Sweden's Scandicraft has unveiled a production prototype of its Autonomous Probe for Data-acquisition (APID) Mk 5 lightweight vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV).
Scandicraft expects sales of 50 APID Mk5s in the near- to medium-term for civilian and military applications. The company sees increased interest in relatively low cost, lightweight VTOL systems in homeland security roles as a rapidly developing market niche.
The APID Mk5, unveiled at last week's Euro Unmanned Vehicle Society UAV 2003 conference in Paris, has a 4-6h endurance based on a 100kg (220lb) maximum take-off weight. The UAV is powered by a single-cylinder two-stroke 28hp (21kW) engine driving a 3m (10ft) diameter rotor. Scandicraft is also offering options for a two-cylinder, four-stroke engine operating on either jet or diesel fuel.
Source: Flight International
