Cable Performance and Specifications

Built to withstand even the harshest of environments, GORE Tethered Drone Cables outperform standard cables for a number of reasons. Because every gram of weight saved on a drone matters, Gore’s unique cable jacket material significantly reduces weight pickup. Further, Gore’s patent-pending fiber braid cable jacket has low-friction properties, making our cables easier to handle compared to standard nylon cables.

Among other design considerations, all of this allows for more payload flexibility, increased height above ground level (AGL) during operation and greater drone responsiveness. GORE Tethered Drone Cables also expand line of sight or coverage and deliver the following benefits compared to alternatives:

Continuous Reliable Performance

Thanks to Gore’s proven materials, GORE Tethered Drone Cables provide unfailing data transmission, secure signals and continuous high-voltage power over the lifetime of the drone. This is because they are engineered with high-strength, waterproof components to withstand damage from the following:

  • Crushing
  • Abrasion
  • Repeated reeling
  • Fluctuating temperatures
  • Humidity, rain and snow
  • Tough terrain
Easier Installation and Maintenance

GORE Tethered Drone Cables are 20% smaller in size than standard nylon cables, making them inherently lighter in weight. Therefore, they take up less space inside the tether management system (TMS) and allow for more design options and extra payload during operation. And because they’re proven to deliver reliable performance over the lifespan of the drone, they decrease time spent on intensive maintenance and cable replacements.

Meeting Rigorous Standards across Commercial and Defense Applications

GORE Tethered Drone Cables are pre-qualified and tested to meet rigorous industry requirements. To ensure optimal performance and successful missions, Gore used SAE AS4373™ Method 601, to compare GORE Tethered Drone Cables to nylon-constructed cables, with a goal to determine weight stability after immersion in harsh fluids. Results showed that the initial weight of nylon cables increased by 13% in hydraulic fluid and over 7.5% in saltwater. Meanwhile, Gore’s cables offer 90% less weight pickup, particularly holding less than 1% in saltwater.

In addition, Gore’s single-mode fiber optic cable meets ARINC 802-3 requirements and is proven to provide a high level of crush resistance with low insertion loss. Ensuring a secure data link from the drone to ground support equipment (GSE), the fiber can serve as a low-loss coaxial cable for applications that transmit and receive data, including:

  • Temporary cell towers
  • Rural network connectivity
  • Mesh drone networks
  • Line-of-sight communications
  • Downlink for continuous video streaming to provide situational awareness and coverage for emergency response, news and events, aerial photography and border patrol

Generally, commercial and defense applications for GORE Tethered Drone Cables include:

  • Video streaming
  • News, events, commercial photography, search/rescue
  • Industrial/land inspections
  • Telecommunications
  • Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
  • Electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensors
  • Signals intelligence

How to Order GORE Tethered Drone Cables for Commercial and Defense

Fly higher, see farther and do more with a durable, low-weight hybrid solution like GORE Tethered Drone Cables available in a variety of standard configurations and sizes. Prequalified, tested complimentary samples could also be available for this product within 48 hours of your request. To learn more about how these products and our other solutions for aerospace and defense can enhance your application, contact a Gore representative today. When you’re ready to make a purchase, reach out to a Gore distributor to order one of the following part numbers:

  • RCN9164
  • RCN9166
  • RCN9168
  • RCN9186
  • RCN9188
  • RCN9190
  • RCN9217
  • RCN9218
  • RCN9219
  • RCN9175
  • RCN9152