Spanish UAV Manufacturer Expands Regional Footprint with Indonesian Partner

The Alpha 900 UAV seen here in BAKAMLA livery at Indo Defence 2022. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)

Madrid-based Alpha Unmanned Systems (AUS) has established a licensed manufacturing partnership with Indonesian company PT Indadi Venyro in a bid to expand the former's footprint across Southeast Asia.

The partnership agreement was established in April 2023 after PT Indadi Venyro agreed to invest in AUS as a minority equity partner, said the companies in a joint statement provided to Janes on 20 April.

Besides licensed manufacturing, the agreement would allow PT Indadi Venyro to provide local maintenance and support for AUS products in the region, the statement added.

The Alpha 900 UAV BAKAMLA (Bakamla)

AUS has supplied a maritime variant of its Alpha 900 rotor-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (BAKAMLA).

These UAVs are in operation on the service's largest vessels – the 110 m patrol vessel KN Tanjung Datu (1101), and the 80 m Pulau Nipah-class patrol boat KN Pulau Marore (322).

The Alpha 900 has a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg and a maximum cruise speed of 100 km/h. At the cruising speed of 60 km/h on its full payload, the UAV has an endurance of up to 2.2 hours. The UAV has a helicopter-like configuration with a tail and main rotors.

In BAKAMLA service, the Alpha 900 has been equipped with the Epsilon 140LC dual-sensor surveillance system from Octopus ISR Systems. The surveillance system's camera sensor has a 30x optical zoom while its infrared sensor has a 4x digital zoom.

  🚁 Jane's