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BG Archive
— CF Miniature Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Contest |
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Update
Elbit's Skylark has been chosen as the CU-168. It's not clear whether this is the outcome of
DND's 29 Nov 2005 announcement of a $10M contest for 10 mini UAVs or whether this and the IOR order for
5 mini UAVs (plus options on 5 more) are simply one and the same.
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"The God of Small Things" or Skylark & Microphobia
The CF took delivery of a number of small UAVs – first the man-packed FQM-151A Pointer, then CU-167
Silver Fox – for testing. Later, an IOR (Immediate Operational Requirement) for
five Skylark mini UAVs in March 2006 with options on
five more. Meanwhile, the Army also ran a contest for further mini UAV types. The Elbit Skylark
was entered into the contest but DND insisted that the IOR buy did not suggest any foregone
conclusions. [1] Predictable outcome or not, we'll examine the three mini UAV candidates: Skylark,
IAI Malat I-View 50, and Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle.
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The View from the Other Side: IAI Malat I-View 50
Another Israeli-made candidate is IAI Malat's I-View 50.
I-View is part of a modular family of lightweight UAVs. Largest of this
family, the I-View 250, was just bought for the Australian Army. The ADF is the first adopter of the new
series of UAVs, so the I-View 50 is something of an unknown quantity. In appearance, an I-View differs
considerably from earlier Israeli UAVs which were all twin-boom designs (like Ranger, above, or the CU-160 Eagle tested off the West Coast in
2003).
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While different from their predecessors, the I-View UAVs appear quite conventional – sporting a
tractor propeller layout and low- set wings like many light aircraft. Only the slender, after fuselage boom and
V-tail distinguishes these UAVs. All of these features contribute to the unimpeded deployment of the
I-View para-foil landing system – allowing this UAV to control its landings with its power on
throughout the descent. (An interesting aspect of the CF mini-UAV competition is that all three candidates take
a completely different approach to landing).
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Ever Circling the Same Spot – Insitu ScanEagle
Most radical in appearance of the UAV candidates for mini-UAV is the Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle. Like the other drones, the arrangement of this UAV was dictated by
how it 'lands'. The ScanEagle features hooks on each wing-tip. To recover a SeaScan, the UAV
is position to snare a tether with one of those hooks (right), lurching the UAV to a sudden halt.
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[1] The Australian Defence Forces first bought the Elbit Skylarks and then followed up with an order for IAI
Malat's I-View 250 TUAV. It could be argued that the larger I-View 250 performs a different
function but the rwo ADF orders lend some credibility to DND's claims.
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The ScanEagle recovery system (dubbed the SkyHook for obvious reasons) is novel among UAVs.
Beyond retrieval, the ScanEagle layout has other benefits – its pusher propeller places sensors close to
the nose (right), while swept- back wings ensure a clear view for cameras. The origins of the design go back to
the SeaScan, a commerical fisheries UAV, making ScanEagle equally well- suited to operations on land or
at sea. The US Navy employed its amphibious transport dock USS Cleveland to test catapult launching and wing-tip
hook recovery of the SeaScan (above).