Honeywell has joined forces with Allied Aerospace Industries to pursue the requirement to develop unmanned organic air vehicles (OAVs) for the US Army's Boeing-led Future Combat System (FCS). The two companies have flown competing designs under the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) OAV technology demonstration.
Honeywell will be prime contractor, and provide avionics and other systems for air vehicles produced by Allied (formerly Micro Craft). Honeywell has been flying a prototype of its Kestrel OAV, but programme manager John Stenger says it "makes more sense" to adapt Allied's lift-augmented ducted fan (LADF) design, which is more scalable. The FCS programme requires two sizes: a man-portable OAV Light 150-230mm (6-9in) in diameter; and a vehicle-mounted OAV Medium 480-740mm in diameter.
Allied is building 300 examples of a 230mm-diameter LADF for US Army field testing. It has also flown a 740mm-diameter LADF, and is completing a 480mm-diameter vehicle for the OAV demonstration. The goals of the demonstration include developing design codes for scaling the vehicle from small to large sizes; reducing acoustic signature; and demonstrating adverse-weather capability.
The LADF has an outer duct enclosing the fan and a centrebody housing the engine, avionics and payload. The vehicle takes off, hovers and lands vertically, transitioning to horizontal for forward flight. Allied's 740mm design weighs 33kg (73lb), including a 9kg payload, while the 230mm design weighs 1.8kg with a 0.18kg payload.
Source: Flight International
