“We put all the pieces of the puzzle together to allow Syos to ultimately become the next Rocket Lab-sized company, and are driving very, very hard on the international market,” Syos Aerospace founder and CEO Sam Vye says.
Said puzzle pieces include an ultra-rapid development cycle, smart software for one person to control many uncrewed land, sea and air vehicles at once, and key contracts in the UK as it supplies Ukraine’s defence effort.
Then of course, there’s the hardware.
“This is a thumper drone,” Vye says, eying a prototype of his company’s new SA1 uncrewed interceptor, which sits partially disassembled on a bench at his company’s Mount Maunganui HQ.
“It can be used to defend a nation. If I’m at a ground station and I’m alerted that ... there’s a hostile drone coming towards us, the SA1 is launched and guides itself into the hostile system.”
There are no munitions involved. The SA1 just thumps into the attacking drone. It gets co-ordinates from a third-party radar system, then, as it gets closer, “It flips to vision-based navigation. It has object identification and target-tracking on board and that will navigate it until it basically just hits the other drone out of the sky”.
The SA1’s electro-optical infrared sensors are fully autonomous and can account for evasive manoeuvres.
“A lot of companies might make interceptor drones, but they might not work in an EW [electronic warfare] field,” Vye says. It features encrypted data and anti-jamming tech.
The thumper drone looks like a toughie. Vye says it’s designed to be reusable. He says it’ll be in mass production by Christmas.
Production is ramping up across the board for Syos, which employs around 100 people, split evenly between its development centre at the Mount and a production facility and marine drone operation in the UK.
“We’re going to add a lot of jobs to our site here in Mount Maunganui,” Vye says. “It’s linked to how many procurement contracts come through, but certainly we’ll be tripling our workforce here over the [next] 12 months.”
When the Herald visits, staff are triple-parked, despite Syos recently taking over the building next door, which is being used for its software development – a key element of the firm’s secret sauce.
Outside the main building, staff are testing tweaks to Syos’s cargo transporter, the SG400 UGV (Uncrewed Ground Vehicle).
Syos’ website says the SG400 can be deployed in swarms as a “force multiplier” but also emphasises it can carry freight in disaster or rescue situations where it’s too dangerous for a human driver.
As Vye has frequently noted, his company is making a neutral technology, like a Toyota Hilux. It’s up to customers what they put in the tray.
“The key is that this is obviously applicable for dual-use scenarios,” Vye says
“If the New Zealand Army wants to do cargo logistics safely and cost-effectively, it [a SG400 – the 400 stands for 400kg] could carry hundreds of kilos of equipment, from a Fob [forward operator base] to soldiers. Equally, it could also go on to a forest, tree block or a farm or safely transport beehives between two locations, maybe on a track that’s too dangerous for a person to drive.”
Syos first drew mainstream attention in April this year when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s United Kingdom visit was used to announce Syos’ £30 million ($66m) drone deal with the UK Ministry of Defence – with strong hints that more contracts will follow.
His company’s website says its drones have “proven operational success in conflict zones”.
Vye won’t comment on specific deployments, but it’s not hard to draw the dots. The Syos founder demonstrated one of his drones to Luxon and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at a military base in the west of England used to train Ukrainian troops.
And at the Hi-Tech Awards in May at Te Pae, as Syos won Company of the Year, guest presenter and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said: “They are creating some of the most world-leading drone technology, and they are literally helping fight the conflict in Ukraine – because they do it better than any other country in the world, from Mount Maunganui.”
And last month, Syos posted its first video (above) of its USVs in action.
Vye added as he re-posted the clip, “This is real evidence of manufacturing capability, USVs made in the UK. No bullsh*t illustrations or CAD images with made-up production numbers.
“In 10 months, Syos developed the USV prototype, setup a 3000sqm facility and manufactured over 100 USVs, whilst maintaining spiral development based on end user feedback.
“And now, Syos is one of the largest commercial USV manufacturers in the world. Pumping out a number of different USV models and configurations.”
The Royal Navy was an early fan of the USV and has closely monitored its development, the Herald understands (Vye won’t comment on contracts).
Vye, who graduated from the University of Leicester in 2008 with a BSc in geophysics, migrated to New Zealand last decade, at first working for Yamaha’s UAV operation, then founding his own company, Envico, which specialised in supporting scientific projects and conservation and won a $800,000 DoC contract to develop a predator-control drone.
He formed Syos in 2021, drawing on and building on the knowledge of automated systems he developed with his first company.
How did Vye’s tiny start-up gain international sales and tens of millions in revenue so quickly in a crowded market?
The founder says he admires what he calls “exquisite” design. But he proudly calls Syos “utilitarian”. It uses as many off-the-shelf parts as possible, with fast turnaround and rapid development.
“Anyone who looks at the example of the Ukrainian-Russian war sees that drone systems are updated every six weeks,” Vye says.
“We’re focusing on vehicles that do a job to the minimum viable capability, which makes it cost-effective,” he says.
Quick and utilitarian doesn’t mean dumb.
“For our value proposition, we focus really heavily on our software control,” Vye says.
Specifically, Syos has developed what it calls its Augmented Intelligence Mission System or Aaims (pronounced “aims”) – a software system that lets one person control many, and many different types, of semiautonomous drones.
“I could sit down at a ground station and operate 10 USVs [Uncrewed Sea Vessels], five SA1s, five Bluebottles, three aerial drones, all off the same mission system.”
The same would go for co-ordinating sea and air drones to track a rogue fishing vessel inside New Zealand’s territorial waters, Vye adds.
Communications are whatever the customer wants. The ground vehicle featured in this story is fitted out with a Starlink dish, but any kind of radio communication could be tacked on. The ground vehicle can also be used to carry Syos’ aerial drones, ready to launch.
A key feature of Syos’ software is that it can incorporate another manufacturer’s uncrewed vehicles in its mission control mix – such as the aforementioned Bluebottle autonomous boats, made by Sydney firm Ocius – which look like P-class yachts and cost around $1 million each.
Is Syos sore that our Navy recently bought a couple of Bluebottles rather than turning to the Mount Mauganaui-designed SM300 USV?
“I think it’s really good that the NZDF [New Zealand Defence Force] bought a couple of Bluebottles,” Vye says.
“It’s the first naval drone system that they’ve [brought] into service, or at least for trial and experimentation.
“Obviously, our USVs have a bit of an overlap, but they’re also two completely separate products.
“The Bluebottle system is for slow, persistent surveillance with lower sensor capabilities and lower power demand, whereas our systems provide more power, and so ... can provide a greater range for surveillance – including the sort of sub-surface surveillance that NZDF may be doing.”
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.