WHY THE AIRBOXER?
The Airboxer is the ideal platform for a wide variety of missions. A unique combination of characteristics provides a range of capabilities, which other platforms and configurations cannot surpass.
Find out why you need the Airboxer system for your operation.
VTOL or Fixed Wing?
Even before the first successful manned flight, one considered the capability to take-off from any desired location and maintain a stationary flight to be a vital addition for any aircraft. A VTOL capability invariably leads to a performance compromise in comparison to a normal airplane. Despite this fact, a helicopter’s capabilities make it absolutely irreplaceable within commercial, security and military operations. The industry has tried and tested many forms of VTOLs over the years. But the classical single-rotor helicopter layout has prevailed in the market ever since it was successfully demonstrated in the Second World War. From an operational point of view, a helicopter reduces the logistical factor to a bare minimum, as it requires no runway, catapults, cranes or other hardware to launch and recover. The added capability to maintain a close on-site position regardless of surrounding terrain or obstacles makes a VTOL UAV the best choice.
Petrol or Electric?
A sophisticated lightweight combustion engine drives High Eye’s Airboxer, which gives it the edge over any electric VTOL. Whilst the electric VTOL market has seen rapid developments over the last few years, its performance capabilities have never come close to what can be expected from any form of petrol-driven UAV. The extreme energy density of fuel in comparison to current and upcoming battery technology allows average flight endurances of several hours. Over the last 100 years, it is proven to be the leading way to achieve the best combination of performance and reliability. An additional advantage is the extremely quick turnaround time between flights. An average refuelling stop takes only a few minutes and doesn’t require any form of battery changing or charging. Any year-round long-endurance resilient UAV operation in challenging environments will always require fuel-driven UAVs.
Endurance 3 to 4 hours
The long-range Airboxer will fly beyond 3 hours at cruising speed, with a modest payload and without refuelling stops (ISA conditions, MSL). It can easily hover on the station for more than 2 hours, maintaining its position without interruption.
Long Range BVLOS
The Airboxer can fly missions beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) within a 50 km radius line of sight. It can cover large distances over adverse terrain at cruising speeds up to 70 kts (130 km/h) To do this, it uses advanced waypoint navigation or any other fully automatic flight mode. Missions in reduced line-of-sight conditions are possible through MIMO capabilities (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output). The helicopter uses the dual MIMO IP data-link for telemetry, flight control and payload. It is encrypted, fully redundant and acts as a self-healing mesh network.
All-weather (IP-67)
The Airboxer is an all-weather VTOL UAV with industrial durability and aviation standards. The avionics, flight control systems and payload connection are specifically designed to be resistant against natural elements and are protected against dust and water at a rating of IP-67. The long-range RPAS can operate in strong winds, precipitation (rain/snow), high humidity, dust, cold and heat. The UAV has flown over tropical forests, mountainous areas, Arctic ice, Arabic deserts and European seas.
Payload up to 7 kg
The Airboxer can carry a maximum payload of 7 kilograms. High Eye can integrate a wide range of payloads that meet the customer’s requirements. In the past, we have integrated EO & IR gimbals, RF spectrum analysers, geographical survey sensors, gas detectors, magnetometers, Lidars, etcetera.
EMI-shielded
Several layers of EMI filtering protect all power, payload, data and communication lines against Electro-Magnetical Interference. The Airboxer is tested in a military EMI testing room and is fully compliant with MIL-STD-461F-RS103. This means that it tolerates field strengths of at least 200 V/m over an extensive frequency range. Thence you can use it safely close to high power radiated energy sources, as can be found on naval vessels or airports.
