SD120 by SwissDrones
Nine hours in the air.
No one on board.
A long-range uncrewed helicopter built for corridor-scale inspection and wide-area missions, delivered inside the Xplorate Group's aircraft-to-intelligence platform: aircraft, approvals, operations and data as one capability.
Run the mission economics simulator Request a technical briefing
The numbers
Every figure, with the conditions it was flown at.
9+ h
Maximum endurance
At 39 KTAS and 1,300 ft ISA, fully fuelled, 5 kg additional payload, landing with 30 minutes' reserve. 9.5 hours with 15 kg aboard; 4.1 hours at the full 30 kg.
485 NM
Maximum range, 899 km
At 49 KTAS and 8,000 ft ISA, subject to continuous communications coverage, fully fuelled, 5 kg payload, landing with 30 minutes' reserve.
45 kg
Useful load, including fuel
Maximum payload 30 kg, with fuel reduced accordingly. Quick-release bay for thermal, RGB, UV corona, LiDAR and methane sensors.
MTOW 130 kg · Dry 85 kg · Ceiling 10,000 ft AMSL
Cruise 39 KTAS (72 km/h) · Maximum 49 KTAS (90 km/h)
Engine rotary (Wankel), Jet A1 or 98 RON · Burn about 4.5 L/h at cruise
Datalink unlimited SATCOM · Assurance designed to target EASA SAIL IV
What changes
The same patrol, without the aircrew.
100%
Of flight-crew risk removed
Nobody flies the low-level profile. The most dangerous part of a patrol stops being a human problem.
>70%
Lower cost per patrol
Approximate, measured against an equivalent crewed patrol.
~95%
Less CO2
Approximate, against an equivalent crewed patrol, at about 4.5 litres per hour.
Four sectors, one airframe
Built for the missions where distance is the problem.
Energy and utilities
Transmission and distribution networks, pipelines and processing infrastructure. Corridor-scale inspection without a crew in the field, streaming geo-referenced data into your asset-management systems.
Police, border and public safety
Persistent surveillance, search and reconnaissance, and incident response over land or coast, day and night, beyond visual line of sight.
Government and maritime
Wide-area maritime, environmental and disaster missions. Deployable within hours, no runway required, delivered with the operating organisation and approvals included.
RPAS operators and agents
Long-range rotary added to your fleet, with factory support, mission control and parts programmes behind it. Endurance that changes revenue per flight hour.
Built on what we fly today
This is an operating capability, not a concept.
246
Flights
Across the 2025 SDO 50 programme, alongside 182 hours airborne.
Day + night
BVLOS operations
Long-linear infrastructure inspection under Australian authorisations.
58,000 km²
Day and night BVLOS authorisation
Broad-area approval held across the Surat Basin, Queensland.
Start with your own numbers
Model the SD120 against your operation before you speak to us.
The mission economics simulator runs on your fleet, your hours and your mission mix, and produces the business case for your organisation. It takes about ten minutes.
Run the mission economics simulator Request a technical briefingSpecifications preliminary and subject to change. The SD120 is in development; it is designed to target EASA SAIL IV and is not certified, approved or cleared. Beyond visual line of sight operation is a matter for the regulator in each jurisdiction. All performance figures are quoted at the stated conditions. Cost and emissions comparisons are approximate and measured against an equivalent crewed patrol. The 246 flights and 182 hours relate to the 2025 SDO 50 programme. SD120 by SwissDrones, operated through the Xplorate Group.