Elistair rolls out tethered drone for comms relay missions
The Orion HL has been beta-tested by partners including the Norwegian Army. (Photo: Elistair)
Elistair has unveiled the Orion Heavy Lift (HL) tethered UAS to support growing demand for variable-height antennas from military, public safety and homeland security customers.
Tethered drones can enable the establishment and extension of secured mobile networks, with rapid deployment and persistence in the air.
The HL is based on the Orion platform used by over 30 countries for ISR missions, with the same levels of automation, ruggedisation and safety architecture. It can carry a 4kg payloads to 90m and 5kg to 50m altitudes, with a flight duration of 50h
Related Articles
Norway launches market study for VTOL UAV
Camcopter S-100 relays acoustic buoy surveillance in NATO exercise
'The introduction of the Heavy Lift version... provides us with a very useful tool for lifting communication equipment to create temporary communication coverage in challenging areas of operation,' a representative of the Norwegian Army Combined Arms Battle Laboratory said in an Elistair release.
A beta-testing programme with selected partners has allowed successful integration of a CORDIS Array II from Radionor, a 5G relay and a SIGINT payload.
First deliveries of Orion HL are planned for late May 2023.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
Arquus and Milrem push their UGVs fitted with long-range missiles
Arquus displayed the Drailer uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) integrating the Akeron LP long-range missile at the Techterre technology demonstrator event ahead of trials in September.
-
Czech CAESAR howitzer order at risk of cancellation
The Czech Republic ordered 52 CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie (CAESAR) self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) in 2021 and added another 10 a year later. A cancellation of the programme would impact both the army’s capabilities and local industry which is involved in the manufacture.
-
Sweden turns to Nammo and Rheinmetall as world demand grows for 155mm shells
Demand for ammunition continues to increase with manufacturing capability growing to match. Sweden have turned to the two supply lines of Rheinmetall and Nammo as part of a Nordic effort to meet demand. The Polish Government has also announced a US$700 million investment to boost manufacture of munitions.
-
Contract moves new Abrams tank forward in the face of cuts
Several US Army vehicle programmes were axed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s plans to transform the US Army, as outlined in the Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative document. However, the new generation Abrams M1E3 main battle tank (MBT) was singled out for survival. But what will it look like?
-
Malaysia signs for two additional GM400α air surveillance radars
The order is in addition to two systems ordered in 2023. It forms part of a family of systems which is becoming widely used and part of a growing demand for the capability, both in deliveries and requirements.
-
US Army’s Precision Strike Missile moves into production phase after test successes
Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is a next-generation surface-to-surface missile system and is a planned replanned replacement for MGM-140 Army Tactical Missiles System (ATACMS). It is to be fired from M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers.