Skip to content
Boulder, CO // Flight Ops Live
LONGMONT, CO // FLIGHT OPERATIONS LIVE 3 SYSTEMS AIRBORNE · 412m / 1,353ft AGL

SYSTEMS // TECHNICAL REFERENCE

Three tethered power systems. Documented endurance. No battery swaps.

AirHold ships three fielded tethered drone power systems — Hawk-1.5, Kestrel-6, and Condor-22 — engineered to keep commercially certified UAVs aloft through 12+ hour sorties on a single ground spool. Every figure on this page is tested, logged, and traceable to a deployment record.

Request a Flight Demo View Spec Sheets
Tested Endurance
12.5hr / sortie
Field Deployments
340+logged sorties
Cable Reliability
99.4% across 84,000+ hr
Issued Patents
11tether & power IP
Schematic of a Condor-22 ground station with a tethered UAV aloft

DATASHEETS // THREE FIELDED SYSTEMS

One tether platform. Three output tiers. Every mission profile covered.

Hawk-1.5 is the man-pack portable unit. Kestrel-6 is the truck-bed workhorse. Condor-22 is the persistent station. All three share the same T-Grade kevlar-jacketed tether, ATC reel, and ground-power architecture.

MAN-PACK // 1.5kW

Hawk-1.5

Portable tethered power for squad-level ISR and over-the-hill recon. Two-person carry, 90-second setup.

Output Power
1.5 kW continuous
Tested Endurance
8.0 hr / sortie
Max Altitude
120 m AGL
Ground Station Weight
11.4 kg (24.9 lb)
Tether Length
150 m spooled
Cable Break Strength
6,500 N (T-Grade)
Power Input
110–240 VAC or BB-2590
Setup Time
90 sec, two-person
Datasheet (PDF) — on request

VEHICLE-MOUNT // 6kW

Kestrel-6

Truck-bed and rooftop persistent ISR. Deployed by CBP, Shell Permian, and AT&T FirstNet.

Output Power
6.0 kW continuous
Tested Endurance
11.2 hr / sortie
Max Altitude
220 m AGL
Ground Station Weight
42 kg (92.6 lb)
Tether Length
250 m spooled
Cable Break Strength
6,500 N (T-Grade)
Power Input
110–240 VAC, single-phase
Setup Time
4 min, single-operator
Datasheet (PDF) — on request

PERSISTENT STATION // 22kW

Condor-22

Fixed-site and forward-base persistent ISR. The platform holding the 12.5-hour sortie record.

Output Power
22 kW continuous
Tested Endurance
12.5 hr / sortie
Max Altitude
350 m AGL
Ground Station Weight
138 kg (304 lb)
Tether Length
400 m spooled
Cable Break Strength
6,500 N (T-Grade)
Power Input
3-phase 208–480 VAC
Setup Time
8 min, two-person
Datasheet (PDF) — on request

All endurance figures verified across 340+ field deployments. Performance varies with airframe, payload, and wind; figures quoted as tested, not guaranteed.

COMPATIBILITY // OUT OF THE BOX

Verified integration with the airframes your team already operates.

14 commercial and defense UAV platforms fly on AirHold tethers with the stock power and data connector — no harness re-pinning, no custom avionics.

COMMERCIAL MULTIROTOR

DJI Matrice Series

  • Matrice 350 RTK
  • Matrice 300 RTK
  • Matrice 200 Series

M350, M300, M210 — verified

COMMERCIAL MULTIROTOR

Freefly Astro

  • Astro
  • Alta X
  • Weta

Industrial cinema & mapping class

HEAVY-LIFT / DEDICATED

Harris Aerial

  • Harris H6
  • Harris H4
  • Carrier HX

Tether-native airframes, plug-and-fly

CUSTOM & DEFENSE

Open Integrator API

  • Custom airframes (5+ integrations)
  • VTOL fixed-wing platforms
  • Counter-UAS sensor masts

+ 11 additional verified platforms

Full compatibility matrix — including payload current draws, data pinouts, and ground-fault isolation values — shipped with each system datasheet on request.

ENGINEERING DEEP-DIVE // TWO PATENTS THAT MATTER

The reel and the cable. Why AirHold holds position when the wind hits 45 mph.

Generic ground-power tethers fail at the same two points: the reel can't pay out fast enough during a gust, and the cable frays where it spools off the drum. AirHold engineered both ends.

PATENTED // ATC REEL

Active Tension Control (ATC)

The ATC reel samples tether tension at 200 Hz and pays out or retracts cable to keep the aircraft pinned to its station box. Crosswind compensation is verified up to 45 mph — the documented operating envelope of every AirHold system. No pilot input required; ATC runs autonomously from ground power-on.

T-GRADE CABLE // 6,500N

T-Grade Kevlar-Jacketed Tether

Inner conductors are high-strand copper; the jacket is a kevlar braid over a polyurethane sheath, rated for 6,500 N break strength and -40°C to 70°C operation. The cable carries both DC power (up to 22 kW) and a shielded twisted-pair data line for aircraft telemetry, in a single 4.2 mm diameter package. Co-developed with TE Connectivity.

AirHold ATC reel and T-Grade kevlar-jacketed tether cable

GROUND STATION // FIELD-CONFIGURABLE

One ground station. Four power tiers. Swap output in the field, not in the shop.

The modular ground power station scales from 1.5 kW to 22 kW by swapping two slide-in power modules. No tools. No firmware reload. Re-role between a man-pack sortie and a persistent-station shift in under 8 minutes.

  1. 01

    Power Module Bay

    Two slide-in slots accept 1.5 kW, 3 kW, 6 kW, or 11 kW modules. Modules hot-swap under load — no reboot, no shutdown.

  2. 02

    ATC Reel Head

    Common across all three systems. Field-replaceable drum, 200 Hz tension sampling, and IP54 sealing as standard.

  3. 03

    Cable & Connector

    T-Grade tether on a quick-change swivel fitting. Swap a 150 m spool for a 400 m spool without breaking the data link.

  4. 04

    Telemetry & GUI

    Local 7" panel for cable tension, payout, ground-fault status, and aircraft state. Remote GUI over Ethernet or LTE for the operations van.

Tier 1

1.5 kW

Hawk-1.5 module

Tier 2

3.0 kW

Hawk-3 module

Tier 3

6.0 kW

Kestrel-6 module

Tier 4

22 kW

Dual Condor-11 modules

FIELD-PROVEN NUMBERS

Verified, not estimated.

Field Deployments
340+

logged tethered sorties across 41 countries

Issued Patents
11

tether management & power transmission IP

Cable Reliability
99.4%

across 84,000+ hr of logged flight

Customers Worldwide
1,180+

commercial & government operators

Procurement-ready. Request a flight demo or system quote — engineering team responds within one business day.

Request a Flight Demo