Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft

Role	Surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle
Status	Under development
Primary user	United States Air Force

The Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft or ULTRA is a developmental unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Center for Rapid Innovation (CRI) and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated.

Design and development

ULTRA was planned to achieve long endurance and acquisition cost objectives by repurposing a previously manned commercial sport glider and converting it to a military hardened unmanned air vehicle. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) UAS technology, existing manufacturing and supply channels, and limited custom avionics are utilized to ensure acquisition and sustainment costs remain low. Integration of lower cost EO/IR and RF sensors is made possible due to lower operating altitudes which don’t require large optics, or high-power RF to maintain effectiveness. Ultra has an endurance capability that exceeds 80 hours while carrying over 400 lb. of payload.

ULTRA is designed to be an ISR truck capable of carrying a variety of electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR), radiofrequency (RF), other low-cost intelligence collection payloads, and sensors to provide the user with a reconfigurable missionized platform. Exceptionally long endurance allows these ISR sensors to provide coverage of areas of interest with fewer aircraft.

ULTRA relies on an operator friendly command and control system that allows for “Point and Click” operations. Full global operations are possible through satellite-based command and control links that also provide the high-rate ISR data feed to the operators in real time.

See also

Related lists

• List of unmanned aerial vehicles