Rise Technologies unveils Nakande digital communications system for drones

Ukrainian defence tech company Rise Technologies has developed the Nakande digital communications system. Viktor Chuikovskyi, the project’s Chief Commercial Officer, told Defender Media that Nakande is designed for rapid integration into small and heavy FPV drones, bombers and fixed-wing platforms.

Rise Technologies highlights the system’s frequency-hopping capability across a 1,000 MHz range. “Nakande monitors channels across a frequency-hopping band of up to 1 GHz, finds a less congested section and automatically switches to it,” Chuikovskyi said. This allows operators to maintain communication with drones in conditions of electronic warfare and a congested radio spectrum.

The Nakande airborne module weighs 160 g, supports 2× Ethernet and MAVLink, and combines control, telemetry and video into a single secure link. The downlink speed is up to 5.2 Mbps, which, according to the developers, enables clear, smooth video and the transmission of compressed 4K footage.

Rise Technologies also states that data transmitted by Nakande is protected by AES-256. According to the manufacturer, deploying the ground station takes less than five minutes, while the standard IP architecture allows the operator, antenna and control station to be connected via Ethernet, fibre optic cable or VPN. A single ground station can support 50–100 modules.

The manufacturer says Nakande has undergone bench, field and combat testing. A separate range class of up to 60 km is available for FPV drones, while during testing the maximum configuration, according to Chuikovskyi, maintained a connection at a distance of 118 km.

The company does not disclose the module’s price but says it is several times cheaper than foreign alternatives. Chuikovskyi added that Nakande is already being integrated into several existing and prospective UAVs.

Rise Technologies is a Ukrainian company developing advanced defence technologies. In addition to the Nakande digital communications system, its product line includes the PalychMC frequency-shifting system for civilian reconnaissance drones, the Hult 11G frequency converter and the Hish analogue VTX transmitter.