Today
Avalon Aircraft · Maritime
Keep the mission
deployed.
Autonomous servicing infrastructure for deployed unmanned systems.
UAV-to-USV / UGV docking and functional module servicing.
- Autonomous docking
- Functional module servicing
- Mission continuity
Our technology
Seamless. Autonomous. Persistent.
The service UAV docks onto the vessel and exchanges a functional module in minutes — the asset never leaves its operating area.
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01
Approach & align
Relative navigation with multi-sensor fusion holds alignment against a moving deck.
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02
Dock & secure
The mechanical interface latches under load and brings up power and data in one action.
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03
Verify & sync
Handshake, status check and envelope validation gate the exchange before anything releases.
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04
Exchange module
The spent module is released and a fresh one seated — automated, with no crew on deck.
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05
Confirm & commit
Post-exchange verification passes and task state is handed back to the vessel.
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06
Disengage & depart
The UAV undocks and returns to station. No recovery leg, no interrupted assignment.
- Built for real missions
Designed for harsh maritime environments and dynamic sea states.
- Persistent operations
Extend endurance and reach without recovering the asset to base.
- Modular by design
Sensors, power or sample containers — exchange what the mission needs.
- Scalable ecosystem
One host platform, multiple service UAVs, autonomous fleet operation.
Recovery today, compared with AIRSWAP
Recover the asset
With AIRSWAP
Service the subsystem.
Keep the asset deployed.
Mission workflow
Service the bottleneck —
not the whole mission asset.
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01Approach
The service UAV closes on a moving receiver using relative navigation, then holds a commit-or-abort gate before contact.
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02Service
The functional module is authenticated, exchanged and verified over a high-integrity power and data interface.
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03Continue
Task state is handed back and the vessel resumes its assignment without a recovery leg.
- Preserve deployment
- Reduce recovery transit
- Restore capability faster
- Service only what matters
Technology architecture
Modular by design.
Intelligent by default.
Six layers turn a mid-mission exchange into a governed, recorded procedure.
- 01 Receiver interface Secure physical and electrical interface.
- 02 Exchange mechanism Precision alignment. Minimal contact.
- 03 Safety supervisor Continuous assurance. Defined envelopes.
- 04 Module protocol Authenticate. Verify. Exchange.
- 05 Power + data High-integrity delivery and telemetry.
- 06 Orchestration software Plan. Execute. Adapt. Record.
Where it applies
Where AIRSWAP is clearly superior.
Comparison between ground swap, conventional in-air swap and AIRSWAP stateful in-air swap for maritime module exchange.
| Application | Ground swap | In-air swap | AIRSWAP stateful in-air swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power source modules | Suited | Suited | Suited |
| Functional modules | Suited | Suited | Suited |
| Stateful mission continuity | Not suited | Not suited | Suited |
| Persistent mission capability | Not suited | Suited | Suited |
| Unlimited mission configuration | Not suited | Suited | Suited |
| State handover Works in GNSS-denied, no-internet, and no-GPS situations. | Not suited | Not suited | Suited |
| Fleet cost reduction | Not suited | Suited | Suited |
| Expensive payload cost reduction Sensors, cameras, comms modules, ISR | Not suited | Suited | Suited |
Ground swap supports many module types but requires landing or deck handling. Conventional in-air swap enables persistence, lower fleet burden, and flexible airborne reconfiguration. AIRSWAP additionally enables state handover and mission continuity in GNSS-denied and disconnected operating conditions.
Missions
Built for
real-world impact
Autonomous systems. Seamless teamwork. Stronger outcomes.
View all missions-
Maritime
surveillanceExtend a vessel’s reach beyond what one loadout allows: sensor and power modules are exchanged on station, so the picture outlasts any single airframe.
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Port & harbor
securityPersistent watch over approaches and quaysides, with sensor modules exchanged to match the threat instead of the maintenance schedule.
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Offshore
inspectionCarry an inspection payload to turbines and structures from a vessel already on site, instead of waiting on a crew transfer.
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Search & rescue
supportPut sensors over a search box within minutes and keep them there — swapping modules extends the search rather than ending it.
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Research sample
exchangeFor lab analysis
Lift a filled sample container to the research ship and return an empty one, so the vessel keeps collecting instead of steaming back.
Vision
Not a drone.
A servicing layer.
Unmanned systems are limited less by what they can do than by how long they can keep doing it. AIRSWAP is the layer that removes that limit.
Every unmanned platform eventually runs out of the thing that makes it useful — endurance, the right sensor, somewhere to put what it collected. Today the answer is always the same: bring the asset home. We are building the alternative as infrastructure rather than as another vehicle: an interface, an exchange mechanism and the software that governs when an exchange may happen at all.
- Surface vessels
Uncrewed boats holding station or running a transect offshore.
- Ground vehicles
Uncrewed ground platforms working sites without a return leg.
- Robotic systems
Fixed and mobile robots that need a module changed in place.
Maritime is where we start, because the cost of recovering an asset is highest at sea. The patented method is not limited to it — vessels, ground vehicles and robots are named in the specification.
Intellectual property
A granted patent,
not a pending idea.
The core method is examined and granted in Korea. International filing is in progress.
Patent number KR 10-2973669
- 01 Module and mission state together
What is protected is not the act of swapping hardware. It is the combination: the module changes hands and the receiving system takes over the task state — what was finished, when, and the point it is safe to resume from.
- 02 Interference-aware gating
The claims cover estimating mutual rotor interference between the two bodies, and re-allocating thrust as the centre of gravity shifts during an exchange. This is the part that decides whether an exchange may proceed or must abort.
- 03 Not limited to aircraft-to-vessel
The specification names surface vessels, ground vehicles and robotic platforms as receiving bodies, so the method is not confined to the maritime case we are commercialising first.
Patent held by the founder; international applications in preparation. Filing details available to counterparties under NDA.
R&D programme partners
R&D Programme
Consortium Partners.
Academic and industry partners who have signed letters of intent to collaborate on R&D programmes.
All collaborations are established by non-binding letters of intent. They cover intended joint work on R&D programmes only and do not constitute a commercial partnership, endorsement, sponsorship, advertising or reseller relationship, nor any form of investment or supply agreement.
Universities & research groups
Companies & industry
Startup ecosystem & infrastructure
Accepted into a leading
technology programme.
Avalon has been selected into a key startup and technology ecosystem, unlocking infrastructure support for AIRSWAP development, simulation and autonomy training.
Programme participation shown for ecosystem and infrastructure context.
Programmes & ecosystem
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Startup programme access for AI and accelerated computing ecosystem support
Build the servicing layer
for maritime autonomy.
We work with naval integrators, research operators and USV builders on receiver interfaces and mission trials.