Bombardier's CL-327 Guardian vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VTOLUAV) crashed on 10 June at the Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, after completing a flight test programme for the US Department of Defense (DoD). The Guardian is believed to be a total loss.
Bombardier had completed the 50h of flight testing required for the DoD's VTOL UAV demonstration programme. The rotary-wing Guardian was evaluated against the Bell Helicopter Textron Eagle Eye tiltrotor UAV and Science Applications International (SAIC) Vigilante helicopter UAV, for maritime and tactical use.
Meanwhile, SAIC has asked for more time to complete the demonstration which ended on 11 June after it had been able to conduct only about half of the required 24 tests because of technical problems with the Vigilante's flight control system.
Allan Rutherford, the Vigilante programme manager, is seeking to extend the $1.8 million contract so that SAIC can complete the test programme at another site. The request remains under review.
Source: Flight International
