Overview
- The deployment is scheduled for June 2026 in northwest Greenland as part of the international GIANT research initiative.
- Windracers ULTRA is specified to carry payloads over 150 kg and fly up to 2,000 km, enabling long-range autonomous surveys in the high Arctic.
- The aircraft will field a new ice-penetrating radar to map the base of floating ice and valleys hidden beneath the inland ice, focusing on the Petermann Glacier region.
- The campaign integrates aerial surveys with marine robots, satellites and sensors within ARIA’s Forecasting Tipping Points programme to improve climate models.
- Drone fieldwork will be led by the British Antarctic Survey in what will be Windracers’ second expedition with BAS after 2024 Antarctic operations, with plans to gather ecological observations such as narwhal activity and to meet stringent reliability demands in a harsh environment.