Military Embedded Systems

Tethered UASs for naval, surveillance applications in trial with U.S. Navy

News

October 02, 2020

Lisa Daigle

Assistant Managing Editor

Military Embedded Systems

Photo: Dragonfly Pictures Inc.

ESSINGTON, Penn. Aerospace company Dragonfly Pictures Inc. (DPI) and power component maker Vicor (Andover, Massachusetts) are currently trialling with the U.S. Navy a different class of unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone: A hover-in-place tethered drone that is powered by an electrical cord connected to a base station.

DPI is using the Vicor high-voltage and low-profile bus converter module (BCM) within its military/industrial-grade unmanned multirotor aerial relay (UMAR) to, say company officials, enable high-efficiency conversion (98%) only 2% losses and heat from 800 V to 50 V.

DPI’s tethered multirotor drones are designed to track and follow mobile host platforms including ships, boats, trucks, and other unmanned surface/ground vehicles. These drones are currently being qualified for use by the U.S. Navy in marine/maritime environments for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); communications, and video applications.  

 

 

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