SOFINS 2025: Survey Copter unveils VTOL-enabled version of its Aliaca UAV

Airbus Defence and Space subsidiary Survey Copter unveiled a new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) version of its Aliaca unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the 2025 Special Operations Forces Innovation Network Seminar (SOFINS), held in Bordeaux, France, from 1 to 3 April.

In its VTOL configuration, the Aliaca tactical UAV is equipped with four propellers to enable vertical take-off and landing while retaining its pusher propeller for normal fixed-wing forward flight. It has a maximum take-off weight of 27 kg, a wingspan of 3.5 m and length of 2.1 m.

The VTOL configuration is suitable for missions that require manoeuvrability in order to operate in confined spaces with no ground infrastructure. It also meets the need for flexibility for rapid interventions. The Aliaca UAV is robust and easy to maintain, can be dismantled and transported in light vehicles such as pick-up trucks, and is quick and easy to deploy day or night with a low acoustic and visual footprint, according to Survey Copter.

The Aliaca VTOL will be able to carry out various missions, such as supporting special operations forces, tactical situation management through surveillance and reconnaissance and also the transport of loads, without the need for launch/recovery equipment or infrastructure.

Like the standard fixed-wing Aliaca, the new VTOL-enabled version has two propulsion options: the Aliaca VTOL Evo has an electric motor with a three-hour endurance, a range of 50 km and a payload capacity of 2 kg; the Aliaca VTOL ER has a hybrid engine giving six hours of endurance, a range of 80 km and a payload capacity of 3 kg.

The VTOL configuration retains the standard Aliaca’s avionics, datalink, control segment, energy kit, flight termination system and gyro-stabilised GX5 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera, which was designed and id produced at Survey Copter. For naval applications, the UAV also carries an Automatic Identification System for detecting ships within a range of several hundred kilometres. This dual-sensor configuration enables it to carry out intelligence, surveillance and target tracking missions, although the Aliaca is also capable of carrying other payloads.

Several demonstration flights of the VTOL-enabled Aliaca have already been successfully carried out in land and sea environments between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, according to Survey Copter, which added that the new variant is available for sale to potential customers.

After being certified and qualified by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) as part of the Marine Mini Airborne Drone Systems (SMDM) contract, the original fixed-wing Aliaca was deployed on around 20 French Navy ships from 2022 onwards.