C-Astral
From a small town in Slovenia’s Vipava valley, C-Astral builds hand-launched drones named after a burrowing insect that now scout for armies from Ukraine to Bangladesh and map fields for farmers.
C-Astral: the company and the aircraft that made its name
The mole cricket
C-Astral’s best-known aircraft is named after an insect: the Bramor takes its name from the European mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa. The company, based at Ajdovščina in western Slovenia, builds small fixed-wing drones launched by catapult or bungee and recovered by parachute. The military Bramor C4EYE weighs under 5 kg, carries a stabilised day, infrared and laser-illuminator camera, sends encrypted video over a mesh radio network and stays up for about three and a half hours, with an operating radius of 42 km.
Soldiers and surveyors
The same airframe has a civilian life. The Bramor ppX is a survey-grade mapping drone able to produce sub-centimetre ground resolution, and the Bramor aGX is set up for precision agriculture, mapping soil and crops to guide fertiliser. The smaller Atlas AS90X, around 3 kg, fits in a backpack for first responders and special forces. The C4EYE has been in combat service since the mid-2010s, and Wikipedia lists Slovenia, Italy, Cyprus, Montenegro, Cameroon, Ukraine and the Bangladesh Army among its operators.
Beyond line of sight
C-Astral has also worked at the regulatory edge of drone flying. It says its systems enabled the first Canadian beyond-visual-line-of-sight fixed-wing flight in February 2017, that it has taken part in three European SESAR air traffic research consortia, and that its aircraft have been evaluated by US Special Operations Command. In 2025 it showed the SQA eVTOL, a vertical take-off drone with a three-hour endurance, and a stealthy delivery drone. The company claims more than 120,000 flight hours across over 70 countries.
C-Astral in numbers
The company
- In short
- Ajdovščina, Slovenia
- Designs and builds small fixed-wing and VTOL drones
- C-Astral group also includes a mapping service and a land-surveying firm
- X-WORKS advanced projects division
Production
- Best known for
- Bramor C4EYE
- Bramor C4EYE military reconnaissance UAS
- Bramor ppX survey and Bramor aGX agriculture versions
- Atlas AS90X backpack UAS
- SQA eVTOL multirole UAS
Today
- Now
- Active
- Company claims users in more than 70 countries on six continents
- More than 10 government and 200 commercial and scientific operators (company figure)
The numbers
- Flight hours
- more than 120,000 (company figure)
- Countries of operation
- more than 70 (company figure)
- Bramor C4EYE endurance
- 3.5 hours
- Bramor C4EYE max take-off weight
- 4.7 kg
Every notable C-Astral aircraft
| Aircraft | Role | First flight | Built | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-Astral Bramor C4EYE | Mini tactical reconnaissance UAS | In production | NATO class 1; in service since mid-2010s | ||
| C-Astral Bramor ppX | Survey and mapping UAS | In production | PPK GNSS; up to 3 hours | ||
| C-Astral Bramor aGX | Precision agriculture UAS | In production | |||
| C-Astral Atlas AS90X | Backpack UAS | In production | Under 3 kg, up to 1.5 hours | ||
| C-Astral SQA eVTOL | Multirole VTOL UAS | In production | Up to 3 hours; SQA2 shown 2025 |
C-Astral aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew C-Astral types. 1 of them still have one in service.
| Air force | In service | Formerly flown |
|---|---|---|
| Slovenian Air Force and Air Defence | C-Astral Bramor and Belin |
Where C-Astral built, who led it, what it achieved
Factories
- Headquarters and factory · Ajdovščina, Slovenia
Records and firsts
- Enabled the first Canadian beyond-visual-line-of-sight fixed-wing UAS flight, February 2017 (company claim)
C-Astral, year by year
Bramor C4EYE in operational service by the mid-2010s
First Canadian BVLOS fixed-wing flight with C-Astral systems (company claim)
MWT delivery drone and SQA2 eVTOL unveiled at AUVSI Xponential
Everything people ask about C-Astral
Where is C-Astral based?
What is the Bramor C4EYE?
Who uses C-Astral drones?
Why is it called Bramor?
Around C-Astral
Every fact, checked
Verified 2026-10-03.