ER69D

ER69D extends the TRYGONS DRONES architecture into a larger platform for missions requiring more fuel, more energy, larger sensors, greater payload volume or integrated UAV operations.

It is based on the EcoRunner hull lineage, developed in the Aegean for more than a decade with a strong focus on efficient travel, course stability and autopilot operation.

Depending on propulsion arrangement, ER69D can incorporate up to six rectangular mission bays for EO/IR systems, communications, SATCOM, LiDAR, radar, AI computers, additional fuel, batteries, cargo, UAV systems and customer-developed mission equipment.

TRYGONS DRONES deliberately tests unusual loading conditions rather than assuming nominal payload capacity guarantees good behaviour. ER69D has been operated with approximately 150–200 kg of representative forward load and has also been tested underway with approximately 700 kg of water ballast concentrated in the central mission area.

Measured low-speed fuel-consumption work on a diesel ER69D configuration has demonstrated approximately 0.12 litres per nautical mile at about 6.4 knots — the basis for very-long-endurance configurations when mission bays are allocated to fuel. Extended-range figures remain configuration-dependent engineering targets until the exact customer configuration is validated through dedicated endurance trials.

ER69D has operated in demanding Aegean conditions, including Beaufort 6 testing; peak speeds reached in such conditions are used to understand platform limits, not presented as a normal operating recommendation.

ER69D has also been used as a maritime UAV deployment platform: a modular cassette with 14 positions for 7-inch-class UAVs has been integrated and tested, including multiple launches during a single mission and launch from a slowly moving vessel. The architecture supports onboard storage, charging, individual mission upload and last-minute mission or coordinate updates before launch.