UAVs

Aviation Sans Frontieres is to test the use of unmanned logistic air vehicles (ULAV) in support of humanitarian relief operations. It will carry out a four-month mission in either the Darfur region in southern Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo during the first quarter of 2008.

The trial will see a Flying Robots FR101 parasail ULAV used to set up an air bridge between major relief centres and outlying areas that are now inaccessible to the relief agencies' Cessna Caravans because of absence of infrastructure or presence of rebel forces.

One FR101 and two ground control stations will be deployed during the trial. If successful ASF intend to acquire its own fleet of the aircraft, says Jean-Claude Gerin, agency president.

The FR101 is capable of carrying 250kg (550lb) of cargo. It can carry out low-level airdrop operations, with supplies dispensed through underbelly payload doors, or manually unloaded after landing. Operation of the system is expected to cost €80 ($107) an hour to operate compared with AFS's $500 an hour operating cost for an individual Caravan.

Flying Robots president Michel Lallement says that for the proposed Darfur mission the ULAV would be used to shuttle supplies over distances of 200km (110nm) between regional distribution centres and outlying settlements. The service would replace ground convoys, which are regularly attacked by rebel forces. A ground control station would be located at either end of the airbridge to ensure safe aircraft operations.

Lallement says initial flights would be carried out with a pilot aboard to ensure the safety of later autonomous operations and to ensure acceptance of the system by the communities it is supporting.

In the Congo the air vehicle would fly either remote or autonomous profiles with AFS eyeing operations in the far north of that country where there are few landing zones for manned aircraft.

The ULAV system was initially developed by France-based Flying Robots to support aerobatic demonstrations by teams of skydivers. The system is capable of being flown remotely or fully autonomously, or with a pilot on board. A manned prototype was flown in public demonstrations at the 2005 Paris air show.