Ukraine’s state-run defense production giant UkrOboronProm presented on Jan. 21 the first Ukrainian-made project of military-grade surveillance quadricopter Berehynya (“the Tutelar”).
The drone was designed by a Kyiv-based company Meridian, part of UkrOboronProm, by an engineering group led by Maksym Sheremet, a 23-year-old post-graduate student at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
“Hostilities in Ukraine’s east demonstrated the potential and advantages of the usage of small unmanned aerial vehicles, including multicopters, in addressing numerous issues,” Sheremet was quoted as saying during the presentation. “Thanks to their small sizes, high maneuverability, and relative simplicity of operation, they are becoming a reliable and sometimes indispensable instrument of increasing effectiveness of combat formations through surveillance, targeting, and so on.”
According to the designers, the drone’s 3D-printed framework is made of carbon composite and weighs up to 2 kilograms. The material the vehicle is built of allows it for being more mobile and effective during reconnaissance missions and also makes repair works cheaper.
The drone is reported to be able to gain a speed of up to 120 kilometers and stay in the air for 45 minutes. It also carries up to 1.5 kilograms of payload and has the operative range of up to 12 kilometers.
“The system’s deployment, in case of trained personnel, takes up to 2 minutes, while the battery can be replaced within 1 minute,” the UkrOboronProm said.
“The drone gains an altitude of 100 meters within three seconds. With a wind velocity of 20 meters per second, which corresponds to a tropical storm, the drone can be operated manually with no limitations.”
Other than that, the vehicle is equipped with digital and analog cameras, the images from which are transmitted to the system’s operator and land station.
Besides, as distinct from copters produced for civilian use, the Berehynya is operated through a protected communication channel designed to prevent the drone operator’s location from being disclosed.
Among the merits of the system, the designers noted its high speed, its ability to stay for a long in the air and also to resist radio-electric jamming.
