Defense Technology International - July 2007 - (Page 40)

AIR OPERATIONS TACTICAL TIGHT CORNERING BILL SWEETMAN•MINNEAPOLIS A completely different class of vertical takeoff UAV is being designed for operations in obstructed areas or urban canyons. The goal is to overcome line-of-sight blockage and to get into areas that ﬁxed-wing UAVs cannot reach. Many of these UAVs look more like food processors or flying garbage cans than airplanes or helicopters. They are built around a circular duct containing a lift fan. Ducted-fan vehicles are horribly unstable, but have become practical with the development of cheap, ﬂ y-by-wire ﬂ ight-control systems. Advantages over the helicopter include the absence of external blades—a ﬂight and groundsafety impact hazard—and simplicity, with movable control vanes and a ﬁxed-pitch fan. Aurora Flight Sciences calls its GoldenEye-80 vehicle, ﬂown in November 2006, a third-generation ductedfan vehicle. Key features include a top-mounted sensor turret, a UAV Engines AR771 engine capable of running on JP-8 heavy fuel and “smart” free-pivoting wings. If the vehicle is operating in an urban canyon and will be hovering, the wings are simply removed. For longer missions, where it’s desirable for the vehicle to ﬂy more like an airplane, the wings are plugged in and the vehicle’s ﬂight control laws, hosted in the Athena ﬂight control system, change automatically. Tabs or “wingerons” keep the wing and body at the optimal angle for cruising ﬂight, help control the vehicle and keep the wings feathered in the hover. The GoldenEye-80 has a maximum endurance of 8.5 hr. with wings and 2 hr. in the hover. Its endurance can be extended, though, by perching the vehicle on a vantage point—high terrain or a rooftop—and shutting down the engine. The engine and its exhaust are housed inside the duct, which has an acoustic liner like a jet engine nacelle. The ﬁrst ducted-fan vehicle to go to war, though, was Honeywell’s Miniature Air Vehicle (MAV). Sounding like a weed whacker, powered by an upmarket model airplane engine and equipped with a ﬁxed-angle sensor, the MAV has been plucked out of Army user trials to support explosive ordnance disposal operations in Iraq. Following trials at China Lake in late 2006, a contract was signed in May and 10 systems were delivered at the end of the month. In the counter-IED role, the MAV has valuable characteristics. It can operate in urban terrain; in tests, MAVs have bumped into obstacles and continued ﬂying. It can hover and stare—even the best ﬁxed-wing man-portable UAV can only stare at a target if there’s enough room to circle. It can also operate safely as little as 10 ft. off the ground, providing an extremely close look at a target. Improvements to the MAV are in the works. Early in 2008, Honeywell expects to ﬂy a heavy-fuel engine developed by Britain’s RCV company, running at 8,200 rpm. on JP-8 fuel. Tests of a gimbaled sensor have also started. This version of the MAV is intended as the smallest UAV in the Army’s FCS. � Defence IQ Presents MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE & SURVEILLANCE 2007 8th-10th October 2007, Le Meridien Park Atlantic, Lisbon, Portugal INTERNATIONAL EXPERT SPEAKERS WILL GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO: Book & Pay By 24th August to SAVE E150! 20 ■ High-level briefings from our international speaker panel including: Rear Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Director, Naval Aviation Department, Italian Navy Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) Dennis Forrest, Director Naval Policy and Doctrine, South African Navy Colonel Germano Marta, Programme Manager, P-3 Modernisation Office, Portuguese Air Force Colonel Alan D. Blair, Commander, Regional Air Control Element Atlantic, Canadian Forces Steven T. Liebler, Principal Deputy, Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Programme Office US Navy/PEO (A), PMA-290, US Navy ■ Gain an enhanced understanding of critical requirements and capability updates from maritime surveillance operators around the world including the US, UK, Portugal, Spain, Canada, South Africa, France, EU and NATO Focus on key maritime surveillance challenges INCLUDING inter-agency cooperation, littoral/deep water cross operations, over-the-coast surveillance, coastal border protection and network integration to further develop your own projects Analyse key maritime surveillance platforms and systems including the P-3 Orion, P-8A Poseidon, Broad Area Maritime Surveillance System (BAMS), Nimrod MRA4, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) RQ-8 Fire Scout and Sea King ASaC Mk7 Conference Sponsors ■ POST-CONFERENCE SITE VISIT: Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal, S.A (OGMA) 10th October 2007 Take advantage of the exclusive opportunity to tour the aircraft facilities in Alverca, offering support and maintenance to a range of maritime aircraft For more details please visit www.iqpc.com/eu/maritime/DTA, email Claudine.Patterson@iqpc.co.uk, or call Claudine directly on +44 (0) 207 368 9487 40 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JULY/AUGUST 2007 www.aviationweek.com/dti   � Page PB 3/5/07 636043792 2:43 PM CMYK    http://www.iqpc.com/eu/maritime/DTA http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - July 2007

Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Parallax Ghost Ship Low Visibility Red Tape Sub Catcher Boom Time Broad Access Fight or Flight Cut Loose Loud and Clear Drone On Postmortem The Net Cutting Edge On the Record In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - July 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.