Claimed to be the first UAV system to be built in accordance with the new international UAV Systems Airworthiness Requirements, the Ruag Aerospace Super Ranger has been designed to fill an important gap. The company’s market research has shown that some existing UAV tactical systems operators want a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance UAV (MALE) capability but cannot afford it.

So the Super Ranger is intended to help customers reduce their life cycle costs dramatically. Nearly all the features of a MALE UAV system can now be supplied at the same cost level as a tactical system, without the need for compromises. Ruag said that its new UAV can provide 70 percent of a MALE capability. With a 500-  kilogram (1,100-pound) maximum takeoff weight, the new UAV can carry a payload of up to 150 kilograms (500 pounds).

But in this stealth age when great strides have been made to reduce radar signatures, Ruag Super Ranger will be hard to detect on radar screens, while a very low-noise, four-cylinder, four-stroke engine with fuel injection makes it difficult to be heard above battlefield sounds.

A fully automated takeoff and landing system allows missions to be initiated even under zero-visibility conditions such as fog, rain or snowfall.  An advanced landing system enables the Super Ranger to alight on concrete runways using its retractable landing gear and fully automated brakes. Alternatively, the UAV can land on unprepared surfaces when it deploys the integrated skid system.