Threod theia vertical take-off and landing uas: solving unmanned aircraft challenges at sea and elsewhere
Unmanned Aerial Systems can bring minimal risk and cost advantages to many civil and military applications when compared to manned vehicles. In most applications the aircraft has to take-off and land on limited space. That makes Vertical Take-off and Landing systems very useful, particularly for tasks on unstable ground or harsh environments.
Current unmanned solutions either require large mechanisms for take-off and recover, or, if they have vertical take-off and landing capability, they lack endurance and payload carrying capacity.
Threod is currently developing the hybrid multi-task Unmanned Aircraft System THEIA that is capable of combining Vertical Take-off and Landing with the most efficient fixed-wing flying mode. The aircraft has military-grade built, is highly efficient with 10 h flying capacity, can carry and release the heaviest payload on the market (20 kg), and transmit real-time imaging at 150 km distance, making it a unique solution in the market.
The market for Unmanned Aerial Systems is booming, particularly for civil applications. THEIA solution fills a market gap in that segment, mainly in maritime environment tasks. Not only Threod solution was designed to handle the maritime operations, there is the need for a solution to measure ship greenhouse gas emissions, so EMSA can enforce EU environmental legislation. The aircraft can also be used by national authorities/institutions in highly needed open sea and coastline surveillance, search and rescue, and delivery of humanitarian aid in harsh terrain.
Threod has a track record of €8 million in product sales over the last 3 years, and has gathered substantial interest by global unmanned aircraft service providers, in the areas of environmental monitoring and security. By 2022 Threod is aiming at €10 million in revenues, 50% coming from the new unmanned aircraft system.