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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 1365.PDF
PHOENIX DESCRIBED 1 ••P mt/i JHM^HH nmand post (TCP), incipal method of commu nicating from the GCS to artillery is via the battle field-artillery targeting en gagement system (BATHS). Powered by an J9kW (25hp) Target Technology 342 two-stroke Hal-twin engine, the Phoenix air-vehicle (with a centrally mounted fuel tank) is almost entirely manufactured from com posites such as Keviar, glassfibre- and car- bonfire reinforced plastic and Nomex honeycomb. The principal sub-contractor on the airframe is Flight Refuelling of Chrislchurch, Dorset, UK. The Phoenix air vehicle is of modular design, for ease of transportation on the battlefield, being broken down info-the fuselage with the'twin tail-booms; detach able wings; tailpiane'attachment; a dorsal shock absorber (for landing); the mission pod; and replaceable wing and fip tips. 1 he UAV can be launched within Ih upon reaching a launch site and a second can be 'patched 8min later, from the same cher. The wing span is 5.5m and max- ;ight 175kg. GEO says: 'Flight endurance is in excess of 4h, radius [of action] more than 50km and maximum altitude 9,000ft [2,750m]." The maximum speed is 85kt (155km/h). Before launch and recovery, the UAV is stored in an electromagnetic-pulse (EMP)-hardened container, each vehicle Tiaving a shelf life of 15 years. The Phoenix UAV system is sensor-ori entated, the air vehicle operating as a taxi to carry the sensor payload to and around the designated target area. The 50kg mis sion pod; slung beneath the fuselage, fea tures a two-axis stabilised turret carrying a thermal-imaging sensor. The latter is based on the GMAv Thermal Imaging Common Modules 11 hardware and lea-. tures'a 60V40° fielc!-of-view Sprite detec tor operating in the 8-14um band. Using a zoom telescope, magnification is provided between x2".5 and xlO. The "sensor is designed "to scan, through! 360° continu ously in azimuth and e!e\alion. During the cruise phase of the mission, the sensor can be locked at a pre-set ele vation or prepared to scan in an automal- ic mode. In an area-search mode, sector scanning is used and, when the Phoenix is in orbit round a target, the sightline is steered automatically to ensure tha remains correctly targeted. The mission pod also has the airborne components of the datalink. These are automatically switchablc steered anten nae fore and aft, "giving highly direction al secure communications', says GMAv LEVEL HORIZON A third roll axis is provided to stabin the whole sensor pod so that botruhe tur ret-mounted sensor and the datalink antennas are always horizontal. This gives the ground-based observer a level horizon and simplifies control of the datalink. "The operator on the ground has no per ception of the UAV turning and so suffers no motion disorientation,' says Haffey. The Phoenix sensor-pod package is also .flexible. GMAv says: "Inter changeable;, alternative, po.ds could pro vide early-warning, air-defence-supprcs- sion, laser-designation, communicati'"' relay, decoy or nuclear, biplogical chemical [NBC] monitoring roles. The level of command above-the GSC FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL I - 7 June, 1994 35
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