CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Cobham Aerospace Communications announces the successful completion of a proof of concept satcom system, dubbed AVIATOR UAV 500. Part of the Cobham AVIATOR range, the product concept is based on the current UAV 200 system and will deliver imagery at a rate of up to 500 kilobits per second (kbps).
The proof of concept aims to meet a demand for a UAV solution that can transmit improved video imagery via satellite network at a higher bandwidth than currently available. 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.
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. The new system will weigh roughly 3kg, compared to the 1.45kg UAV 200 system, and will support 2.5 x the bandwidth of the existing product.
The proof of concept bench testing was carried out at locations in South Africa and the United Kingdom by Satlink Ltd UK. Cobham has already had expressions of interest in such a system from companies in the areas of defence, security and search and rescue.
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