Elistair’s Tethered Surveillance Drone Delivers Round-the-Clock Security

French drone manufacturer Elistair, a leading provider of tethered surveillance drone solutions, has announced their newest offering: the Orion 2 tethered unmanned system for military, government, and industry users. “Unlike other multi-rotor drones, the Orion 2 hexacopter delivers round-the-clock surveillance for up to 24 hours at a time, making it a true persistent surveillance platform,” says a company press release.

“Small, unmanned multi-rotor systems are great if you want a hover-and-stare capability, but they’re also notoriously short on battery life,” said Timothée Penet, CTO and co-founder of Elistair. “Powered tethering stations, like our Safe 2 and Ligh-T 4, offer a solution by increasing a platform’s time in the air—and that’s great for many missions. But what if you need to be on station for a whole day?”

Tethered Surveillance Drones

The Orion 2 is a rugged, lightweight system that can stand up to a wide variety of environments.  Elistair describes Orion 2 as a “quick-deploy system”  – utilizing an automated push-button takeoff and landing.  Most importantly, Orion 2 can stay in the air for 24 hours.  “…something that, previously, could only be done by a helium-filled tactical aerostat, which was a much larger platform and came with a very complicated logistical train,” says Elistair.

“We developed redundancies at every level to ensure that the Orion 2 could stay up that long,” said Pierre- Moana Levesque, R&D Director at Elistair. “For example, we made it IP54; we optimized the lifespan of the components, including the motors; and we added a safety battery that could recharge in the air.”

The new Orion 2 is the newest advancement on the original Orion drone, which has already earned a global customer base. “The Orion helped secure the Ryder Cup in September 2018, flying over crowds of 300,000 attendees for 8 to 11 hours a day, and has been employed by the French police, British military, and Singaporean government,” says the press release.

Micro-Tether

Orion 2 features a micro-tether of 330 feet (100 meters), allowing it to fly at a higher altitude than the Orion.   In addition to surveillance, Orion 2 can carry up to 2kg (4.5 pounds) of payload: “…it can serve simultaneously as an ISR and telecom platform,” the company explains.  “The Orion 2 can also stream georeferenced electro-optical and infrared imagery at the same time, and it can deploy 4G/5G communications nodes thanks to a new fiber optics cable option.”

“The Orion 2 tethered drone is a clear advance over the very capable Orion in terms of persistence, logistical footprint, and data control. We are thrilled by this product launch,” said Guilhem de Marliave, CEO and co-founder of Elistair.