the export of defense and military related technologies to safeguard U.S. national security and further U.S. foreign policy objectives. These regulations make access to high performing uav's difficult or impossible for most non-US operators. Our products are not subject to these restrictions and allow international clients to obtain cutting edge uav technology without these constraints. Our export policy is, however, subject to South African dual-use arms export regulations and complies with the requirements of the Wassenaar Treaty on dual-use items.
WHY VTOL?
The ability to take off and land vertically eliminates the need for runways and expensive, risky, and logistically cumbersome launching and retrieval equipment. It vastly extends the operational environment in which the uav can operate, which improves uav versatility, availability and utilisation and significantly decreases uav operational cost. In addition, the VTOL system allows for an autonomously controlled landing where a failure of the forward propulsion system occurs, increasing uav and payload preservation.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A SWAPPABLE PROPULSION UNIT
The SF30 has a modular forward propulsion unit which swaps out in less than 30 seconds. Traditionally, uav forward propulsion units account for a significant percentage of uav failures. A swappable uav propulsion unit vastly increases unit servicability and reliability, thereby increasing availability and utilisation of the uav. This means that the operator obtains greater availability and utilisation for the same mission task from a smaller fleet of uav's, which significantly reduces operational cost.
SF30 ENVIRONMENTAL RANGE
The SF30 operates within a wide environmental range of -10 to 40 deg C, and winds up to 20 knots.
USE CASES FOR THE SHADOWFAX SF30
The SF30 is a remarkably versatile platform for any long-duration, long-range reconnaissance and surveillance application.
The SF30 can cover more than 800 km per flight, during which it can reconnoiter vast tracts of land.
For security applications, it is capable of carrying sophisticated payloads including high definition object identification and tracking EO and IR sensors, with laser designators.
At a slant range of 1000 meters, the UAV is not detectable visually or aurally.
It is capable of carrying sensors such as synthetic aperture radar and cellphone trackers.
It is ideally suited to forest fire detection, border patrol, maritime patrol and search and rescue operations.
Its all-night capability is particularly suited to anti-poaching operations and the detection and tracking of suspected poachers.
For large agricultural businesses, the SF30 is capable of carrying cutting edge smart-agriculture remote sensing sensors.
It is capable of covering vast distances for cost-effective pipeline and power line inspections.
If you have a long-duration, long-range remote sensing mission, we invite you to find a more cost-effective, efficient solution than the SF30.