Tekever Launches New Version of AR3 Net Ray
Photo: Tekever Group
The Tekever Group has announced that it is launching a new version of the shipborne UAS AR3 Net Ray. The new version of the UAS has an eight-kilogram payload capacity — an increase of 33 percent that will provide the option of carrying a 25-nanometer-range maritime radar.
The AR3 Net Ray is a shipborne UAS designed to support multiple types of maritime- and land-based missions, including information, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance; pollution monitoring; and infrastructure surveillance and communications support operations. According to the Tekever Group, preliminary tests have been successful, and the AR3 Net Ray will be the first UAS in its class to offer a maritime radar capability.
“Because of its endurance of more than 10 hours, it is a perfect fit to support both maritime and medium-range land missions,” says Ricardo Mendes, chief operating officer at Tekever. “With an extra payload capacity and the integration of a maritime radar, our goal is to provide customers with unprecedented capabilities in a very small and affordable package. We’re still testing these new capabilities, but we’re very happy with the results we’re getting.”
The company plans to build a UAS program to perform multiple types of nearshore and maritime missions, including search and rescue, surveillance, illegal fisheries, and maritime patrol and pollution detection. The European Space Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency have selected the Tekever AR5 Life Ray Evolution UAS for a new European maritime surveillance system composed of drones.
This year, Tekever will lead the RAPSODY Project, which will test the use of unmanned aircraft systems used in a maritime context through real-world demonstration of two scenarios: search-and-rescue missions and pollution and oil-spilling monitoring. The systems will operate over the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
