Skydio X2D: AI-powered Autonomous Drone For Organic, Unit-Level ISR
Skydio X2D: AI-powered Autonomous Drone For Organic, Unit-Level ISR
Skydio X2D
AI-powered Autonomous Drone
for Organic, Unit-level ISR
By Jeff Jang, Product Marketing Manager
AUTHOR
Jeff Jang
Product Marketing Team member at Skydio. Jeff joined Skydio over a year ago as a Production
Manager and led Skydio’s transition from prototype building to mass manufacturing. Jeff served over
6 years in the Army as an Infantry Officer with the 101st Airborne Division, during which he deployed
to Afghanistan and Iraq. Jeff stays busy in his free-time as a full-time MBA student at the Stanford
Graduate School of Business (Class of 2022).
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Chuck McGraw
Director of Public Sector sales at Skydio. Chuck joins Skydio after 20 years as a Navy SEAL. His
career has included eleven combat deployments to multiple theaters of conflict. Chuck has held the
positions of Assault Squadron Operations Chief, Basic Training Command Operations Chief, Master
Training Specialist, Senior Program Manager and Assault Team Leader.
Sai Williams
Federal Enterprise Account Executive at Skydio. Sai served over 22 years as a SEAL and in the US
Army, leading Special Operations teams on numerous deployments around the world. Most recently,
he served at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) where he worked to speed innovative technology
solutions into the hands of service members - both forward deployed and in the United States.
Dylan Hamm
Solutions Engineer at Skydio. Dylan served over 12 years in Special Operations as a SEAL. He helped
pioneer use cases, as well as development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) platforms within his
community. He has a unique passion for UAS based on their ability to transform the battlefield, by
increasing a unit’s organic capacity for situational awareness.
Joe Enke
System Design engineer at Skydio responsible for technology development for defense, commercial,
and consumer architectures. 15 years experience in autonomous aerial & ground robotics, imaging,
and embedded systems across government and consumer electronic industries at GoPro, Blackberry,
and General Dynamics Robotic Systems. He has a masters in electrical & computer engineering from
The Johns Hopkins University.
Secure and Trustworthy Blue sUAS, Designed and Built in the USA 12
• Reduce risk to force: UAS allows for penetration in high-threat airspaces while significantly mitigating
risk to lives of military personnel, including both pilots and ground forces. Furthermore, UAS provides
increased situational awareness through synchronization of UAS assets within full-spectrum operations.
Military units are capable of gathering NRT information to reduce uncertainty, refine plans, and react to
actions on the battlefield, all of which can further reduce risk to human capital.
• Reduce risk to mission: UAS increase mission success by reducing the workloads on our military forces.
Whereas humans get tired, machines are indefatigable. If designed effectively they can produce reliable
and repeatable results, and lower tactical risk for commanders at all levels. The effectiveness of UAS
programs is evident in its usage in combat operations. In 2019, General Atomics Predator UAS surpassed
6 million unmanned flight hours, 90% of which were flown in combat operations. In 2016, AAI’s Shadow UAS
surpassed 1 million unmanned flight hours, 85% of which were flown in combat operations.
Moreover, UAS programs are exponentially faster to adopt and scale than manned aircraft systems, as seen
by the cost overruns of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the last decade. Another factor to lower
costs of UAS programs is lower operating costs. Aviation fuel is expensive - DoD’s fuel bill has ranged from as
high as $17B in FY2011 to as low as $8B in FY2017. UAS use a fraction of the fuel required to operate manned
aircraft. F-35’s fuel capacity is 18,300lb with a range of 1200 nautical miles, while MQ-1C Grey Eagle’s fuel
capacity is 575lbs with a range of 2500 nautical miles.
However, the most significant disadvantage of these conventional fixed-wing drones is that they require
a large footprint. For example, large UAS such as General Atomics Grey Eagle (successor to the Predator)
require a runway and engine to take-off and land. Even smaller aircraft such as AAI’s Shadow and Boeing’s
ScanEagle require a large open space and a pneumatic launcher. This makes fixed-wing drones largely
impractical to employ within tactical elements on the forward lines.
Wingspan: 56ft
Length: 28ft
Fuel Capacity: 575 lb
Method of Takeoff: 165HP engine
Cost: $167M per aircraft
DoD has tried to close this gap in capability with small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) drones. The FAA’s
definition of sUAS drones are systems that weigh less than 55 lbs. The Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Blue
sUAS program further specifies for drones to have a take-off weight of less than 3 lbs.
In theory, portable drones with a smaller and lighter airframe require a much smaller footprint and therefore
ground forces on the front lines could launch them for rapid battlefield reconnaissance and intelligence
gathering. What would otherwise take a scout team a day to accomplish, can be done within hours with the
use of drones.
Up until recently, DoD’s sUAS solution has been dominated by fixed-wing drones, specifically AeroVironment’s
RQ-11B Raven and RQ-20 Puma. However, the problem with these legacy solutions is that they fall short in
several areas to make them optimal systems.
Operating The Army’s Raven/Puma sUAS training course is 6-8 weeks long. Soldiers
complexity graduate with basic knowledge of how to operate both systems, but require
continued training to maintain confidence and competency.
Difficulty Fixed-wing UAS cannot hover - they orbit instead. Especially at lower altitudes
capture (<500ft), it is difficult to remain fixed on a target, making fix-wing sUAS unsuitable
detailed ISR for quality aerial photography and videography, which is highly relevant to ISR
for DoD purposes.
High cost Raven - $260K per system (includes 4x UAS, 2x GCS, and spare parts)
Puma - $250K per system (includes 3x UAS, 2x GCS, and spare parts)
Then what solution can be offered to service members to actually utilize the full potential of sUAS platforms?
The reluctance to use legacy sUAS solutions isn’t due to a lack of demand for an organic, unit-level ISR
platform. ISR assets are normally controlled at the strategic and operational levels of planning. At the
tactical level of planning however, ISR assets must be requested and yet can be denied due to competing
priorities. An effective organic, unit-level ISR platform can fundamentally change how wars are fought,
because it would allow more autonomy at the tactical level.
Moreover, sUAS platforms should be designed with consideration of the increasing battlefield combat load
of the average soldier. Based on studies, combat loads have increased from a range of 53-81 pounds in 2003
to a range of 96-140 pounds in 2017. This weight burden means that soldiers will be highly economical when
deciding what to carry. If a soldier does not view a piece of equipment as a net positive to mission success,
it will likely be left behind. So when designing military sUAS platforms, factors such as being rugged, reliable,
compact, lightweight, and portable must not be compromised.
Furthermore, for superior ISR capabilities, sUAS platforms must have state-of-the-art sensors combined with
user-friendly software to operate in multiple conditions and environments. They should be designed to be
able to:
Finally, security is becoming an increasingly critical requirement. Concerns of counter-UAS technology and
supply chain country of origin threats have become national security risks. If enemy forces successfully
capture a friendly UAS, they may be able to exploit information and develop counter-measures. Developing
a platform that prevents the enemy from downloading data is more important now than ever.
Let’s explore the key characteristics of the system that sets it apart from any other option available in the
market today.
Embedded into every X2D, Skydio Autonomy™ delivers the simplest and safest flight experience, which lets
the soldier focus on the mission at hand, instead of the complexity of piloting the drone. Skydio Autonomy
has ushered a new generation of drone intelligence, using breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, computer
vision, and robotics to fly autonomously through the most demanding environments. The following are core
autonomy capabilities, which should be considered prerequisites to build the kind of next-gen drone fleet
necessary to provide a true tactical edge:
Traditional drone solutions that are still based on hardware specifications will use words like “vision sensors”
and “omnidirectional obstacle avoidance” to claim that they are capable of autonomous flight, but the
reality is that while these drones may react to a few obstacles, they do not have 360o sensor coverage and
therefore a comprehensive understanding of their surroundings required to provide true flight autonomy
assistance to the pilot.
1. Reducing risk to force - seamless integration between tech and operator that reduces cognitive load
2. Reducing risk to mission - mitigate risk of crashes that can expose the position of the unit on the
battleground
3. Ease of operations - Skydio Autonomy reduces the skill barrier required to competently operate a
drone and allows any Soldier to confidently fly with the skills of an expert pilot
Autonomy matters even more when you add the element of operating in an unknown or austere environment.
The X2D aircraft features a ruggedized airframe, built of magnesium and carbon fiber composite material
that provides maximum flight stability optimized for autonomy, as well as durability against the elements.
The Skydio Enterprise Controller, paired with X2D for ground control operation, is built with high-impact
plastic that will last in tough, austere environments, while the protective cover protects the display, joysticks
and buttons, as well as the antenna, which is actually built into the cover. This emphasis on durability and
ruggedness will allow squads on the ground to carry the system to any mission with confidence.
From a portability standpoint, X2D is designed with foldable antennae and foldable arms to enable “pack
and go” transportation inside the soldier’s rucksack, as well as a quick and easy system deployment that
can be fully completed in under 90 seconds. The Enterprise Controller is highly functional and ergonomic, by
giving it a bright built-in touchscreen, large glove-compatible controls, contoured design, and rubber grips.
The powerful combination of portability and ruggedness is a convincing reason for any ground force unit to
use X2D as their organic ISR asset, further reducing the need for external asset requests.
X2D can operate and capture ISR in multiple conditions. For high-fidelity image capture, the aircraft carries a
front-mounted gimbal with a dual sensor payload composed of a 4K HDR color camera with 16x zoom and a
FLIR® Boson 320x256 thermal imager with 8x zoom.
Close Proximity Obstacle Avoidance for detailed inspections or tactical situational awareness in dense
environments. The autonomy engine can be tuned to enable it to safely fly in close proximity to obstacles (.5
meters), which allows the operator to fly confidently in tight spaces and to achieve success faster.
180° Vertical View to capture overhung images. The gimbal can look straight up overhead of the drone.
Combined with obstacle avoidance, this allows the operator to squarely focus on overhead inspection
targets, instead of dedicating cognitive capacity to flying around obstacles.
Point of Interest (POI) Orbit for increased situational awareness and security patrol. The drone can fly
up and outward while rotating around a point on a map defined by the user. Combined with Subject
Recognition and Obstacle Avoidance, the operator can orbit a point of interest with confidence, without the
worry of the drone hitting an obstacle.
With this set of capabilities further augmenting the reach of the drone, X2D re-defines how intelligence data
is collected, analyzed, and utilized. Instead of worrying about flying, or rather not crashing, Soldiers can truly
focus on the information collection mission that they have been assigned to support.
DoD agencies need to handle sensitive data in trustworthy ways. Skydio X2D is designed to deliver ironclad,
end-to-end protection. From a cybersecurity standpoint, the entire system is protected from data exfiltration
or compromise of command-and-control by nefarious actors:
• Wireless connection encryption and authentication (AES-256 for 1.8GHz, AES-128 for 5GHz)
• Encrypted and signed software updates
• Key provisioning burned-in at time of manufacture that provides root of trust and primitive for
cryptographic operations
• Media card encryption via physical FIPS 140-2 hardware security key
• Enterprise Controller has an encrypted hard drive with password protection, trusted boot with
anti-rollback. DISA approved for DoD use.
Ultimately though, the most important way to gain the customer’s trust regarding the integrity and
security of the system is to prove that the manufacturer itself and the legal framework in which it operates
can be trusted. Skydio takes pride in designing, assembling and supporting drones from our headquarters
in the United States. Our products meet the highest levels of supply chain security demanded by the US
government, including compliance with National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and American Security
Drone Act (ASDA). This means that when Soldiers take X2D on a mission, they can have confidence that they
have full control over both their drone and their data.
For these reasons, Skydio X2D was selected as a trusted drone platform for the Department of Defense
and Federal Government as part of DIU’s Blue sUAS Program, making it available for purchase on the
GSA schedule.
Here’s a glimpse of how X2D can be a part of every aspect of the mission lifecycle:
ISR Mission Support Key Skydio features Positive Impact on the Mission
Intelligence 4K HDR sensor w/ 16x X2D allows troops to easily and efficiently
zoom, 35 min flight time gather real time combat information
about terrain, friendly unit actions, and the
disposition of possible enemy elements at an
incredible resolution of up to 4K and loiter of
up to 35 mins per battery charge.
Surveillance FLIR® Boson 320x256 X2D gives you the power of a TWS (Thermal
LWIR Thermal imager Weapon Sight) in a compact drone. The
FLIR Thermal imager, coupled with Skydio’s
mechanical and digital stabilization allow
ground forces to obtain high fidelity thermal
imagery, plus the ability for 8x digital zoom
while maintaining clear PID.
Reconnaissance GPS Night Flight Operating UAS in the middle of the night is
Strobe Lighting challenging and risky due to significantly
reduced sensory input. With X2D, troops can
bring low signature, organic ISR capabilities to
the ground force. This means more available
sensors for leadership to dedicate across
the operational area, without taking eyes off
critical locations.
Target Acquisition Object and Scene Target acquisition, detection, and recognition
Detection is now made easy using autonomy-based
Object and Subject Recognition, which allows
X2D to follow desired targets with full collision
avoidance and motion prediction.
Security & Movement Close Proximity Provides the maneuvering element with the
Support Obstacle Avoidance organic capabilities of overwatch security,
+ 180 Vertical View area security, and real time oversight of
enemy ingress/egress routes.
Gathering and Immediate video Directly download video and photos from
sharing data access encrypted SD cards, which allows for
immediate analysis to provide timely debriefs
and answers for CCIRs (Commander’s Critical
Information Requirements).
All existing military UAS solutions currently lack autonomy. This means that pilots need to go through
extensive training and certification programs as a result of the complexity of these systems. Moreover, drones
are costly to procure, maintain, and replace. The use of legacy technology leads to a greater risk of mission
failure and the risk of crashes remains the number one concern among military units and soldiers.
With powerful, modern hardware and the Skydio Autonomy engine, the Skydio X2D is a state-of-the-art ISR
collection asset, completely changing how intelligence can be gathered and used on and off the battlefield.
X2D can help the military flatten the ISR planning and synchronization process. The Forward Line of Troops
will have full control of real-time intelligence gathering before, during, and after the execution of any mission
or operation. And ultimately it will help deconflict theater level ISR asset management and decentralize how
ISR is collected.
All of this is accomplished by using autonomy to augment human skills rather than replace them. The ethical
Human-in-the-loop is still at the core of all battlefield considerations and Skydio Autonomy requires trained
and professional Soldiers to operate and maintain the X2D.
Skydio’s autonomous drone solutions provide a tactical edge to our military forces by enabling the easiest
and safest flight experience, so that Soldiers can focus on the mission and the fight, instead of wasting
cognitive load on the flight. The Skydio X2D will better inform our forces, leading to increased safety and
ultimately more positive tactical outcomes.