The Huntress II Turbojet quadcopter drone achieves remarkable speed thanks to its additional jet engine and operates under various weather conditions.
The Huntress II Turbojet drone has extremely high speed and can operate in various weather conditions. (Photo: WaveAerospace).
The American company WaveAerospace has developed the Huntress II Turbojet, a model of a quadcopter drone equipped with an additional jet engine, as reported by New Atlas on January 30. According to WaveAerospace, this is the fastest multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) in the world.
The Huntress II Turbojet is quite large, measuring 4 meters diagonally from one rotor to another. It weighs about 50 kg, varying depending on the amount of jet fuel it carries, with a maximum takeoff weight of 165 kg. This allows it to carry large and heavy cargo when needed. The Huntress II Turbojet is designed to be ready for missions in less than 90 seconds. It can be quickly deployed, whether launched from land, at sea, or dropped from an aircraft at altitudes of up to 6,000 meters.
The maximum operating time of the Huntress II Turbojet is about 2 hours. Operators can watch live video while controlling the drone from distances of up to 30 km. They can also hover in place like other drones or activate the jet engine to fly forward like tail-sitter aircraft (which “sits” on its tail when on the ground but can rotate horizontally during flight).
WaveAerospace has not disclosed the specific horsepower of the jet engine but stated that it allows the drone to easily reach speeds of Mach 0.4 (approximately 480 km/h). The engine can be activated or stopped while the Huntress II Turbojet is in the air, preventing it from burning out the launch area.
According to WaveAerospace, this new drone can fly in most weather conditions, including storms with wind speeds of up to 117 km/h, and in temperatures ranging from -34 to 54 degrees Celsius. Essentially, if a helicopter can fly, so can the Huntress, but at a cost of about 5% and occupying less than 50% of the space. If the launch area has strong winds, it will use reverse thrust to maintain position until takeoff.
The Huntress II Turbojet is useful for various fields, ranging from military applications to search and rescue operations and logistics. WaveAerospace has already raised funding to commercialize this drone model and expand the production of other aircraft. The company is currently accepting pre-orders for the Huntress II Turbojet and plans to deliver to buyers by the end of this year.
