Galaxias Dynamics Custos

Galaxias Dynamics Custos
An armed custos drone
Role	Remote piloted aircraft, UAV/UAS
Manufacturer	Galaxias Dynamics
Introduction	1997
Status	In service
Primary user	Blackhelm Confederate Army,Blackhelm Confederate Air Force

The Galaxias Dynamics Custos is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured in the Blackhelm Confederacy by Galaxias Dynamics. The system is designed to perform tactical reconnaissance in real-time and can conduct day and night surveillance in all threat environments.

Design

The newest Custos variant offers enhanced situational awareness capabilities and other improvements over previous models. It can provide real-time day and night reconnaissance; target location, surveillance and designation; Artillery fire support; Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and conduct Border and Maritime patrol missions. New additions include the capability of carrying weapons such as the laser guided missile with a missile stand-off range of 10km. It can also operate up to 16 hours with a maximum of 100kg of multi-mission payloads. On top of this, the Custos also features dual uplinks and downlinks, brake assisted ground operation, piloted and autonomous flight capability, VHF and UHF FM tactical radios and Mode S Transponder and VHF AM Air Traffic Control (ATC) radio for ATC interfacing. The mission control units have modular hardware and software.

The system includes the capability of carrying dual imaging payloads with the images being transmitted to the ground control station via the dual video downlinks. Electro-optical sensor payloads with diameters of up to 530mm can be integrated for use. This typically includes the following sensor combinations on a gimbal:

• A colour daylight camera with zoom lens
• Infrared thermal imager with different fields of view
• A day colour or monochrome spotter camera
• Night spotter camera
• Laser rangefinder
• Laser designator
• An Electronic Surveillance Payload (ESP) for electronic signals intelligence (ELINT)/ESM missions is available for detection and location of radar emitters.