Loitering munitions are autonomous missiles, also known as suicide drones, that can stay in flight for some time, loiters around the target, locate it and then attack.

UAVs have been used for many years in various military projects for intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) missions. Some are also used for combat missions such as MALE or Tactical UAVs. 

Nowadays, military forces are using UAVs for more offensive missions as well, the Loitering Munitions, a solution designed to meet the most demanding requirements of the modern wars and conflicts. 

A standard mission of these drones is to loiter around the target and once it is detected the UAV strikes precisely when the opportunity arises, even if the target might appear for a few seconds. Historically, loitering munitions were used to target things like radars but are increasingly being used to attack other military hardware.

At a relatively low cost, these smart systems can include beyond line-of-sight capabilities and high levels of maneuverability, having a very light structure that can permit these systems to achieve the most demanding missions in the battlefield. 

In addition, these systems can be equipped with a very high tech that can include advanced datalink and real-time intelligence that will transmit situational awareness to all military units that are on the loop.

Veronte Autopilot for Loitering Munitions systems

One of the most crucial features that these systems have is the capacity to achieve a transition from the standard mode of the operation before detecting the target to the attack mode once it is detected, where high precision is needed considering that the target can be another autonomous system or any other moving vehicle.

For these kinds of missions, the Veronte Autopilot is the appropriate flight controller to be used in order to achieve these kinds of maneuvers. As using the tool Automations in order to configure the transitions from a mode to other once an event has occurred which will trigger the attack action. 

In addition to the Automations, using the Blocks tool can help the manufacturers of these UAVs to build their own control strategy, achieving with success the most complex missions of these systems. 

Beside the flexibility that the Veronte Autopilot can provide, Embention has developed a low cost version of it that can be used for single use missions, where the price can meet the requirements of these UAVs designers.