Hydra Technologies is a Mexican firm dedicated to the design and development of

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s for surveillance operations and aircraft

avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

. The company has one hundred employees and as of mid-2008 has two operational models, the S4 Ehécatl and the E1 Gavilán.

Operations

The S4 Ehécatl and E1 Gavilán are used in Mexico for ecological supervision, civilian protection,

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and the War on Drugs. The State of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

uses them for detection of polluting sources in

Río Grande de Santiago The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the longest rivers in Mexic ...

and for surveillance over

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

in search for flooding-sensitive zones. They are also used by other countries.

S4 Ehécatl

Development of the Hydra Technologies Ehécatl began in 2002 as a joint effort between the

Government of Mexico The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the Mexico, United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the ...

, the Financial Sector, and Mexican academic and scientific institutions. Its main function is to provide security and surveillance capabilities in support of the Armed Forces, as well as civilian protection in hazardous situations. According to the manufacturer, the drone "observes what happens by land or sea. Because of its unmanned nature, it can enter dangerous zones being undetected" and is "an effective solution of the border problems between the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and Mexico." The S4 Ehécatl has a complex electronic system designed to provide up to eight hours of autonomous flight in either daytime or nighttime conditions. It is controlled from a mobile central facility installed in a specially-equipped three-man ground vehicle. Apart from an American-made

FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

thermal video system, all of the craft's components are designed, developed and manufactured

in-house Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another. ...

E1 Gavilán

The Hydra Technologies Gavilán is a

miniature UAV A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. The smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle. Miniature UAVs range from micro air vehicles (MAVs) that can be carried by an infantrym ...

with ninety minutes of flight autonomy, controlled by a single user through a portable GCS. As the S4 Ehécatl, the E1 Gavilán is the result of a joint effort of the institutions mentioned above and is also equipped with a FLIR thermal video system for nighttime operation. It was presented on June 10 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2008, an important event for this particular industry. The

europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an debut took place on July 14 of the same year at the

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire. Since its first show in ...

In development

, the company has other models in process of design, the S5 Cuculcán and the G1 Guerrero. The S5 Cuculcán will be able to fly for up to sixteen hours and provide a portable

data recovery In computing, data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged, overwritten or formatted data from computer data storage#Secondary storage, secondary storage, removable media or Computer file, files, when ...

system, there is not much information on the G1 Guerrero yet.

Awards

* Al Aube Outstanding Contributor Award for the development of the S4 Ehécatl by AUSVI (2007)Hydra Technologies (2007). *

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

Award for the development of the S4 Ehécatl and the D1 Gavilán by the International Aeronautics Congress of Mexico (2008) * Special award by the Jalisco State Council of Science and Technology for its contribution to the Information, Microelectronics and Communication Industries in Mexico (2008)

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.hydra-technologies.com/ Aircraft manufacturers of Mexico Mexican brands