German autonomous systems developer CiS has announced the ORKA Dock at the Combined Naval Event in Farnborough, a fully automatic launch and recovery hangar for its ORKA uncrewed aerial system that the company claims is a world first for moving maritime and mobile platforms, the company stated.

The ORKA Dock allows the ORKA drone to launch, return, and recharge without any operator intervention from ships, uncrewed surface vessels, land vehicles, and expeditionary sites. The system can open and launch in under 30 seconds, integrates fast recharging, optional tether capability, and battery-backup operation. Designed and built in Germany using sovereign components, it is intended as a self-contained deployment solution for persistent aerial surveillance and reconnaissance.

The system was demonstrated at SeaSEC 2026, an international naval security exercise held in Rostock, Germany in April, where it was integrated aboard the Q-RECON 24, a high-speed uncrewed surface vessel developed by FLANQ, CiS’s strategic maritime partner. Operating daily over two weeks across missions including offshore energy asset protection and harbour security, the ORKA Dock successfully demonstrated automatic launch and recovery while the vessel was underway, validating its proprietary Precision Landing System at platform speeds of up to 15 knots.

Tom Kaufman, Founder and CEO of CiS, described the SeaSEC demonstration as a landmark moment. “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. The ORKA and ORKA Dock, working collaboratively with FLANQ USVs, give navies, coast guards, and maritime security operators the persistent aerial capability they need, deployable from virtually any surface asset. We’re excited to debut this technology at the Combined Naval Event and look forward to moving into full-scale production.”

The ORKA itself delivers 75 minutes of endurance with a 5 kilogram mission payload capacity, designed for aerial surveillance, reconnaissance, and inspection over land and water. CiS, established in 1990 and based in Rostock, has described the combined ORKA and ORKA Dock system as a persistent multi-domain ISR capability for naval and maritime security customers.