Defence

^{Peter La Franchi in Berlin}

The German army will stage flight trials later this month of five vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) mini unmanned air vehicles – including three newly unveiled systems – to support ongoing capability studies for an operational system.

Among the new contenders are a four-rotor design from Diehl subsidiary BGT Defence, a tail-sitting vehicle from MBDA, and a yet-to-be-disclosed design from Rheinmetall Defence Electronics. EMT is participating with a new configuration of its Fancopter, while SIM Security & Electronic Systems is to demonstrate a new version of its Air Robot.

German procurement agency BWB released a request for information to the companies earlier this year under a requirement for a close-range surveillance system capable of indoor and outdoor flight over an operational radius of up to 1km (0.5nm).

BGT started development work on its new SensoCopter two years ago as a joint effort with an unidentified partner, and conducted its first flights of the moulded- carbonfibre, electric-powered UAV in late 2005. The SensoCopter has a 20min endurance and uses GPS/inertial navigation.

The MBDA system consists of a cylindrical fuselage with four wings in an acute pyramid shape. The fuselage is topped with an electric motor and propeller, while the base supports a downward-facing camera. The polystyrene foam wings support a sprung wire undercarriage to ensure the sensor is not damaged during take-off or landing. The UAV will tilt over to the horizontal for forward flight. MBDA has also been developing a warhead-equipped loitering munition version of the air vehicle.

EMT’s evolved Fancopter introduces a new egg-shaped fuselage with twin lift rotors located top and bottom, and three small steering propellers – in place of the original design’s aerofoils – located on struts that support an outboard bumper ring and undercarriage. EMT staged indoor flight demonstrations of the new configuration during last month’s ILA 2006 air show in the German capital.

SIM’s revised Air Robot has an increased payload capacity and new brushless electric motors, data link and landing gear.