Collective Wisdom introduces Spider 103 VTOL UAS.

Another UAV coming from China made its first public appearance in an international exhibition this week at Singapore Airshow 2018. Designed by Collective Wisdom Technology Company Ltd, the Spider 103 is an unmanned tri-blade coaxial helicopter.

Spider 103 UAS at Singapore Airshow 2018

Spider 103 was specifically designed for SAR, disaster relief, border monitoring, power line inspection and other specific surveillance missions.

The Spider 103 is 0.8 m high, 0.6 m wide and 1.2 m long, has a MTOW of 65 kg, including a 7 kg payload for a maximum flight endurance of 2 hours. It can reach a maximum speed of 90 km/h thanks to its counter-rotating blade configuration, which eliminate the need of a tail rotor.

Spider 103’s compact design makes it interesting for many applications where space is limited, the BL103 can be operated from areas as small as 4×4 meter. With a fully digital communications package providing up to 50km range and the EO/IR sensor package for day and night operations offers an effective close range surveillance tool when getting persistent imagery from above very fast is important.

As of now, the Spider 103 has ticked off about 20 flight hours total, said a Collective Wisdom representative. The model showcased at the Singapore Airshow is fitted with a gimbal produced by a Czech-based company that Collective Wisdom plan to buy in the coming months.

The Spider 103 is directly inspired from the Blacklight BL-103 UAV, which was unveiled during the last edition of Zhuhai Airshow, in November 2016.

Collective Wisdom, a Sino-Italian JV between Blacklight Aircraft Co Ltd and GHT Helicopter launched in Zhuhai in February 2016, aims at developing and producing "heavy" unmanned aircraft systems. Besides the Spider 103, the company also plans to adapt the G-250 Eagle ultra light helicopter to an unmanned freighter aircraft.