Elistair, a French company well known for its wire line stations and Orion drone, has unveiled a new aircraft, designed to meet the needs of defence and public security players.
Defence.
Elistair unveiled its new UAV, the Orion 2, on 4 November. Inspired by the Orion and the company's know-how, this new aircraft is a wired UAV, enabling operators to carry out missions over long periods of time. The drone is thus "capable of carrying out surveillance missions of more than 24 hours in a row at a height of 90 metres and covering several tens of km2", the company reports. The use of this system makes it possible to complement the observation missions carried out by other mini-UAVs, whose endurance is fairly limited in time, often around 20-30 minutes.
Adapting to a complex environment
In order to meet the needs of armies and to be able to operate in complex environments, the Orion 2 has several system redundancies. Inspired by the Orion UAV, it is finally the improved version. "With its 100-meter micro-wire, the Orion 2 flies higher than its predecessor and monitors larger areas. Capable of carrying up to 2 kg of payload, it can integrate an additional telecommunications relay into its camera. It can also deploy 4G/5G communication nodes with a new fibre optic data link option" completes the company.
Contracts.
While the Orion UAV has proven its worth in large-scale surveillance missions, such as the Ryder Cup and the 14 July security operation in Bordeaux, the new system should also be a resounding success. A first series of Orion 2 UAVs has already been delivered to defence customers and a second series is currently being produced, also for defence players, and should be delivered by the end of the year.