Exhibitors

Mandarin: First in class of a new, safer, lower operating cost,
high endurance VTOL UAS platform

Ay Up Duck Aerospace is developing Mandarin, a hybrid-electric VTOL fixed-wing UAS that closes a long-standing capability gap: the endurance and range of fixed-wing flight, without needing a runway, and persistence that multi-rotors can't match.

A Coandă-effect propulsor (patent pending) gives Mandarin vertical take-off and precision hover in a fixed-wing airframe, with the ducted, shrouded design also reducing acoustic and visual signature compared to open-rotor platforms - valuable for covert ISR and for operating close to sensitive infrastructure. Lack of exposed rotors and high system redundancy increases both operator and bystander safety.

Sectors: Defence & Security · ISR · Autonomous Systems · Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) · VTOL · Inspection & Survey · Offshore Wind · Aerospace

Key specifications

2.8m wingspan, ~22kg MTOW

4+ hours endurance / 250+ km range, carrying a 3kg payload

Electric-only flight for up to an hour at a time: low speed propulsor fans and internal cooling give low acoustic and IR signatures

Hybrid-electric power system: recharges batteries in flight, no routine ground battery management

Deploys in under five minutes from a self-contained, purpose-built trailer, with no fixed infrastructure or runway required, enabling rapid redeployment and resilient operations in contested or remote environments

ISO Shipping Container option available for maritime operations

Applications

Primary market: defence Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the tactical edge, as a sovereign UK autonomous platform — giving vehicle patrols persistent aerial overwatch from departure to return, without putting an operator in the air or limiting coverage to short-endurance multi-rotor flight times.

Planned payload: optical / IR camera gimbal; video link; GNSS denied navigation system; AI flight / ISR module.

Secondary market: offshore wind turbine inspection and survey, with data consistent with DNV-ST-0376. Uncrewed inspection removes the need for rope-access technicians or vessel-based crews working at height in exposed marine conditions. Range and endurance support 12+ turbine inspections per flight, depending on layout and location, reducing support vessel days and making better use of short weather windows.

Planned payload: hi-res optical / IR gimbal; video link

Built ITAR-free, with a UK/European supply chain throughout.

Roadmap

CFD-validated at 83% Coandă turning efficiency at hover. Physical fan and flap testing underway.

Three sequential builds: structural testbed; fixed-wing flight-test aircraft; full VTOL prototype. Targeting first flight Q2 2027.