Israeli company iSTAR debuted its Reach vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the Eurosatory defence exhibition running in Paris from 13 to 17 June.
The fixed-wing Reach UAV is billed as being the flagship in iSTAR’s range of unmanned aircraft, which includes the identically configured but smaller Transition, and is designed for runway- and equipment-independent launch and recovery.
“This long-endurance aircraft carries a wide range of versatile payloads and communications systems, delivering up to 15 hours of continuous flight […] up to 150 km,” company literature accompanying the displayed UAV stated.
The Reach UAV has a 5 m wingspan (the smaller Transition being 3 m across) and is 4.4 m in length. Its maximum take-off weight is 65 kg, while its maximum payload is 5 kg. The air vehicle is powered by a single heavy fuel engine (HFE) GenPod 100 cc powerplant driving one pusher propeller for forward flight, and electric T-Motor V13 60KV engines driving four vertically aligned propellers for VTOL flight. Specifications released by iSTAR give the Reach a cruise speed of 40 kt and a top speed of 68 kt, while it can fly in a maximum crosswind of 19 kt. The service ceiling is 16,000 ft.
The air vehicle can be controlled via a mobile ground control station (GCS), referred to by the company as a Mobile Command and Control Unit (MCCU). This MCCU also serves to transport the Reach to its area of operations, at which point it can be assembled by two persons in under 20 minutes.