Teledyne Flir unveils moving drone cage to strap onto boats, vehicles

LONDON — U.S.-based sensor specialist Teledyne Flir has unveiled a drone-in-a-box setup for launching and recovering fast-flying drones from moving ground or maritime platforms, catering to evolving battlefield demands seen in conflicts like Ukraine.

Dubbed the SkyCarrier, the platform is designed to unleash unmanned aerial systems from boats or pick-up trucks – with optional tethering, a concept gaining traction following its widespread use in Ukraine.

It is capable of autonomously deploying and retrieving the company’s SkyRaider R80D and SkyRanger R70 drones while moving at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

“We specifically designed this system for moving operations on land or at sea – most of our customers do not have the luxury to come to a standstill to launch or recover drones, so the quicker they can move, the safer they are,” Rich Cunha, UAS product director at Teledyne, said in an interview.

After flying a mission, the envisioned drones are designed to navigate back to the launch platform independently.

The system can be optionally tethered, meaning that it can operate with a physical cable connecting the drone to a power and data source, which enables it to considerably extend the operational time to two days at altitudes up to 100 meters.

Last year, the Canadian government provided over 800 SkyRanger R70 drones to Ukraine, a donation valued at over $95 million. Since then, Cunha says, the company has collaborated closely with Ukrainian partners to develop more advanced features and configurations.

“A lot of the work we’ve done with Ukraine is around what kind of tweaking the drones themselves need to be more successful on the battlefield and educating them on how they can take some of the tools we have to build their own capabilities into our platforms,” he said. “We support them adding their own radios, sensors or software onboard our aircraft to customize them.”

Two features were of particular interest during testing in Ukraine. First, the ability for a drone to operate in radio-silent mode — conducting scouting missions without transmitting data or receiving commands, and reporting its findings only after return. Second, the value of tethered operations, even with a 100-meter ceiling restriction.

While Teledyne currently does not have near-term plans to send the new platform to Ukraine, the representative said that such an opportunity may come in the future.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

伦敦——总部位于美国的传感器专家 Teledyne Flir 公司推出了一款无人机箱式装置，用于从移动的地面或海上平台发射和回收快速飞行的无人机，以满足乌克兰等冲突中不断变化的战场需求。

该平台被命名为“空中载具”（SkyCarrier），旨在从船只或皮卡车上释放无人机系统——并可选配系绳连接，这一概念在乌克兰广泛应用后正逐渐获得认可。

它能够自主部署和回收公司的 SkyRaider R80D 和 SkyRanger R70 无人机，同时移动速度可达 50 公里/小时。

“我们专门设计了这套系统，用于在陆地或海上快速移动作业——我们的大多数客户没有时间停下来发射或回收无人机，所以他们移动得越快，就越安全，”泰莱达因公司无人机系统产品总监里奇·库尼亚在一次采访中说道。

执行完任务后，设想中的无人机能够自主导航返回发射平台。

该系统可以选择系留，这意味着它可以通过物理电缆将无人机连接到电源和数据源，从而大大延长其在高达 100 米的高度上的运行时间至两天。

去年，加拿大政府向乌克兰提供了800多架SkyRanger R70无人机，捐赠价值超过9500万美元。库尼亚表示，自那以后，该公司与乌克兰合作伙伴密切合作，开发了更先进的功能和配置。

他说：“我们与乌克兰开展的大量工作都围绕着如何改进无人机本身以使其在战场上更加成功，以及如何利用我们的一些工具在我们的平台上构建他们自己的能力。我们支持他们在我们的飞机上加装他们自己的无线电设备、传感器或软件，以进行定制。”

在乌克兰的测试中，有两个特性尤其引人注目。首先，无人机能够在无线电静默模式下运行——执行侦察任务时不发送数据或接收指令，仅在返回后才报告调查结果。其次，即使飞行高度限制在100米以内，系留飞行也具有价值。

虽然泰莱公司目前没有近期将新平台送往乌克兰的计划，但该公司代表表示，未来可能会有这样的机会。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。