Cobham Aerospace has completed a proof of concept for the AVIATOR UAV 500 satcom system based on the current UAV 200 system. The concept will deliver imagery at a rate of up to 500 kilobits per second (kbps) and support 2.5 x the bandwidth of the existing product and weigh roughly 3kg, compared to the 1.45kg UAV 200 system.
The AVIATOR UAV 500 concept is formed of the same terminal as its sister UAV 200 product, combined with a High Gain Antenna, the HGA-6000, as currently installed on a variety of civil and military aircraft. Users of smaller MALE and larger STUAVs still require weight to be kept to a minimum but want to stream better quality video, while maintaining capacity for beyond-line-of-sight control.
Andrew Legg, Sales Director and responsible for Cobham’s UAV related BD activities at Cobham Aerospace Communications, said: “We have been focused on this end of the market for some time and there has been strong demand for better data bandwidth to allow transmission of improved video imagery to the ground, but which would still be light enough to be carried by smaller UAVs.”
“That customer feedback has pushed us to explore this new AVIATOR UAV product which would satisfy this demand and provide the beyond-line-of-sight capability that will make future UAV operation safer and more effective. We’re delighted that AVIATOR UAV 500 has passed this POC stage and we look forward to discussing the technology with interested parties.”
The proof of concept was tested in locations in the United Kingdom and South Africa by Satlink Ltd UK. Cobham has already received interest from companies working in security, search and rescue, and defence.
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aerospace Cobham communications systems SATCOM security South Africa UAV