Low-cost development with eight-day endurance and 80m wingspan proposed
Aerovironment plans a military version of its Global Observer high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicle to compete with the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B and Mariner designs for expected requirements in Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Company vice-president Ilker Bayraktar says California-based Aerovironment will offer options on seven- and eight-day endurance versions of the Global Observer, a prototype of which flew for the first time last June (Flight International, 5-11 July 2005). The seven-day version, designated the GO-1, would have a 48.8m (160ft) wingspan, a payload of 160kg (350lb) and a gross take-off weight of 1,800kg.
Speaking at the Pacific 2006 autonomous unmanned vehicles symposium in Sydney early this month, Bayraktar said the increased-endurance GO-2 version would have an 80m wingspan, a 450kg payload and a 4,100kg gross take-off weight. Both configurations will use similar subsystems, including liquid hydrogen-powered fuel cells that will generate electricity to drive electric motors embedded in the wings.
Aerovironment says the GO-1 air vehicle will cost $14.2 million and the GO-2 $18.5 million, based on production of at least 10 aircraft each. Bayraktar claims the larger air vehicle will provide six times the endurance of currently produced HALE UAVs, which can operate for around 33h. Two GO-2 air vehicles could provide 24h surveillance of an area of interest at a range of 2,780km (1,500nm) for a one-year period, against an expected four current HALE UAVs, he adds.
The 12-month scenario would require the GO-2s to perform just 60 take-offs and landings, against a requirement for 506 flights by other HALE types, while fuel consumption is estimated at less than 100t for the period against an estimated 4,000t, Bayraktar says.
Australia is expected to launch a long-endurance UAV contest within two years, while Japan is preparing for a nearer-term acquisition. Saudi Arabia has not previously been identified as a potential customer. Bayraktar says Aerovironment has US licensing approval to market the UAV to all three countries.
PETER LA FRANCHI / SYDNEY
Source: Flight International
