UAV Propulsion Tech Representing Suter Industries AGCAE GmbH to Market

UAV Propulsion Tech has signed a representative agreement with Suter Industries AG (Turbenthal, Switzerland) and Compass Aircraft Europe GmbH (Vienna, Austria) to market their advanced UAV engine solutions. UAV Propulsion Tech currently represents several global organizations and has been providing advanced technology and hardware solutions to defense and commercial UAV customers since 2007. Bob Schmidt, president and founder of UAV Propulsion Tech has been working with 2-stroke UAV engine providers and customers since 2003. Suter/CAE have been working together for the past two years developing new UAV engines that meet the demanding performance and reliability needs of the UAV market.

Suter Industries AG produces the UAV engines that were co-developed with Compass Aircraft Europe (CAE). Suter Industries’ roots go back to motorcycle racing era of the 1990s. Eskil Suter was a successful Grand Prix racing driver and founded the Suter Racing company in 1996. The company is known for their “SuterClutch” and other products for the motorcycle racing market including high-performance engines, motorcycles and various components. In 2015, Suter Racing launched a four-cylinder 2-stroke racing motorcycle that was developed and produced in house including the Suter500 engine. Since 2002 Suter Industries has applied their expertise gained from the motorcycle racing market to develop products for other markets including automotive, aerospace and defense industries. The Suter/CAE collaboration and development of UAV engines is one of the new products coming out of Suter Industries.

Compass Aircraft Europe is lead by Dietrich Kehe who is a mechanical engineer with over 24 years’ experience in manned and unmanned 2-stroke aircraft engines. He received his engineering degree with a focus on combustion engines from the University of Hochschule für Technik – Esslingen (Stuttgart, Germany area). Dietrich has developed clean sheet engine designs for advanced UAV applications utilizing advanced electronic fuel injection (including direct injection) technology. These include complete propulsion systems with integrated starter-generators, engine mounts and belt/gear reduction drive systems. These solutions are flying on some of the world’s most advanced UAV applications. Dietrich also has an understanding of the supply base required to design/produce advanced 2-stroke engines and teamed with Suter Industries to be the development and production partner to bring a new line of advanced UAV engines to the global market. The first engine to be developed by the Suter/CAE team is the Suter 288 engine which is a twin cylinder, horizontal opposed, air cooled, two cycle engine, with fuel saving electronic engine management system and a 1kW starter/generator. Displacement is 288cm3. Power: 13.3kW (18HP) @5700rpm, 17.5kW (24HP) @6500rpm. All engines are produced in Switzerland.

Bob Schmidt, founder and president of UAV Propulsion Tech said, “I am excited to be working with Dietrich Kehe and his team to bring this world class UAV engine to the global UAV market. I have worked with Dietrich since 2003 on UAV engine programs and he definitely knows what the market needs and can develop technical solutions to meet those needs.” Bob went on to say, “The addition of the Suter/CAE UAV engine solutions to UAV Propulsion Tech will allow us to continue to provide the best UAV hardware solutions for our customers. I am looking forward to working with Suter/CAE to provide custom and COTS propulsion solutions to the UAV market.”

Dietrich Kehe, CEO and founder of CAE GmbH said, “We wanted to work with a UAV solution provider like UAV Propulsion Tech because of their propulsion experience in the UAV market. UAV Propulsion Tech is a perfect partner to help us increase our visibility in the market and bring these solutions to their expanding UAV customer base.” Dietrich went on to say, “Bob’s experience as a mechanical engineer and our experience working together in the UAV market on UAV engines in the past will allow UAV Propulsion Tech and Suter/CAE to develop and deliver world-class propulsion solutions.”

About UAV Propulsion Tech:
Schmidt Products, LLC (dba UAV Propulsion Tech) is a privately held US company that markets global UAV technology into the defense and commercial UAV markets. These solutions include consumer off the shelf (COTs) and custom: propulsion, autopilot, servo/actuator, electric turbofans, pneumatic launchers, gyro-stabilized EO/IR gimbals, inertial navigation systems, digital magnetic compasses, fuel level/flow sensors, engine sensors, 3D printed airframes, fuel cells, hyperspectral cameras, DC electric motors/generators and rescue/recovery parachute solutions. These products are proven solutions that are flying on several high end global UAV platforms.

About Suter Industries:
Suter Industries’ roots go back to motorcycle racing era of the 1990s. Eskil Suter was a successful Grand Prix racing driver and founded the Suter Racing company in 1996. The company is known for their “SuterClutch” and other products for the motorcycle racing market including high-performance engines, motorcycles and various components. In 2015, Suter Racing launched a four-cylinder 2-stroke racing motorcycle that was developed and produced in house including the Suter500 engine. Since 2002 Suter Industries has applied their expertise gained from the motorcycle racing market to develop products for other markets including automotive, aerospace and defense industries.

About CAE GmbH (Compass Aircraft Europe):
CAE GmbH designs and produces advanced 2-stroke aircraft solutions for manned and unmanned applications. CAE works with Suter Industries to co-develop and produce these advanced 2-stroke engines at their world class facility in Turbenthal, Switzerland.

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