Autonomous Drones Harness Wind for ISR and Counter UAS
Aerospace & Defense Technology31 Loka 2025

Autonomous Drones Harness Wind for ISR and Counter UAS

Windlift, a North Carolina-based startup, recentlyannounced successful results from initial testing of a new autonomous tethered drone system that leverages winds aloft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS).

Windlift's new "GUARD" system is a mobile platform that includes a launcher and a tethered drone equipped with a navigation system that autonomously leverages wind to maintain altitude and stability.

"GUARD is set to deliver performance far beyond what's possible today. Where most tethered drones struggle or fail in high winds, GUARD excels. As the wind increases, the GUARD platform, originally designed to harness the wind through complex flight patterns for airborne power generation, thrives," said Rob Creighton, Windlift Founder & CEO. "This breakthrough has been in the making for years, with technical oversight from the Naval Research Laboratory every step of the way. Initial testing marks a pivotal moment."

Creighton is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace& Defense Technology podcast to explain how Windlift's autonomous tethered drone system leverages wind to power a wide variety of defense applications.


Jaksot(63)

Extreme Environments, Precise Solutions: Technologies Enabling Space Vehicles Advancement

Extreme Environments, Precise Solutions: Technologies Enabling Space Vehicles Advancement

The sealing components and materials that are used in spacelaunch and exploration vehicles can face extreme environmental challenges due to the harsh conditions encountered during launch, operation, a...

10 Kesä 202511min

Simulating Space: Designing Satellites for Mission Success

Simulating Space: Designing Satellites for Mission Success

During his appearance at a Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) event held in March, Major General Gregory Gagnon, a top U.S. Space Force official, said that the U.S. Space Force expect...

6 Kesä 202522min

How IQSat Enables Space-Based AI and Machine Learning

How IQSat Enables Space-Based AI and Machine Learning

Aitech —  the California-based embedded systems provider — launched their new artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled picosatellite constellation platform, IQSat, during the Space Foundation’s 40th annua...

30 Touko 202514min

How Amprius is Advancing Energy Density for Electric Aircraft Batteries

How Amprius is Advancing Energy Density for Electric Aircraft Batteries

Amprius recently launched its 450 Wh/kg SiCore™ lithium-ionbattery, the most energy dense battery it has ever developed for electric aircraft and other mobility applications. The California-based lith...

2 Touko 202513min

Engineering the EL9: Electra's Ultra Short Hybrid Electric Aircraft

Engineering the EL9: Electra's Ultra Short Hybrid Electric Aircraft

Last week, Electra announced a new $115 million Series B investment that will provide funding for the pre-production and certification phase of its EL9 Ultra Short hybrid electric aircraft. Electra, a...

25 Huhti 202513min

Defining the Use Case for Future Military Electric Vehicles

Defining the Use Case for Future Military Electric Vehicles

Over the last year, research and evaluation projects led bydefense agencies in the U.S., U.K. and around the world have demonstrated the potential advantages of operating hybrid and all-electric vehic...

18 Huhti 202521min

A Donut-Shaped In-Wheel Motor for Military Electric Vehicles

A Donut-Shaped In-Wheel Motor for Military Electric Vehicles

Finland-based startup Donut Defence is developing a donut-shaped in-wheel electric motor for air, land and sea military vehicles. In December 2024, Donut Defence was selected to participate in the DEF...

11 Huhti 202516min

How Will TSN Ethernet Impact the Future of Embedded Computing?

How Will TSN Ethernet Impact the Future of Embedded Computing?

Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) Ethernet is a real-time networking capability that is being developed by a growing number of embedded computing companies for theearliest stages of adoption by aerospac...

3 Huhti 202523min