Aerosonde HQ

Facts

Company

Textron Systems

Product type

uav

Status

commercial

Primary capability

long-endurance tactical ISR

Website

https://www.textronsystems.com/products/aerosonde-uas

About Aerosonde HQ

Aerosonde HQ combines a fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft with a hybrid-quadrotor system for vertical takeoff and landing. It can deploy from a confined land or maritime site, climb vertically and transition to wing-borne flight for surveillance, communications relay, electronic-warfare or customer-selected payload missions. Runway-independent recovery removes the launcher and net used by fixed-wing Aerosonde configurations and reduces the equipment needed at a forward operating location.

The original HQ configuration flew at 45 to 65 knots and provided ten hours of endurance with a multi-intelligence payload, with a 10,500-foot density-altitude ceiling in that load state. A Lycoming EL-005 heavy-fuel engine powered cruise, and a four-person crew could unpack and launch the palletised system in under 20 minutes. Later Mk. 4.7 and Mk. 4.8 HQ aircraft have their own payload, endurance and ceiling specifications, so delivered capability follows the selected generation.

Market context

robot, 1600, 900, 4077f433b8d91d853fc9e92edb18abfab0ee0db190a9be50a653b5a87a5d0c22, 4077f433b8d91d853fc9e92edb18abfab0ee0db190a9be50a653b5a87a5d0c22, reviewed_16x9_official_media, VTOL Fixed-wing ISR UAV, 1600, 900, https://www.textronsystems.com/sites/default/files/styles/compress_image/public/_images/gallery-slides/Aerosonde%20Mk.%204.7%20HQ%202023%20-%203%20%281%29.jpg?itok=3xpuJBOa, clean_photo_or_studio_fallback, https://www.textronsystems.com/sites/default/files/styles/compress_image/public/_images/gallery-slides/Aerosonde%20Mk.%204.7%20HQ%202023%20-%203%20%281%29.jpg?itok=3xpuJBOa, https://www.textronsystems.com/products/aerosonde-uas, source_backed_photo, https://zlsbkmaixmmnjrgpkcyp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/robotics_assets/products/korthos-product-candidates-2026-08-17-batch-3/textron-systems-aerosonde-hq-official-16x9.jpg, Reviewed as a complete product or family composition at exact 16:9; no product crop is used., 2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z, source_backed_photo, products/media-replacement-audit-2026-08-19/textron-systems-aerosonde-hq-official-photo-1600x900.jpg, 2026-08-17, products/media-replacement-audit-2026-08-19/textron-systems-aerosonde-hq-official-pho...

Summary

Type: VTOL fixed-wing

Core: Long-endurance multi-intelligence

Function: Collects tactical

Audience: Defence maritime

Specifications

endurance_hours

10 h with multi-INT payload

features

Lycoming EL-005 heavy-fuel engine

max_speed

45–65 knots

operating_environment

Authorised outdoor airspace

range

50–150 ft AGL; 10,500 ft density altitude

system_role

VTOL fixed-wing

use_cases

Collects tactical

Operations

Deployment environment

air, expeditionary sites, maritime operations

Primary user

defense forces, government operators

Workflow

ISR, communications relay, payload missions

Interaction model

remote piloting, autonomous mission execution

Mobility class

fixed-wing VTOL UAV

Product detail

robot, 1600, 900, 4077f433b8d91d853fc9e92edb18abfab0ee0db190a9be50a653b5a87a5d0c22, 4077f433b8d91d853fc9e92edb18abfab0ee0db190a9be50a653b5a87a5d0c22, reviewed_16x9_official_media, VTOL Fixed-wing ISR UAV, 1600, 900, https://www.textronsystems.com/sites/default/files/styles/compress_image/public/_images/gallery-slides/Aerosonde%20Mk.%204.7%20HQ%202023%20-%203%20%281%29.jpg?itok=3xpuJBOa, clean_photo_or_studio_fallback, https://www.textronsystems.com/sites/default/files/styles/compress_image/pu...