AR-2 Darter

Darter / Tayran
Faction	- NATO - CSAT - AAF - IDAP
Type	Small UAV
Seats	None
Item capacity	None
Top speed	~ 100 km/h
Service ceiling	~ 1,250 m
Fuel capacity	100 L
Primary armament	None
Secondary armament	Targeting: 1× Laser Designator
Variants	Drone (IDAP)
Games

The AR-2 Darter / Tayran AR-2 serves as the primary small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used by NATO, CSAT and the AAF in ArmA 3.

A civilian variant also exists and is simply known as the Drone, where it is used in limited numbers by IDAP aid workers. It was added with the release of the Laws of War DLC.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Reconnaissance
  • Surveillance
  • Laser targeting

«

The Darter AR-2 is a miniature remote-controlled quadcopter perfect for reconnaissance and surveillance. Darters are agile, silent and hard to detect. The ability to hover in one place and use the camera to observe a location is invaluable in setting ambushes. An OPFOR arms manufacturer was able to reverse-engineer the Darter's construction and now produces a similar vehicle. The OPFOR quadcopter is labeled as the Tayran AR-2. Field Manual

»

Design

Man portable and compact, the Darter is miniature VTOL-capable quad-rotor drone that is small enough to be carried in a backpack.

Eye in the sky.

Features
Once unpacked and assembled by the operator, it can then be connected to through a UAV Terminal and assigned tasks, or be used to mark targets with its laser designator for precision guided munitions.

It can be assigned to follow a person or vehicle while hovering at a safe distance, essentially acting as third, infrared-enabled eye for the operator (provided that they toggle the UAV's real-time camera feed).

Mobility
Its small size makes it fairly agile and true to its name, can quickly dart through small gaps in buildings or hover just above the treeline in a forest.

Drawbacks
Care must be taken with the Darter's use however, regardless of whether it is set to autonomous operation or being manually controlled by the operator.

It has no armour whatsoever and can be disabled with just one round to any part of the airframe. Even coming into contact too roughly with any hard surface can instantly destroy it.

Camouflage

All faction variants have access to the same camouflage options:

• White: Pattern-less flat white paint scheme.
• Grey Hex: Light/dark grey cell pattern camouflage.
• Digital Grey: Digitised semi-fractal camouflage pattern used by several AAF aircraft and boats.
• IDAP: Flat white paint scheme with additional livery in the form of IDAP logos and signage. Used exclusively by IDAP aid workers.

Sensors

Being a small UAV, the Darter has only two types of sensors that are meant to be used exclusively for tracking purposes:

Active Radar

The Darter does not have an active radar as it cannot use any weapon systems.

Infrared Search and Track/Visual Sensor

IRST detection has a maximum range of 1.5 km against aerial targets, and 1 km against ground targets. Identity recognition locks in at a distance of 2 km, which means that a Darter will always be able to instantly identify a target seen via infrared once they come within range.

However, it should be noted that unlike other manned/unmanned aircraft, the Darter does not have or use a conventional visual sensor. Instead, it utilises a motion/thermal sensor that is designed specifically to detect human-sized objects. This sensor can track airborne humans (i.e. paratroops) at a distance of 750 m, while humans on the ground can be detected at a distance of 500 m.

For both sensors, azimuth and elevation coverage is limited to an angle of 51 and 37 degrees respectively, and have a minimum operating range of 500 m.

Radar Warning Receiver/Passive Radar

The Darter does not have a RWR or the ability to detect radar emissions.

Laser Spot Tracker

The Darter cannot acquire laser marks or lock-on to infrared strobes.

Trivia

• The Darter appears to be based on an enlarged version of the "AR.Drone Version 2.0" manufactured by Parrot SA of France.
• Despite being battery-operated, the Darter can seemingly "refuel" itself from civilian gas terminals and military fuel trucks.

Gallery

Arma3-darter.png

Arma3-darter-00.jpg

External links

• Wikipedia: Parrot AR.Drone Version 2.0

See also

Drones of comparable role and configuration

• Utility Drone (ArmA 3: Laws of War only)
• Demining Drone (ArmA 3: Laws of War only)