Elistair Awarded Framework Contract by French Armament General Directorate

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

The DGA (French Armament General Directorate) has awarded tethered drone solutions leader Elistair with a framework agreement for the supply of ORION 2 tethered UAVs.  Continue reading or listen below:

The ORION 2, an automated smart tethered drone, is able to reach a height of 100 m and maintain flight for up to 24 hours at a time. The drone’s tether protects data transfer and guards against jamming and interference. The ORION 2 also successfully passed all of the DGA’s Information Systems Security (ISS) certification tests.

The ORION 2 was selected for the purpose of reinforcing surveillance and observation systems within DGA’s missile test sites. The contract was granted to Elistair in order to fulfill the requirements of DGA EM’s Landes and Mediterranean sites, as well as the Mediterranean and Aquitaine flight test sites of DGA EV (DGA Flight Tests).

The ORION 2’s objective during the tests, which can last up to several hours, will be to safeguard the impact zone and gather images for the purpose of providing analysis for DGA’s land, air and coastal operations. The deployment of ORION 2 will provide a marked increase to the range of DGA’s surveillance system, with its extended detection abilities now reaching a radius of 10-km, even when dealing with obstructive weather conditions.

“This new contract is a major milestone for Elistair, and we are proud of the DGA’s renewed confidence in our company and our solutions,” said Elistair CEO Guilhem de Marliave. “The ORION 2 was selected and approved after extensive work by our teams on  ISS (Information Systems Security) hardening, and this new success boosts its positioning as a reference for tactical UAV’s used for perimeter protection.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.