TEKEVER, the European leader in drone-based Maritime Surveillance, and the US-based company Viasat, a provider of communication technologies and services, have entered into a strategic and commercial partnership aimed at expanding TEKEVER drone-based intelligence-as-a-service globally, with advanced satellite communications. The announcement was made in Riyadh, during the first edition of World Defense Show.
“Over the past years, we’ve developed a deep technical and operational partnership with Viasat. Together, we pushed the boundaries of what was possible in civilian BRLOS (Beyond Radio Line-of-Sight) operations, bringing our cutting-edge Intelligence-as-a-Service capability to areas that previously could only be reached by manned assets or super expensive military drones. The strategic alliance between VIASAT and TEKEVER aims at making this revolutionary service available worldwide, and at aligning our development roadmaps to continue pushing the boundaries of possibility.”, said Ricardo Mendes, TEKEVER CEO.
“Viasat and TEKEVER have the ability to provide complementary systems that meet the end user’s requirements: TEKEVER provides an advanced but highly compact system that supports an efficient and cost-effective service, Viasat provides widely available satellite communications network to support them to fly these unmanned missions across very wide areas. It’s a win-win match”, adds Chris Moore, Viasat’s business unit director for UAS ISR.
Viasat offers secure, high-capacity, beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) satellite communications across a vast coverage area. The company provides the satellite terminal for the TEKEVER’s AR5 UAV that meets the size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements. TEKEVER’s AR5 is a versatile twin-engine UAS with a 7.9 meter (24 foot) wingspan, endurance of 12 hours and a 50-kilogram (110 pound) payload. Equipped with Viasat broadband SATCOM, the AR5 has an operational range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), making it particularly useful for long-range oceanic missions, or over vast, remote land areas such as deserts and wilderness.
TEKEVER combines advanced Robotics, Sensing and Artificial Intelligence to offer revolutionary drone-based Intelligence-as-a-Service. Unlike traditional aerospace companies, the company has a vertically integrated approach to its products, and full control over every aspect of the value chain, including aeronautical design, composite structures manufacturing, electronics design and production, software development including deep capability in data science. This ability allows to create products that are radically different, to bring them to market in record time, and to rapidly evolve them to stay ahead of the curve. In addition, TEKEVER’s team of drone operators and data analysts provide customers with an end-to-end service, allowing them to focus solely on information, while relying on TEKEVER to handle the complexity of day-to-day operations.
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the United Kingdom’s Home Office were among the first governments, major agencies and global companies to adopt TEKEVER’s revolutionary drone-based intelligence service to gather real time data across ultra-wide areas and create the intelligence needed to predict and act timely and efficiently to avoid major threats to life, the environment and the economy in maritime context, like Piracy, Drugs and Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Pollution, Illegal Fishing, and threats to Infrastructure Security.
