South African Drone Developer Unveils Long-Endurance, Low-Cost Electric UAV for Defense and Commercial Applications
by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb
South Africa-based drone developer ALTI Unmanned recently unveiled their new Transition electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) drone, their first foray into the burgeoning all-electric space. With over 3 hours of flight endurance with a full payload, the Transition is being positioned towards defense and commercial clients with a variety of mission needs with its low operational costs, (under $10 per hour), 3m wingspan, 100km range, and 40km/h cruising speed.
“Our decision to go fully electric stems from the need to meet our clients’ evolving demands. We’ve focused on delivering an aircraft that’s as close to 100% reliable as possible—safe, cost-effective, and virtually undetectable. Our clients, whether in surveillance, reconnaissance, or conservation, require an aircraft that’s not only efficient but also silent and stealthy. While going all-electric, we continue to lead the way with best-in-class endurance, achieving over 3 hours of flight time, fully equipped with payload. Moving into an all-electric future allows us to ensure that we continue to meet these needs while offering the most advanced, dependable solutions available,” said Duran De Villiers, Founder & Director of ALTI Unmanned.
Currently available payload options from ALTI include the E95, featuring full-HD (1920x1080p) video capture capabilities with serious optical zoom capacity, as well as a 640 x 512 LWIR IR sensor with up to a 4x digital zoom, the Raptor, with an HD 720p camera and IR system with up to 40x optical zoom, and a photogrammetry payload featuring a SONY ILX-R1 with a 61.0MP Full Frame, 24mm G Series Lens, and GSD at 100m AGL – 1.57cm p/pixel, combined with an EMLID multi-band ground sensor featuring centimeter-accurate PPK mapping, up to 100km of baseline in PPK, and full camera synchronization.
More information about ALTI Unmanned and the Transition eVTOL, alongside some interesting case studies (anti-poaching, anyone?) is available here.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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