Tethered persistent-overwatch drone
Twelve hours on station, powered up the cable
Overview
A tethered multirotor that stays over a position for up to 12 hours because it draws its power up the cable rather than from a battery clock. The hybrid tether carries power and optical fibre together, so the feed from the integrated day and night camera holds without a radio link an adversary could jam. It launches from up to 3,000 m above sea level and holds station at 120 m above ground on tether power, carrying up to 1 kg of payload. For a fixed post, a border stretch or a static high-value site, it is the overhead picture that does not need a relief crew.
Persistent overwatch that never runs a battery clock: up to 12 hours on station on tether power, with the video carried on optical fibre rather than a jammable radio link.
How it comes to you
Unstrat is the authorised global representative and distributor for this capability. It is already in service with a track record behind it, so you are buying something that has done the job elsewhere, not funding a first attempt. You are not the test bed.
Why Unstrat: the difference
Independent, non-aligned origin, with no political exposure to any major-power ecosystem.
One accountable team from first briefing through delivery and in-region sustainment.
Hybrid tether carries power and optical fibre together, so the feed holds without a radio an adversary can jam.
Capabilities
- Up to 12 hours of continuous endurance on tether power
- Hybrid cable carrying both power and optical fibre
- Launch from up to 3,000 m above sea level
- Station-keeping at 120 m above ground on tether power
- Payload capacity up to 1 kg
- Integrated day and night camera
Specifications
| Type | Tethered persistent-overwatch drone |
| Airframe | Multirotor with tether power |
| Payload | Up to 1 kg |
| Launch altitude | Up to 3,000 m AMSL |
| Operational altitude | 120 m AGL on tether power |
| Endurance | Up to 12 h |
| Tether | Hybrid power + optical fibre |
| Origin | Independent / non-aligned |
| Support | In-region sustainment |
How it reaches you
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Procurement & sustainment
Classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed before this capability is represented to your market.
Sourced from an independent manufacturer: no major-power disclosure rules or political conditions.
A single team responsible from first briefing through delivery: not a chain of foreign primes to integrate yourself.
Lifecycle support and operator training delivered in-region, building capability that outlasts the initial deployment.
Questions buyers ask
What is a tethered overwatch drone?
It is a drone that stays connected to the ground by a cable supplying its power, so it can hold station far longer than a battery drone. Ours holds station up to 12 hours continuously on tether power at 120 m above ground, carries up to 1 kg of payload, and runs a hybrid cable carrying both power and optical fibre.
See: How it compares to a free-flying battery dronePersistent surveillance in the fleet
How long can the tethered overwatch drone stay up?
Up to 12 hours continuously on tether power. That is a ground-power figure rather than a battery one, so the real limits are maintenance intervals and the weather envelope, not charge state. Confirm the maintenance interval and wind limits for your site rather than reading the headline hours as an uninterrupted guarantee.
How high does the tethered overwatch drone fly?
It holds station at 120 m above ground on tether power, and launches from up to 3,000 m above sea level. For line-of-sight overwatch, sensor height often buys more coverage than extra endurance, because a higher camera sees over terrain and structures a lower one cannot.
What camera does the tethered overwatch drone carry?
An integrated day and night camera, on up to 1 kg of payload capacity. We do not publish a specific sensor resolution for this aircraft, so confirm the exact camera fit in the technical review rather than assuming it.
Tethered drone whose video travels down fibre rather than a radio link
That is the reason for the hybrid cable. It carries the video down optical fibre alongside the power, so the feed travels on the fibre rather than an RF link, which changes the jamming problem rather than promising immunity. For a persistent watch over your own ground, a fibre feed inside the tether is the structural difference from a free-flying drone's radio link.
Persistent overwatch drone for a fixed perimeter or approach
It is built to hold one point rather than chase a moving one: up to 12 hours continuously on tether power at 120 m above ground. For a gate, an approach or a perimeter you need watched without a gap, that endurance and height is the point, where a free-flying drone would be landing to swap batteries.
Tethered drone that runs on ground power instead of swapping batteries
That is the whole design. Power comes up the hybrid tether from the ground, which removes the battery-swap cycle that limits a free-flying drone. The endurance is bought with the cable, not a bigger battery, so the honest limits become maintenance intervals and weather rather than charge state.
Overwatch drone that launches at high altitude
It launches from up to 3,000 m above sea level, so a high site is inside its stated envelope while it then holds station at 120 m above ground on the tether. If your site sits high, specify against that launch ceiling explicitly rather than assuming it.
Tethered overwatch drone from a non-aligned supplier
It comes from an independent, non-aligned supplier that builds and sustains it with one accountable team and in-region support. A persistent asset watches your own ground continuously, so that independent, non-aligned origin with one accountable team and in-region sustainment matters more here than for an occasional-use airframe.
We need a camera watching a fixed site around the clock. Is a tethered drone the right tool?
For continuous overhead watch of a fixed point, yes: it holds station up to 12 hours continuously on tether power at 120 m above ground, higher than a fixed low mast and repositionable in a way a mast is not. The trade against a free-flying drone is mobility, and against a mast it is a flying aircraft with a weather envelope. Decide by the height you need and the weather you face, and put both on the table at survey.
See: Tethered versus free-flying comparedISR capability context
What happens to the tethered drone if the tether power fails mid-flight?
This is the worst moment for any tethered aircraft, and it is an honest open point on ours: we do not publish a loss-of-tether battery reserve or an auto-land behaviour for this drone. So it is a direct question to put in the technical review before purchase, what the aircraft does the instant the tether fails and how long it has to do it, rather than something to read off the page.
How do we compare a 12-hour tethered figure honestly against louder endurance claims elsewhere?
By ignoring the headline and asking what actually ends the flight. A tethered aircraft on ground power flies as long as the power holds, so the real limits are maintenance intervals, thermal duty and weather rather than a battery. Ask any tethered vendor to state the maintenance interval and the weather envelope, and compare those, not the biggest hour count. Our figure is 12 hours continuous on tether power.
Can the tethered drone feed a wider command and sensor picture rather than a single screen?
The integrated day and night camera streams down the fibre in the tether. The same principal builds a separate fleet command-and-control suite designed to aggregate telemetry across many drones and to fit any drone with no airframe modification, so the two are built to work together. We do not publish a proven integration between this feed and that suite, so confirm the actual fit at trial. Bring your command and control architecture to the review and scope the feed into it from the start.
See: Command and control across the fleetGround sensor fusion
Our site sees strong gusts. Will the aircraft hold station, and what is the real limit?
That is an honest gap: unlike some airframes in this range, we do not publish a wind resistance figure for the tethered overwatch drone. Wind is what usually forces a tethered aircraft to recover, so the wind envelope is a figure to get in writing in the technical review and to specify against the sustained and gust winds your site actually records before committing.
How is a tethered overwatch system kept sovereign rather than dependent on a foreign supplier?
By sourcing the aircraft, its cable and its support from one independent, non-aligned team with in-region sustainment. A persistent overwatch asset watches your own ground, so that independent, non-aligned origin with one accountable team and in-region sustainment is the sovereign position. Where the imagery is stored and who holds it is a separate question the hardware sourcing does not settle, so fix data handling as a contractual point during procurement.
Tethered persistent-overwatch drone: questions
What is Tethered persistent-overwatch drone?
Tethered persistent-overwatch drone is Unstrat's Sky (Air Domain) capability: A tethered multirotor that stays over a position for up to 12 hours because it draws its power up the cable rather than from a battery clock. The hybrid tether carries power and optical fibre together, so the feed from the integrated day and night camera holds without a radio link an adversary could jam. It launches from up to 3,000 m above sea level and holds station at 120 m above ground on tether power, carrying up to 1 kg of payload. For a fixed post, a border stretch or a static high-value site, it is the overhead picture that does not need a relief crew.
How does Tethered persistent-overwatch drone work?
Tethered persistent-overwatch drone delivers its effect through up to 12 hours of continuous endurance on tether power, Hybrid cable carrying both power and optical fibre and Launch from up to 3,000 m above sea level, capabilities matched to the requirement and confirmed under briefing rather than published.
Who makes Tethered persistent-overwatch drone?
Tethered persistent-overwatch drone is built by The Heavy-Payload UAS House, whose focus is heavy-lift and isr unmanned aircraft. Unstrat represents The Heavy-Payload UAS House to government and enterprise buyers worldwide as an independent, non-aligned prime vendor.
Why choose Tethered persistent-overwatch drone over a major-power alternative?
Tethered persistent-overwatch drone is sourced from an independent, non-aligned manufacturer, so it carries no major-power disclosure rules, upgrade-locks or political ramifications. Concretely: hybrid tether carries power and optical fibre together, so the feed holds without a radio an adversary can jam. The capability is accountable to you, not to a foreign vendor's government and its release schedule.
How is Tethered persistent-overwatch drone procured, and where can it be exported?
Persistent overwatch that never runs a battery clock: up to 12 hours on station on tether power, with the video carried on optical fibre rather than a jammable radio link. Every engagement begins with a briefing, and export eligibility is confirmed per market under briefing rather than published. Where controlled capabilities are involved, the classification and end-user-certificate chain is confirmed first. Tethered persistent-overwatch drone is then sustained in-region by one accountable team from briefing through long-term operation.