AAROK MALE UAV | Turgis Gaillard

AAROK has been designed with a multi-domain approach. It offers the French and Allied armed forces a simple, rugged and inexpensive surveillance and strike system, available in large quantities and deployed as close as possible to the front line. Its development has been entirely carried out by Turgis Gaillard, drawing on over twenty years’ experience in the use of UAVs in combat, and reusing available, qualified technology building blocks produced and supported by leading European equipment manufacturers.

General features

AAROK is a MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) UAV with a maximum take-off weight of 5.5 tons, powered by a 1,200hp turboprop engine.
With an empty weight of 2.5 tons, it can carry almost 3 tons of fuel, weapons and specific mission equipment.
With a wingspan of 22 meters, it can be maintained in the standard hangars of NATO airbases, although it can also be deployed from unprepared landing strips: its undercarriage is compatible with unpaved runways, and its robust construction makes it perfectly capable of being parked outside for long periods.
It has all-weather capability, including known icing conditions.
AAROK can fly for over 20 hours, has a cruising speed of over 240 kt (450 km/h) and can exceed FL450 in altitude.
It is equipped with all the equipment needed to carry out its missions.

The French defense industry already produces radars, optronic sensors, weapons, communications, flight control and electronic warfare systems developed for aircraft. In a way, it's a technological heritage. And we're making the most of it by reusing it. It's thanks to this legacy, already developed, qualified and supported, that we can offer a MALE UAV as ambitious as the AAROK.

AAROK carries out three main types of missions:

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions

Thanks to its endurance, AAROK can cover an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers, or loiter for many hours monitoring a point of interest (POI). Its speed and satellite communications capabilities enable it to carry out missions far from its home base.

It is equipped with a full suite of sensors:

wide-field sensors (multi-mode surveillance radar with range in excess of 100km, AIS transponder, signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems)
narrow-field sensors, with an optronic sensor up to 25-inch class, i.e. a range of several tens of kilometers.

The AAROK’s features and performance make it particularly suitable for:

maritime surveillance (sovereignty in Exclusive Economic Zones [EEZs], search and rescue [SAR], anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare),
surveillance of borders or POIs,
strategic or tactical intelligence missions.

Strike missions

Alongside its radar and ability to be deployed from rough terrain, the AAROK’s other comparative advantage is the quality of its weapons. It is capable of striking targets dozens of kilometers away, with a very high accuracy, using powerful 250kg guided munitions.

This means it can destroy targets at a stand-off distance from most anti-aircraft threats, making AAROK the most suitable UAV for high-intensity operations.

The AAROK’s features and performance give it the following capabilities:

Air Interdiction (AI), i.e. strikes planned to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure (military bases, logistics zones, communications nodes, etc.);

Close Air Support (CAS), i.e. direct support for front-line troops;

Strike Coordination And Reconnaissance (SCAR), i.e. Hunter-Killer reconnaissance missions leading to the destruction of targets;

Suppression or Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD).

In future, AAROK will offer offensive jamming capabilities to support joint air operations.

Communications relay and C2

Today’s military operations rely on communications networks to create a vast information-sharing system. This gives the various tactical echelons greater situational awareness, enhances their appreciation of the environment and accelerates the pace of maneuver. However, the integration of these different data link systems, developed by each service branch, is a real challenge.

Equipped with ODIN, AAROK helps to meet this challenge by forming a battlefield airborne communications node.

It offers optimal connectivity with the various elements of a digitized land force, regardless of natural barriers; fusion with data links from other domains (air and sea); and long-distance transmission to headquarters thanks to its satellite communications systems.