Moroccan startup unveils prototye UAV that operates without GPS signal
BEIRUT — Moroccan startup Ballistic Defense System has developed a prototype of its unmanned aerial vehicle, dubbed Matador, that can operate without GPS, instead relying on cameras and algorithms to reach its targets.
“Where we are really adding value is in the algorithmic and in the software layer,” Fahd Laamoumi, cofounder and managing director of Ballistic Defense System, told Breaking Defense on Tuesday. “The hardware is very cheap but we have multiple agents, like visual inertial odometry, which is one of the agents. Then we have a map matching agent, which compares what the drone sees with a preloaded map. It uses as well the IMU [Inertial Measurement Unit].”
The artificial intelligence agents work together with a “super agent” called the Kalman filter, which “weighs in all those options” and ultimately makes the decisions, Laamouomi explained.
Matador is a one-way attack drone, and its announcement comes as the Middle East and North Africa are embroiled in regional conflicts. Within those conflicts, UAVs that rely on GPS have been subject to signal jamming and spoofing. By not relying on GPS, Matador is less likely to run into those problems.
Started in December 2023, Ballistic Defense System developed the Matador prototype within 18 months and with a $1.15 million investment from its founders.
With the growing number of UAVs entering the market, Laamoumi shared two advantages of Matador: sovereignty and precision.
“Sovereignty is a big advantage. Second the drone is very precise [due to] algorithm in terms of navigation without GPS,” he said, adding that the drone is a “smart robot that can fly at very low altitudes.”
The prototype now under testing has a four-meter wingspan, with a 250 km (155.3 miles) range but the company aims to use a larger airframe in the future to accommodate a range of 2,000 km.
“What we want to do in the next phase is to do our own airframe, to design our own aerodynamics to make it like a small plane. It’s not complicated. It’s like it’s like basic engineering, [but] we need an air base because we need a runway, a landing runway for doing the kind of tests,” he said.
Ballistic Defense System has yet to sign any contracts, but Laamoumi told Breaking Defense the company is in discussions with the Moroccan army to perform demonstrations for prospective procurement deals in the future. Further, he added that the company has received requests for demonstrations by two Gulf nations, though he declined to name them.
“Now I started the process with two other GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries, and it’s going super fast,” he said, noting that the requests are not only for procurement but also for “full transfer of technology and production and transfer of the team over there.”
Ballistic Defense System is planning to show off the prototype of Matador at the Marrakech Air Show taking place next week, Laamoumi said.