Skyeton is developing an unmanned radio-electronic reconnaissance aircraft

Skyeton is working with a partner to create an aviation radio-electronic reconnaissance system that will be able to detect enemy radars, electronic warfare systems, and other radio emitters.

This was announced on the Ukrainian UAV developer’s website.

Skyeton is joining forces with Danish company Quadsat, which specializes in radio frequency research, to develop an electromagnetic spectrum monitoring system based on the ACS-3 Raybird multi-purpose UAV platform.

The companies plan to release a tactically flexible system for obtaining real-time electromagnetic spectrum intelligence that will support operations in conditions affected by electronic warfare.

“By combining our powerful RF payload with Skyeton’s combat-proven UAV, we are creating an effective solution for electromagnetic spectrum monitoring. The fact that Raybird has an exceptional flight time of over 28 hours and is simple and quick to deploy makes it particularly suitable for defense applications,” Klaus Aude, commercial director at Quadsat, noted.

In fact, this involves integrating a new Quadsat pod, similar models of which have already been installed on smaller copter-type drones. The different appearance in the photo with the Raybird drone can be explained by using a radio-transparent cover to ensure better aerodynamics.

Quadsat offers a compact QS RF Locator measurement system designed for aerial search and triangulation of radio frequency interference sources.

According to the developers, their product is capable of narrowing wide areas of radio interference covering hundreds of square kilometers to small areas measuring only 100 by 100 meters.

The idea is that a drone equipped with the system will perform passive data collection – invisible to enemy electronic warfare systems – by performing automated flights in the target area. In this way, it determines the power and angle of reception of signals, triangulating their source with each iteration.

The available operating spectra of this system or modular suspended equipment, which is planned to be integrated into the Skyeton drone, remain unknown. Depending on these parameters, such a system can be used to search for active electronic warfare stations and radars.

In addition, the aviation electronic reconnaissance system can monitor the location of mobile communication devices in real time to search for clusters of enemy forces.

The platform-based reconnaissance system should be in the final stages of development, as Quadsat and Skyeton have already announced that they will showcase their joint development at the International Drone Show 2025 in Denmark on June 18–19, where they will conduct a joint demonstration flight. Raybird with Quadsat’s RF payload will demonstrate real-time spectrum monitoring and radio frequency target detection capabilities during the event.