Germany plans to field its Taifun unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) by 2006. It is designed for attacks on tanks and other high-value targets up to 170km behind enemy lines.
According to Col Wolfgang Krusa, chief of the German Army's procurement office for unmanned aerial vehicles, the STN Atlas Elektronik-developed, propeller-powered UCAV is part of a family of robot craft for the German armed forces.
Speaking at the European Unmanned Vehicles Society's UAV 2001 conference on the eve of the show, Kruza said good results had been achieved during the deployment in Kosovo of the EMT Luna X-200 brigade-level UAV. In two months of trials it flew 176 missions, producing data rated "very good" by commanders. An improved system is due to be fielded next year.
Source: Flight Daily News
