A new Spanish Ministry of Defence-backed programme is bringing together UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía, Alpha Unmanned Systems and research partners to explore how teams of UAVs can work together more effectively in surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Spain’s Ministry of Defence has launched the FENIX project to test how groups of UAVs can work together on military missions, particularly surveillance and reconnaissance.
The programme brings together UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía, Alpha Unmanned Systems, FADA-CATEC and AICIA under the Ministry’s COINCIDENTE Programme for defence research.
The focus is on “heterogeneous swarms”, meaning different UAV types working together instead of relying on a single platform. Each aircraft would carry out tasks suited to its role and capabilities.
Alpha Unmanned Systems is supplying the UAV platforms, while UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía provides the guidance, navigation and control systems. The project will test how UAVs can operate with greater autonomy and less operator involvement.
A key objective is swarm coordination. FENIX will examine how UAVs can react to changing conditions, shift tasks during missions and continue operating with limited human input.
The project is also looking at sensor sharing between UAVs to improve detection and situational awareness, particularly in poor weather, low visibility and cluttered environments.
Another area of work is operations in contested environments where satellite navigation signals are jammed or spoofed. Missions under study include patrol, reconnaissance, target acquisition and search and rescue.
Under the concept, an operator assigns a mission through one interface while the system distributes tasks across the swarm and generates flight paths based on platform capability, communications range and endurance.
For the companies involved, the project reflects growing military interest in autonomous systems and coordinated UAV operations.
