Nova Systems and WholeShip partner to support National Drone Hub
October 2, 2024
Nova Systems is to work with WholeShip to deliver a mix of live and digital flight test activities to support the National Drone Hub, a drone test and evaluation facility operated by WholeShip in partnership with the Royal Navy.
With access to 5,500 square kilometres of segregated airspace, the facility provides a “world-leading environment” for visual and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone testing and ship-to-air integration. “The site offers a unique and safe proving ground for uncrewed platforms which is an expanding area of innovation and development in the defence, security and civil sectors,” explained Nova Systems international managing director Gareth Dyer.
The partnership will build on existing digital test and evaluation toolsets with the ability to rapidly test and assure systems in the real and virtual domains simultaneously, resulting in “faster test iteration and capability realisation, without the bureaucracy of using legacy range infrastructure,” he continued.
WholeShip CEO Dan Stembridge attributed the National Drone Hub’s success to its “strong partnerships with both industry giants and innovative SMEs,” with have created a “vibrant ecosystem where innovation thrives”.
The National Drone Hub is physically located at Predannack Airfield, Cornwall, a 320 hectare site 600m from the sea. Alongside its ongoing drone evaluation efforts, WholeShip has also partnered with the UK Ministry of Defence and the Cornwall Space Cluster to create a regional knowledge transfer environment for the aerospace and space industry.
