BAE Systems Australia and Skyryse sign MoU to explore air autonomy

BAE Systems Australia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with aviation firm Skyryse to explore government and commercial opportunities for future autonomous rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.Under the MoU, Skyryse’s SkyOS will become the preferred aircraft operating system and flight control logic provider to BAE Systems Australia on joint projects. BAE Systems Australia is at the forefront of mission autonomy development and integration through the company’s Vehicle Management System (VMS), which is part of several evolving platforms in the land and air domains. Skyryse has emerged as a leader in aviation automation and simplified flight controls following the development of SkyOS to support piloted, optionally piloted and fully autonomous flight in helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Andrew Gresham, Managing Director of Defence Delivery, BAE Systems Australia, said: “Partnering with Skyryse will allow BAE Systems Australia to leverage more than 40 years of sovereign autonomy development with our Vehicle Management System and seek to grow our collective opportunities in the rapidly developing autonomous aircraft market. Together, Skyryse’s software-defined SkyOS and BAE Systems Australia’s Vehicle Management System bring complementary capabilities that can help deliver the next generation of optionally piloted and autonomous aircraft for our customers in an increasingly competitive and evolving environment.” Mark Groden, Founder and CEO at Skyryse, said: “As government, commercial, and defence sectors look to modernise existing fleets while accelerating the adoption of autonomous capabilities, software is becoming the defining technology in aviation. SkyOS is uniquely positioned because it combines human-rated flight software with autonomous capabilities in a certifiable, software-defined platform. Together with BAE Systems Australia, we’re exploring how that foundation can enable the next generation of optionally piloted and autonomous aircraft, including future clean-sheet designs.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]