Kitemill is expanding into the defence industry with the Kitewall concept
(disclaimer I don’t work there anymore, what I know is on the web page)
Surely this is not the inevitable fate of AWES?
Proven in Nordic conditions. Container-based deployment with minimal ground crew. −20°C to +50°C, rain up to 10 mm/h, wind 0 to >25 m/s.
Each system seems to have a limited capability for defence
Just attack when it’s too wet and windy
1 Like
Drone wars is a cat and mouse game, I am “curious” as to how long these would last vs hobby grade FPV drones…
Tallak: Glad to see that you are moving on from what, maybe a decade of writing software for flying that propeller-lifted kite? As with all kite-reeling systems, we will probably never know the details of why they never work out. You’d think with a forum dedicated to AWE we would have some information after all these years, but no, we, we sit here with what teeny trickles of false good news the companies provide, while remaining ignorant of any details of the ongoing failure. Luckily, sone of us don’t need to know the details to see the writing on the wall. Hope your next adventure is enjoyable, and worthy of your talents and participation! 
Now, as far as “Windwall” goes, here’s “The writing on the wall” regarding that “pivot”: It’s just the typical end-of-the-line exit mode for failing AWE wannabe companies. Preceding pivots are:
- JOBY: Joby started as a kite-reeling company, way back around, what, 2009? That was when I participated in the first High Altitude Wind Energy Conference in California, and Joben Bevirt of JOBY was, I believe, in attendance, or at least one of his nerds with glasses said he had been asked by JoBen to invite me to visit Joben’s mansion on the coast, but I was headed to visit another mansion belonging to an old TV star.
JOBY’s PIVOTS away from AWE:
a) Joben was having motors made for his AWE system, but pivoted to just supplying those motors for others to use, instead.
b) Joben then decided he could use his former AWE motors for EVTOL’s, so pivoted again to EVTOLs
c) Like so many startups, Joben found a way to fund his EVTOL program by getting the military involved, so today, JOBY is a multibillion-dollar corporation, but still trying to find even just a military use for his EVTOLs. no JOBY EVTOLs are flying any passengers to this day, except for maybe a few test flights for the military
d) Like so many others, JOBY was supposed to have been “flying people to the airport” by year 2025, but that never happened.
e) JOBY recently purchased the largest helicopter charter company in the NYC area, but his EVTOL’s are still “not ready for prime time”, and if you ask me, (which nobody does) I think the EVTOL is too heavy, clumsy, awkward, complicated, and unsafe for passengers, and apparently the certifying authorities agree. Well, at least they own a helicopter charter company now, and that’s good, since helicopters superseded multi-rotor VTOL aircraft about 100 years ago because one large rotor is more efficient and safe - more appropriate to the task.
- NEXT PIVOT: ALTAEROS: Altaeros promoted their flimsy, helium-filled “donut” with an infernal wind turbine as “powering a remote village in Alaska”, which I, personally, debunked, then confirmed by making a phone call to that remote village in Alaska whereby I was informed that no such donut was powering anything in that remote village.
Altaeros subsequently “just gave up” on their “revolutionary” donut, and “PIVOTED” to (supposedly) providing wireless communication using a normal small blimp, but that apparently never went anywhere. Again, they just “pivoted” to known technology that had never been seen as advantageous in the first place, so today they are doing nothing.
PIVOT #3: SKYSAILS: Skysails made a “big splash": by promising to power container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, etc. by kite-towing, but as it turned out, none of their assumptions or claims panned out as accurate, so they sold off their ship-towing operation and PIVOTED to, (drumroll please) KITE-REELING!!!
I was chastised for doubting them, while being told on the AWE forum: “Apparently you haven’t heard, they have a factory and are shipping kite-reeling systems around the world, starting in Asia!!!”
“Oh. yeah. sure, and you must be one of the blithering idiots who believes every AWE lie you hear, right?” Turns out I was correct once again, and Skysails has done pretty much nothing since, and that was at least 5 years ago now.
OK, so, you want to know what I think of AWE PIVOT #4, WINDWALL???
I think any military product dependent on favorable weather will not pass “the sniff test” and the concept will fade away, or transition to just one more tethered drone, but probably just finish fading away.