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BG Archive  —  CF Mini-UAV  candidates  —  IAI  Malat  I-View 50

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.

I View, You View, We All View  –  IAI Malat I-View 50 One of the more elusive candidates for CF mini-UAV is the I-View 50 from the Malat Division of Israeli Aircraft Industries. I-View 50  is the smallest member of a family of 'light' tactical UAVs whose designations are derived from their respective take-off weights: 50, 125 or 250kg. Since no images have been released of the I-View 50, our depiction above is very speculative. (Based on larger I-Views, we assumed a proportionately small payload bay and electric motor.)

Far more information is available on the one I-View model purchased so far –  the I-View 250 was bought for the Australian Defence Forces in late 2005,  fulfilling the Australian Army's Joint Project 129 tactical unmanned air vehicle requirement. The  I-View 250, as its designation suggests,  is a substantially heavier aircraft. I-View 250 is also powered by a two-cylinder, two-stroke piston engine. However, in layout, all members of the I-View family are essentially similar – a tractor propeller, pod-and-boom fuselage, and 'V' tail –  in contrast to earlier IAI Malat UAV designs.

Although the I-View  (top, right) is shown taking off from a paved runway, the intended operational method is far simpler. An I-View is meant to be launched from a catapult  (as are most small UAVs). Where the I-View differs is in landing.  Recovery  by  parachute is common (that is how the CF Sperwer TUAVs land) but the I-View does not use a parachute, exactly. Instead, I-View deploys a para- foil which allows a controlled descent (through powered flight) to ensure a soft landing.  I-View is said to be able to land within 50m radius of its aiming point and turned around within a few minutes. The I-View 50 should have even lighter landing loads than its kin.