Unmanned air vehicles (UAV) are starting to have an increasing effect on the battlefield.
But what does a commander do when he wants to take a close look at a potential target of opportunity without risking an expensive machine such as a General Atomics Predator or Northrop Grumman Global Hawk?
A small, grey object looking rather like a flattened brick with thin wings and twin fins on Raytheon's stand (Hall 2, A12a) is the company's answer to this problem. It is the first time that the its SilentEyes micro UAV has been shown at a UK exhibition.
The real version has just completed a nine-month demonstration contract and a proposal for a system design and development phase has been submitted to the Pentagon.
SilentEyes is designed to glide when launched from a platform such as a Predator, losing around 330m (1,000ft) per minute, eventually crashing. The demonstrator has a Global Positioning System, inertial navigation, an electro-optical sensor and datalink. Raytheon has been looking at an infrared sensor says Don Newman, director, unmanned systems but "you can think of all kinds of sensors". An improved camera is planned for the SDD phase.
The mini-UAV, which weighs about 3kg (8lb), has folding, high-aspect wings, and is around 50cm long. It is designed to cost less than $15,000 and this figure could drop if it was bought in quantity.
It is designed to be launched from multiple platforms. "We've been looking at embedding the launch assembly in an underwing pylon on the Predator B so it would become a 'smart pylon' with perhaps two or three SilentEyes per pylon," suggests Newman.
Source: Flight Daily News
