Startup Skyassist, founded in March 2022, has created a serial Sirko reconnaissance drone and is preparing four more products.
“First, the most urgent needs of the front were determined. We decided that aerial reconnaissance would help save our soldiers' lives and find the enemy, no matter where he was hiding. Based on this, a technical task was formed. We had to develop an inconspicuous (radio transparent) UAV of the minimum size, and easy to use. It must conduct aerial reconnaissance and correct fire at a depth of up to 25–30 km. At the same time, the product cost should be the lowest in its class,†co-founder Igor Krinichko told vctr.media.
He added that the device flies over enemy positions in complete radio silence, without radiation. During the mission, a video recording of everything the drone "sees" is made.
The third version of the UAV, Sirko, went into mass production. With the following characteristics:
- Wingspan - 0.9 m.
- Weight - 1.5 kg.
- Working height - 200 - 300 m.
- Flight duration - 50 - 70 min.
- The length of the route is up to 100 km.
- Video communication with the operator - up to 30 km.
- Temperature regime - from -20 degrees C to +45 degrees C.
“Sirko can fly up to 1000-1200 km. But we chose a working one: 200 - 300 meters. This is possible due to the minimum size of the UAV. Working at this height allows you to use lighter optics while maintaining quality. In addition, thanks to him, it became possible to work during heavy cloud cover. The device flies under the clouds, keeping stealth,†says the developer.
Among the other advantages of the drone, the developers call low noise - thanks to the electric motor, the drone is almost inaudible at operating height, radio invisibility - the drone is 90% made of polymer radio-transparent materials, video link for 25 km, silence mode - can conduct reconnaissance without any radiation.
The drone costs $3,000, and $4,000 with a ground station. They invested in the project with both their own money and friends from the USA, Estonia, Ukraine, etc. The total investment amount is about UAH 5 million.
At present, Skyassist is focused on completing the documentation of tests following the requirements of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The company is considering the possibility of attracting investments to scale production. The most considerable additional funding is needed for the import of electronic components.
To fulfill the plan of 400 drones, you need at least $400,000. The company will finance part of it on its own. However, raising approximately $200,000 will significantly speed up production through the bulk purchase of components.
Four more products are currently in development:
- device for invisible communication Potai;
- microUAV for special missions Bdzhola;
- Faino UAV interceptor;
- strike drone.
The company is not yet ready to disclose details about them.
