L-3 Communications is developing a scaled-up version of the Mobius optionally manned aircraft for the military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) market.
The new aircraft will be scaled up by 140% to accommodate a two-seat layout in a manned configuration, L-3 Communications chief executive Michael Strianese said in an interview on 23 May.
The existing Mobius, which is based on the Berkut 360 homebuilt design, has an 8.25m (26.7ft) wingspan and a 1,361kg (3,000lb) maximum take-off weight.
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"One of the big drivers there is that our current Mobius seats a pilot," Strianese said. "The scaled-up version will have two. It will have a co-pilot seat or a sensor operator."
The larger aircraft also will feature an automatic take-off and landing system, plus special sensors and communications systems, Strianese said.
L-3 has revealed the scaled-up Mobius concept only two weeks after Northrop Grumman disclosed the Firebird. Both aircraft are based on aircraft designed by Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan, with the Firebird based on the Model 355 and the Berkut 360 descended from the VariEze homebuilt aircraft.
Asked if the Mobius designs are in competition with the Firebird, Strianese said: "It sure is. [The Firebird] is going to be a competitor to this programme."
L-3 launched the Mobius programme in 2009 to compete in the market for unmanned medium-altitude long-endurance aircraft with an optionally manned platform.
Source: Flight International
