Sam Vye: CEO of Syos Aerospace on the company's discussion with the NZDF

One small NZ-based robotics company is looking for new opportunities - and the NZDF has expressed interest in working with them.

Syos Aerospace develops and manufactures uncrewed vehicles and subsystems for dual-use applications - with a focus on enhancing capabilities, reducing risk, and reducing cost.

CEO Sam Vye joined the Afternoons team to discuss.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Joining us now is Sam Vi. He's the CEO of
SIUs Aerospace. It's a rapidly expanding robotics company that develops
and manufacturers, manufacturers cutting each uncrewed vehicles across eat, land
and c And it is a pleasure to have Sam
on the program. Now, Sam, good afternoon.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Hey, how long has.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Cyrus been in business? Am I? Am I pronouncing the
name of your company correctly?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah, that's correct, Sire Serah Space. Yeah, so we incorporated
in January twenty twenty one, so just having four years old.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
Now wow, And what exactly do you manufacture?

Speaker 3 (00:53):
So we develop, manufacture basically uncrewed vehicles, so robotics and drones,
it's fair to say across AirLand and sea. So if
you like, you know the standard small drones that you
might be able to purchase online up to sort of
uncrewed helicopters planes. Uh, and then on the on land
we have autonomous uncrewed six wheeler ground vehicles through to

(01:17):
maritime sector on the water, so uncrewed boats.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yeah, we're talking about those today because of the purchase
of these blue bottles that are that are out of Australia.
What can uncrew uncrewed service surface vehicles do? Vesicles do?

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, so we call them u S fees, So uncrewed
surface vessels US fees. They they they can cover a
broad spectrum of different capabilities. So obviously the blue bottle
is a you know, is a fantastic U S fee.
It's it's meant for long endurance surveillance in the maritime domain.

(02:00):
The actual U S fees that size does we we
actually produce a range of US fees predominantly faster boat
so up to sort of fifty knots you know, it
was one hundred klimeters an hour boats which can also
do not just surveillance but also cargo transportation as well.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
So I'm looking at the sem three hundred USV that
you guys produce. It's a very cool looking machine, whereas
you've got to say the blue bottle is pretty underwhelming
looking and it's you know, it's not really it's not
really what it looks like, but it looks like a
kid threw it. Really, So what is the sort of
difference there between the SEM three hundred, for example, and

(02:44):
the Blue Bottle.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Yeah, okay, so the Blue Bottle is a is a
slow speed, longer endurance, more persistent surveillance drone if you like,
whereas our boat, our us V is a higher speed
still with long endurance but not quite as long as
the Blue Bottle boat drone us V. That can say,

(03:13):
there's some illegal fishing going on in the New Zealand waters,
our boat would be able to not just identify, not
just detect it, but would be able to accelerate over
to where the where the incursion occurred, to identify the
vessel and potentially track it until it leaves the leaves

(03:34):
the New Zealand waters, as well as to communicate in
the that incursion back to the operator which would be
on the New Zealand mainland.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
So is there any way that you can communicate So
as you say, a vessel that's doing something that it
shouldn't be doing in the New Zealand's ev you heat
up to it and the SUM three hundred, what what
do you can only surveil? Can it? Can it? Does
it have speakers? Can you relay messages to the people
on board?

Speaker 1 (04:03):
You know?

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Move along you're you're not supposed to be doing what
you're doing.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah, pretty much the world does your oyster in terms
of available payloads, right, so we could you know, it
could have exactly right, you could have loudspeakers on if
you wanted. We also have the capability to launch aerial
drones from the USV as well that can fly over
the top of say that that that that other boat,

(04:30):
that ship, and you know even go down to the
bridge and identify the people driving that boat. So there's
a lot of capabilities right with the usbe's. So ultimately
the USB is really just a platform how I for example,
customs and the DF want to customize the platform is
all based on what payloads might be installed and integrated.

(04:54):
And so we work with a bunch of customers, typically overseas,
and they have an array of different payloads that they
might want to have on from from various different surveillance
style of payloads, so you know, large radar systems, you know,
different camera types, food to potentially even have an aerial

(05:18):
drones operating or even subs drones. So r o V
is operating from the us FEE for different applications.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
Would you ever have a weaponized USBU.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, obviously that's hot in the press right now. We
we we we we typically develop a manufacturer just the platform,
so it's you know the So, no, we don't make
weaponized products.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, it's very impressive the vehicles you do manufacture. So
clearly New Zealand, you're based here in New Zealand, we
can be a world leader in this in this area.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, absolutely, So it's fair to say we fly under
the radar, no pun intended, but yeah, so so New
Zealand's got some you know, not just size, but there's
a there's a number of other companies in New Zealand
that's a world leading in the in the in the drone,
the uncrewed vehicle technology industry, and certainly I think with

(06:18):
the recently announced DVP obviously there's a few people think
in that New Zealand doesn't have technology, doesn't have an industry.
But certainly we've got a maizing technology that entered df
PAN leverage.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, there's an INZIDF has said they're looking at spending
two hundred million to four hundred and fifty million dollars
in this area. Is that something that you can put
your hand up and provide for the NZDF.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Absolutely, yeah, we're very keen to support anti DF in
in rolling out to this DCP.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Brilliant Sam, great to chat with you all the best
and hopefully we'll catch up against.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
So yeah, thank you, Matt.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
That is Sam Vi, CEO of SIUs Aerospace International, which
is based right here in New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
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