Windracers ULTRA Long-Range Heavy Lift Drone
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The ULTRA is a British heavy-lift drone which boasts a significantly greater range and payload than the benchmark Shahed type. As part of a major military aid package, the type has entered service with Ukraine, although its specific operational role has not been disclosed.
The second-generation Mk.2 model now boasts a range of some 2,000 km while carrying 200 kg in its spacious (700 litre) cargo bay. The design is intended for highly automated operation, including take-off and landing, but satellite communications and a camera are now standard equipment. This development suggests the possibility for ‘FPV’ style control and allowing excellent navigational accuracy over extreme distances.
The ULTRA Mk.2 is identifiable by the inverted V tail.
Specifications: ULTRA Mk2
Wingspan: 10 meters (33 ft)
Length: ~6 meters (20 ft)
Range: 2,000 km with full payload
Payload: up to 200 kg / 700 litres
Powerplant: 2 x 50 hp Hirth F23 2-stroke engines
Windracers was established in 2017 and flew the first ULTRA reaching for the skies in 2019. The original Mk.1 model was designed to lower the cost of delivering humanitarian aid to remote regions and quickly proved its value in supporting both isolated communities and scientific missions. Its all-aluminium construction provides greater durability than most UAVs sand allows allows straightforward field repairs.
The cargo bay is integrated into the lifting-body fuselage. The aft section hinges upward to allow easy access, further facilitated by a twin-boom, high T-tail configuration. The cargo bay can be fitted with bomb-bay-style doors, allowing payloads to be air-dropped when landing is impractical or undesirable. Unusually for a drone it can operate in extreme weather conditions and has been used in the Antarctic. NORCE, a Norwegian independent scientific research institute recently tested the ULTRA Mk.2 in the Finnish winter and selected it for an upcoming mission in Antarctica.
ULTRA Mk.1 has been used by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Antarctica
The Mk.1 was tested by the Royal Navy starting in 2022 and even landed on the Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales in September 2022.
The Mk.1 has a range of 1,000 km and a standard payload of 100 kg, which could be increased to 250kg over shorter distances. This was doubled in the Mk.2 which was developed. The Mk.2 differs visually in the adoption of an inverted V-tail and also uses new more powerful engines.
The tripple ‘bomb bay’ doors are visible in the underside of the Mk.2 being operated by NORCE, a Norwegian independent scientific research institute
Ukraine has received an unspecified number of ULTRA Mk.1 & Mk.2 drones.
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