CiS expands maritime drone launch capability

ORKA Dock, unveiled at the Combined Naval Event in Farnborough UK, is designed to support persistent intelligence, reconnaissance and inspection missions.

“SeaSEC was a landmark moment for CiS and for autonomous naval aviation more broadly,” said Tom Kaufman, founder and CEO of CiS.

“Achieving fully autonomous launch and recovery from a moving USV in a live exercise environment – without any operator intervention – is something that has never been done before. We believe it to be a world first.”

Fully-automated operation

Developed for both the commercial marine and naval sectors, the new marine equipment enables the ORKA uncrewed aerial system to launch, recover and recharge autonomously from ships, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and land-based expeditionary sites without operator intervention.

ORKA Dock was designed and built in Germany using sovereign components and integrates rapid charging, optional tether capability and battery-backup operation.

The drone launch dock can deploy in under 30 seconds and was recently demonstrated during SeaSEC 2026 in Rostock, Germany, aboard FLANQ’s Q-RECON 24 USV.

During the exercise, the system completed automatic launch and recovery operations while the vessel was travelling at speeds of up to 15 knots.

The company said the marine surveillance platform is intended to provide navies, coast guards and maritime security operators with persistent aerial capability deployable from a wide range of surface assets. CiS added that it is now preparing the ORKA Dock system for full-scale production.