Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Aeronautics
- Origin / production countries
- Israel
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Supplier information is attributed; performance and operational acceptance require configuration-specific evidence.
Orbiter 2 ISR is Aeronautics’ small electric reconnaissance aircraft. Its current page and linked 2026-named brochure identify a thirteen-kilogram configuration with day/night imaging and optional electronic-surveillance equipment. It is a reusable observation platform, separate from the Orbiter 2 LM loitering munition.
The brochure supplies a 2.9-metre wingspan and 1.4-metre length, with catapult launch and parachute/airbag recovery. Those details belong to this baseline; older Orbiter publications can describe different equipment. The stated fifty-kilometre figure concerns the communications link, not the distance flown during a complete mission.
Manufacturer claims about use and navigation are attributed to the supplier. A broad family customer count is not a named inventory for this variant. The record supports model-level comparison without treating every optional sensor as installed on every aircraft.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Fixed wing | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Catapult / parachute and airbag | Manufacturer baseline. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Electric | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | 2.9 m span; 1.4 m length | Linked 2026-named brochure. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 13 kg maximum take-off | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Up to 3 hours | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Range | 50 km line-of-sight communications | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 50 knots maximum | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 16,000 ft maximum ASL | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | EO/IR with optional electronic-surveillance payloads | Current supplier configuration; maxima are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.