UMEX 2024: Hades Defense Systems developing Lamia multipurpose UAV

Hades Defense Systems Lamia UAV. (Janes)

Bulgarian defence and security systems developer Hades Defense Systems revealed details of its new Lamia developmental multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference (UMEX) 2024 in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to Janes on 23 January, Yordon Yordanov, regional manager at Hades, said the Lamia is being designed as a hybrid-propulsion multipurpose UAV for both civil and defence applications. Hades began working on the platform in 2023. The data gathered so far from other UAVs under its product portfolio has saved valuable time in progressing with the design, Yordanov added.

In its present iteration, the Lamia UAV features a fuselage module that accommodates avionics, batteries, sensor payloads, and powertrain. It is equipped with shoulder-mounted forward-swept wings and a fixed tricycle landing gear arrangement. The fuselage tapers down to the aft and joins the twin inverted V-tails, which are further connected to the two pylons attached to the wings. The tail also features a three-blade propeller in pusher configuration. The pylons extend to the fore of wings and are equipped with six electric motors (three on each pylon) that drive the two-blade propellers assisting the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) operations.

According to Hades, the Lamia will be constructed utilising composite materials and will have a wingspan of 6 m, a communication range of 30 km, a service ceiling of 6,000 m (19,700 ft), and a maximum payload carrying capacity of 15 kg.

Hades is working towards providing the Lamia UAV with some level of autonomy, Yordanov said. It will be a customisable unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which will allow the customers to have a tailor-made configuration as per their requirements, he added.