Aeronautics Launches Orbiter 5 Tactical UAS: Medium Altitude, Long Endurance

Aeronautics Launches Orbiter 5 Tactical UAS with MALE Mission Capabilities

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) leader Aeronautics Ltd. is launching the Orbiter 5 UAS, an innovative new platform enabling medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) mission capabilities in a tactical UAS. This affordable, high performance solution has an extended endurance time of over 25 hours with multi-mission capabilities, able to carry payload weight of over 25kg and two payloads simultaneously, and implementing advanced AI capabilities.

The Orbiter 5 also features redundancy with a dual avionic system and a dual ignition engine for increased safety, guaranteeing mission success. Its four stroke engine grants up to 600W of electrical power for the onboard mission systems, allowing for the use of complex payloads for a range of ISTAR applications. Additionally, the platform features an advanced miniature radar suited to maritime missions.

The Orbiter 5 was made with short mission preparation times in mind, able to to be quickly and easily assembled in the field using only one tool. This simple preparation enables the launch of multiple platforms in mere minutes for large-scale area surveillance and terrain dominance. Fully functional in harsh weather conditions, the Orbiter 5 employs an advanced navigation system and is fully operational in GPS-denied areas.

Using a highly-transportable vehicle-mounted system, the Orbiter 5 is able to operate from anywhere without the need for fixed structures, granting it higher survivability than MALE platforms. The solution offers autonomous flight and recovery modes and has a small logistic footprint. The platform has a low Life Cycle Cost (LCC) when compared to similar solutions, making it exceptionally cost-effective.

“Aeronautics continues to lead the market in unmanned aerial systems solutions and specifically in the tactical arena,” said Aeronautics President and CEO Dan Slasky. “The result of years of innovative technological and system development at the Aeronautics Group and in response to customer needs, Orbiter 5 offers the mission “sweet spot” for current and future operational requirements. We are proud to say that this system was designed with our customers needs in mind, and has already logged hundreds of flight hours. We are confident that this newest member to the Aeronautics fleet, will provide current and future customer needs worldwide, together with the other members of the Orbiter family of systems.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer