Military & Defense UAV Recovery Systems – APCO Defence Industries

APCO Defence Industries delivers advanced UAV recovery systems, pa

rachutes, airbags, and deceleration solutions for military, defense, homeland security, Air taxis and professional drone operators. Explore high-performance aerospace-grade UAV parachute and recovery technology built to the highest standards.

Visit apcodefense.com for Defense & Security UAV Recovery Solutions

UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle – Recovery Systems

The leading worldwide UAV companies have used APCO’s experience in development of unique solutions for their drone, both for military and civil industries.

We have developed solutions to drones ranging from less than 1 kg. quad copter, to more than 1,000 kg. full scale drones.
We also produce multiple items for this industry following the strictest military specifications.

We pride ourselves by having the largest and most versatile parachutes in our industry and offer this experience as an advantage to our customers.

We specialize in offering descent and retrieval solutions and among our projects are:

Parachutes: Circular with or without Pull down apex, Rectangular parachutes and Steerable gliding parachutes – in super lightweight configuration, or robust, extremely high load, high opening shock configurations.

Airbags: For landing drones which follow the Pneumatic Catapult launch, airbag & parachute recovery. We have developed airbags which inflate actively or passively for a range of weight and volume restrictions.

Deceleration mechanisms: to further reduce problems of opening shock with parachute retrieval, a range of solutions such as gradual “burning fuse” to absorb energy, opening slider for parachute to control opening speed, deployment sleeve to control opening sequence and speed.

Deployment solutions: Variety of deployment bags and techniques for any imaginable restrictions in the UAV’s geometry and “flight envelope” requirements.

UAV specific Parachutes - extremely light and low packing volume with integrated slider mechanism for reduced opening shock. For more parachute designs and information contact us.

Parachute Name	Area [m2]	Product Code	Weight* [Gr]	Volume [cc]	Sink Rate [m/s]@ Load Kg**	Max Load [kg]****	Opening Shock [G] @ Air speed [m/s]***	Description
Square 3.0	3	44824	130	550		15		Extremely light - based on 10 gr/m2 fabric.
Square 3.5	3.5	44180	168 Canopy only	400	6.6 @ 15 Kg	15	~3.15[G] @ 30[m/s] @15[Kg]	High drag Slider for reduced opening shock at high opening speed.
Square 6	6	81500	180	500
Square 12.5	12.5	82500	365	1150
Square 13.5	13.5	400967	500 - Canopy only 580 - Inc slider container and bridle	1200	4.0 @ 32 Kg	60	~3[G] @ 25[m/s] @32[Kg]	Opening time - approx. 2.5 seconds. Fabric Rectangular Slider
Square 20	20	44811	880	2400	4.15 @ 50 Kg	100	~4.5[G] @ 23[m/s] @50[Kg]	Cross shaped Slider
Square 25	25	85101UV	1250	4150	5.4 @100 Kg 5.6 @120 Kg	180	~3.5[G] @ 23[m/s] @40[Kg]	Based on Mayday Square Opening time - approx. 4 seconds. Cross shaped Slider.
Square 35	35	40024	1010	3250	3.44 @65 Kg 4.32 @75 Kg	150	~2.8[G] @ 23.5[m/s] @65[Kg]	Opening time - approx. 4 seconds. Cross shaped Slider.
Rogallo 30 - Gliding parachute	30	40023	900	2700	4.0 @85 Kg	120		Gliding parachute with optional steering and landing flare capability. Recommended for low weight low sing rate critical applications.
Packed Size vs. Volume:
		The volume is measured by water displacement, and represents the smallest recommended packed volume, or the volume of the smallest recommended storage compartment. The Parachute deployment bag or container is custom designed to fit the UAV specific parachute compartment. It can be in any shape, typically box or Cylinder. The Packed Size measurement of the factory packed, not compressed reserve, will typically be larger then the water displacement measured volume.
* Weight Excludes weight of optional long bridle and deployment bag.
** Sink Rate Will Very according to the payload shape and surface area. For classic UAV designs Sink rate will be reduced by up to 20% due to surface drag during the parachute stage. In General larger parachutes will have improved sink rate and stability over smaller parachutes of similar design.
*** Opening Shock [G] This Value is measured during a parachute opening sequence from straight and level UAV flight at a specific flight speed for a given UAV weight. G Value is averaged over 300 milliseconds. Opening shock will considerably very according to parachute technical specs : Slider design, material choice, Bridle length Etc. Opening shock is a derivative of opening time and can be adjusted per customers needs and parachute/slider design.
**** Max load This Value will vary drastically between different UAV platforms according to UAV air speed at deployment and Slider design for controlling the opening shock.

EN Certified Parachutes - fast opening (No slider) high opening shock capability

Mayday	Area [m2]	Gores	Weight* [kg]	Volume [cc]	Packed Size [cm] Length x Width x Height	Sink Rate [m/s] (@ max Load)	Max Load [kg]	gr / kg (Load)***	Certification
Mayday Square 100	25	16	1.320	3000	20.0x19.0x8.0	5.1 @100 Kg	100	13.41	EN/LTF - 100kg
Mayday Square 140	33	16	1.680	4800	26.0x21.0x10.0	5.1 @140 Kg	140	11.96	EN/LTF -140kg
Mayday Square 160	38	16	2.140	5320	32.0x24.0x12.0	4.9 @160 Kg	160	10.43	EN/LTF -160kg
MD 16 SLT Super Light Round	23	16	1.220	3100	24.5x18.5x11.5	6.15	100	12.20	EN Load/Drop Test by Air Turquoise
MD 16 LT Light Round	23	16	1.490	3550	27.0x21.0x10.0	6.15	100	14.90	EN Load/Drop Test by Air Turquoise
MD 16 Regular Round	23	16	1.890	4000	28.5x23.0x14.0	6.3	106	17.83	DHV GS-02-0004-88
MD 18 SLT Super Light Round	30.4	18	1.597	3950	28.5x22.5x12.0	5.1**	115	13.89	EN Certification EP021.2009
MD 18 LT Light Round	30.4	18	1.922	4800	31.0x22.5x13.0	5.1	120	15.6	LTF RG 061.2012
MD 18 Regular Round	30.4	18	2.220	4950	32.0x22.5x15.0	5.4	120	18.50	SHV PS0992.003
MD 20 SLT Super Light Round	37.5	20	2.083	4750	31.0x22.0x12.5	4.48**	130	14.80	EN Certification E.P022.2009
MD 20 LT Light Round	37.5	20	2.300	5000	32.0x23.0x12.5	4.48**	140	16.43	EN Certification EP056.2012
MD 20 Regular Round	37.5	20	2.690	5400	32.0x23.0x13	5.4	160	16.85	AFNOR/CEN 200143AP
GMD SLT Superlight Rogallo	36	16	1.950	5000	30.5x22.0x13.5	4 m/s@(90kg) 4.9m/s@(130Kg)	60-130	15.00	EN Certification EP057.2012
GMD Steerable Rogallo	39	16	2.900	5950	33.0x24.0x15.5	2.8 m/s@(90kg) 3.2m/s@(130Kg)	60-130	22.31	EN Certification EP009.2007
MD Bi Round Tandem Reserve	47	18	3.250	6100	33.5x27.0x13.5	5.4	200	16.25	AFNOR PS98228AP
MD 28UL High Capacity Round Reserve for Trikes	64	28	4.000	12600	37.0x23.0x20.0	6.3	340	11.76	EN Load test 12491:2001
Packed Size vs. Volume:
		The volume is measured by water displacement, and represents the smallest recommended packed volume, or the volume of the smallest recommended container to be used for the reserve. The specified volume is therefore far lower than the calculated volume that would be derived from the specified measurements. The Packed Size measurement represents the measurements of the factory packed, but not compressed reserve, ie. the max dimension for each axis, and in its specified deployment bag, as shipped from apco.
* Weight Excludes weight of optional long bridle for Hang-glider version: Add 190gr for Hanggliding (HG) Extension Bridle (Code: 43006), or Add 550gr for MD Bi HG Bridle (Code: 43002L) The product weight may vary by up to 3%.
** Sink Rate as measured by Air Turquoise test laboratory Stability rating by Air Turquoise (1 bad - 5 excellent)
*** Gram per [Kg] Load This is a unit that makes it easy to compare Reserves. The unit is calculated by dividing the weight of the reserve, by its max load rating. The lower the number, the lighter the reserve is for its carrying capacity.

Among our partners: Israel Aerospace Industries – IAI, Aeronautics – worldwide leading UAV company, Bluebird, Elbit Systems, U-Vision, Parazero – multirotor parachutes solution provider, Martin Jetpack, Kitty Hawk