WepTac A.G. and Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) plan to form a US-focused joint venture to develop and deliver Sentinel Hawk, a missionised variant of HAV’s Airlander aircraft, for US military surveillance and communications missions.
The joint venture will combine HAV’s hybrid aircraft engineering and certification capabilities with WepTac’s experience in C5ISR integration, training, field support and lifecycle sustainment.
Sentinel Hawk is being developed for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), communications and long-range targeting missions. The aircraft will use the Airlander platform as its base and be configured for military applications.
The partnership is intended to support the integration of mission equipment and operational systems onto the aircraft, with WepTac providing mission architecture, systems integration and sustainment support.
WepTac also plans to lead HAV’s Series B investment round. The funding is intended to support increased Airlander production and the delivery of aircraft for the Sentinel Hawk programme.
The companies are targeting annual production of 10 Sentinel Hawk aircraft. The planned joint venture would also establish a US-focused industrial and support structure for the aircraft.
Colby Fisher, Co-Founder and CEO of WepTac A.G., said, “US warfighters need persistent, affordable ISR capability they can field now – not in a decade. This Joint Venture is built around that urgency. We are combining WepTac A.G.’s integration and sustainment track record with one of the most capable long-endurance platforms in the world, and we are moving fast.”
Tom Grundy, CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles, stated, “Airlander is built for exactly the kind of persistent, long-endurance ISR mission the US defense community needs. Partnering with WepTac A.G. gives us the operator-driven integration expertise and the US market access to move this platform from capability to fielded solution at real speed.”
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For the MRO and sustainment sector, the proposed programme includes activities beyond aircraft production, covering mission-system integration, training, field support and lifecycle sustainment. The scope could therefore create requirements for ongoing technical support and maintenance of the aircraft and its mission systems once deployed.
The joint venture remains a planned arrangement, and the companies have not announced a specific US military contract for Sentinel Hawk in the release.
