UAVOS has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to develop the Saker-1C – a new medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial system (UAS).
A press release from UAVOS – released on May 25 – stated that the “effort is focused on utilising advanced manufacturing technologies and integrating next-generation capabilities including state-of-the-art autonomy, navigation, communications, sensor processing and system of counter electronic warfare.”
The Saker-1C – the latest member of UAVOS’ Saker MALE UAS family – will have a maximum speed of 127mph (204km/h), a service ceiling of 23,000ft (7,010m) and an endurance of up to 30 hours.
![UAVOS Saker-1C [UAVOS]](/sites/keyaero/files/inline-images/UAVOS%20Saker-1C%20%5BUAVOS%5D%20%231.jpg)
Aliaksei Stratsilatau, lead developer and CEO of UAVOS, said: “The successful flight demonstration and operational tests reflect Saker’s reliability and quality, together with its advanced technological capabilities. There is no doubt Saker-1C gives its users significant operational advantages. We consider Saker-1C UAS as a leading system with considerable sales potential.”
In comparison to its predecessor, the Saker-1B, the aircraft’s payload capacity has been increased by approximately 660lb (299kg) and the retrofitting of long-endurance wings provides a greater internal fuel capacity. The platform will feature a fully redundant flight control system and avionics suite.
According to UAVOS, the Saker-1C will be integrated with an improved onboard satellite communication system, which “provides an advanced direct link when flying within line of sight (LOS), switching seamlessly to a satellite link when flying beyond line of sight (BLOS) transmit real time information.” It adds that this technology has been refined and improved through operation and testing on other Saker family aircraft.
It is designed to perform a number of long-endurance missions, including communications relay, search and rescue and surveillance tasks. Using technologies developed by both companies, Saker-1C will be capable of carrying diverse payloads, including a gyro-stabilised electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) gimbal, digital video datalinks and synthetic aperture radar imagery and coherent change detection kits.
