Tethered UAV offers persistent surveillance

9th November 2020 - 11:15 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Orion 2 can carry ISR and communications payloads while streaming EO/IR imagery

Elistair has developed a new persistent surveillance tethered UAV called Orion 2 for military, government and industrial users.

‘Unlike other multi-rotor drones, the Orion 2 hexacopter delivers round-the-clock surveillance,’ the company claimed in a 5 November statement.

Orion 2 operates at an altitude of 300ft, ‘covering tens of square kilometers’, Elistair added.

A payload capacity of up to 2kg means that Orion 2 can carry ISR and telecommunications payloads. It can also stream geo-referenced EO/IR imagery simultaneously, and it can deploy 4G/5G communications nodes via a new fibre-optic cable.

The tethered UAV is designed as a quick-deploy system (automated push-button takeoff and landing) that can stay in the air for 24 hours at a time with a payload of up to 2kg. Elistair claimed that was previously only achievable by a helium-filled tactical aerostat, which was a much larger platform and came with a very complicated logistical train.

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