Xponential 2019: Laflamme Aéro develops tandem-rotor UAV

Laflamme Aéro has developed a tandem-rotor helicopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that the company hopes will be as cheap as the most affordable manned rotary-wing aircraft.

David Laflamme, company chief technology officer (CTO), told Jane’s on 30 April the aircraft’s advantage is the removable belly that can provide different capabilities such as integrated tanks, payload cover, airdrop, clima-cargo, and a sling for carrying heavy equipment. There is also extra space in the front and rear covers. The LX300 can carry about 90 kg of payload.

Laflamme Aéro's LX300 tandem-rotor helicopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on display on 30 April at the 2019 AUVSI Xponential conference in Chicago. (IHS Markit/Pat Host)

Laflamme said at the 2019 AUVSI Xponential conference being held in Chicago from 29 April to 2 May that the aircraft has autonomous take-off and flight, but needs to be landed manually. The company, he said, is working on developing an autonomous landing capability and expects to develop this once the LX300 starts landing on ships. Laflamme said the company is aiming for the LX300 to fly at a cost of USD200 per hour in its most basic configuration, depending on the communication system.

Laflamme believes the aircraft can fill a gap where it can be small enough to deploy from ships but still be large enough to perform critical heavy missions in defence. The LX300 can also carry electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payloads.

The airframe is 1.2 m wide, 1.5 m high, and 2.9 m long.