Albatross II - Taiwanese Bayraktar with hypersonic Sky Word II missiles and a range of 250 km

The Taiwanese army decided to arm not only with JC Tech's Flyingfish bomber munitions, but also with domestic counterparts of the Bayraktar. Geosat Aerospace & Technology is working on an upgraded version of the Albatross strike drone.

Here's What We Know

The Albatross is the Taiwanese equivalent of the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone. It has a 5.3 meters length, a 8.6 meters wingspan and can carry a payload of 55 kg. It has a maximum flight altitude of 4 km, a range of 150 km, and 12 hours operating time.

Geosat Aerospace & Technology wants to improve the drone. The upgraded version will be called Albatross II. It will get upgraded radars to provide observation in a wider range. The flight range will be increased to 250 km.

But the main improvement will concern the combat capabilities of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The Albatross II will be able to carry Taiwan-made air-to-air missiles. The Taipei Times source quoted CEO of Geosat Aerospace & Technology as saying that the drone will receive support for hypersonic Sky Word II (Tien Chien II) missiles. They can reach speeds of up to 6 Mach (7,400 km/h). But in this case the company will have to more than triple the payload, because one such missile weighs over 180 kg. Serial production is scheduled for 2023.

Source: Taipei Times

Image: Taiwan News