Aviation New Technologies presents Mercury vertical take-off reconnaissance drone

At the Defence Tech Valley summit, the Ukrainian company Aviation New Technologies unveiled its Mercury vertical take-off and landing reconnaissance drone. The UAV has already been codified and supplied to units.

Mercury is capable of carrying out reconnaissance within a 70-kilometre radius for up to three hours or performing autonomous flights without operator control at distances of up to 100 kilometres. To achieve this, it is equipped with a protected satellite navigation system and an inertial navigation system as a backup in case of disruptions caused by electronic warfare.

The drone can also navigate using a network of ground-based radio beacons and return to its launch point with an accuracy of up to 100 metres, after which the operator carries out the landing. Developers highlight the UAV’s ability to operate under adverse conditions: it can take off and land in wind speeds of up to 15 m/s.

Mercury is also fitted with a dual-band optical module, enabling surveillance in both daylight and thermal imaging modes at distances of up to 20 kilometres for vehicles and up to 15 kilometres for infantry.

According to the manufacturer, the drone is fully developed and produced in Ukraine. Units receive a system consisting of two UAVs, a communications antenna and a ground control station.