HiTech Expert is launching a series of reports on Ukrainian drones fighting at the front. Presented at iForum 2023, the Jupiter Hunter 2 strike and reconnaissance drone from Defender Army has a range of up to 800 km. The payload is up to 5 kg. But at a distance of 400, the bird can take on board up to 20 kg.
This is a vertical takeoff drone. It does not require a runway, catapult, or any other launch system. That is, it can be launched from the forest, from a field – anywhere. The bird gains altitude quite quickly, and the operating ceiling is up to 4500 meters.
High accuracy
The Jupiter Hunter 2 is a hybrid model that has an internal combustion engine and an electric motor that complement each other. It has a three-axis thermal imaging camera with 30x zoom and a thermal imager with 8x zoom. There is a laser rangefinder for 5 km, dynamic target acquisition, and a camera with artificial intelligence elements that understands where a person is and where a vehicle is.
The electronic warfare system has been improved. Now, in the event of a critical impact of enemy electronic warfare, the bird can automatically return to the launch site.
It has secure GPS navigation and secure telemetry. They are duplicated. If one fails, the other works.
Denys Lyubchenko, a representative of the company, said:
“The birds are expensive, so we need it to work 100% and return to the launch site.”
Jupiter Hunter 2 costs 189,000 euros.
Technical characteristics of the Jupiter Hunter 2
- Maximum takeoff weight – 60 kg.
- Maximum operating altitude < 4000 m.
- Wingspan – 4500 mm.
- Maximum speed – 120 km/h.
- Cruising speed – 80 km/h.
- Fast-acting mode of the FHSS – the drone resists electronic warfare and jamming.
- The mechanism of cargo discharge – 4 separate discharges (universal).
- Ballistic calculator.
- EO/IR/LRF camera.
- Payload – 20 kg.
- Radius of action – 200 km.
- Radio control range – 30 km (with Starlink without restrictions).
- Endurance:
- 8 hours – 2 kg payload,
- 3.5 hours – 20 kg of payload.
