Insider Brief
- Honeywell Aerospace and Enigma Aerospace signed an MOU to explore adding Honeywell mission systems to Enigma’s Phoenix Series autonomous unmanned aircraft system.
- Enigma said Phoenix is a runway-independent logistics aircraft designed to operate in GPS-denied, communications-degraded and contested environments.
- The companies plan to evaluate Honeywell’s VersaWave SATCOM unit, Ground Control Station and ONEBOX flight controller on Phoenix, with the collaboration focused on navigation, communications, electronic warfare, cyber and small-form mission systems.
Honeywell Aerospace and Enigma Aerospace have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore adding Honeywell mission systems to Enigma’s Phoenix Series autonomous unmanned aircraft system.
The Phoenix platform is a runway-independent autonomous logistics aircraft designed to operate in GPS-denied, communications-degraded and contested environments, according to Enigma.
Under the MOU, the companies will explore Honeywell Aerospace navigation, mission systems and electronic-warfare capabilities for the Phoenix aircraft. The focus areas include resilient positioning, navigation and timing systems, alternative navigation, defensive electronic warfare, secure command and control, defensive cyber capabilities, and small mission systems and payloads for unmanned platforms.
As an initial step, the companies plan to evaluate Honeywell Aerospace’s VersaWave SATCOM unit, Ground Control Station and ONEBOX flight controller on the Phoenix aircraft. Additional Honeywell Aerospace products may be evaluated as the collaboration progresses.
“Autonomous systems operating in contested environments live or die by the quality of their navigation, communications and electronic warfare capabilities,” said Matt Milas, Honeywell Aerospace’s president, defense and space. “Without the ability to survive and operate in these environments, you’re just throwing metal down range — and that’s precisely where Honeywell Aerospace has decades of proven performance, from the most demanding crewed missions flown today to the unmanned platforms defining tomorrow’s battlespace.”
Enigma Aerospace emerged from stealth earlier this year with about $7 million in venture and U.S. government funding to develop autonomous cargo aircraft for military logistics in remote and high-risk environments. The company is building runway-independent systems that can operate autonomously in GPS-denied conditions, combining an unmanned aircraft capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds with logistics software for mission planning and fleet coordination.
“Operating in contested environments means assuming traditional navigation aids and communications will be denied, degraded, or disrupted, with a threat picture that can change by the minute,” added Enigma CEO Reese Mozer. “Honeywell Aerospace brings deep aerospace and defense experience across exactly the systems that enable autonomous logistics to survive at the edge. We’re looking forward to exploring how their navigation and mission systems capabilities could support Phoenix as we work toward fielding platforms for warfighters and, eventually, commercial logistics providers.”
