Europe's Unmanned Systems Group is exhibiting its new Discoverer II tactical UAV at the show, with the design already involved in initial flight testing.
On display with an electro-optical/infrared sensor installed beneath its fuselage, the Discoverer II is unique in its class because it has been designed specifically to accommodate the Selex ES Seaspray 5000E maritime search radar, says chief executive Michael Olofsson.
With a maximum take-off weight of 250kg (550lb), the more than 16h endurance air vehicle could alternatively carry sensors such as the Selex PicoSAR synthetic aperture radar as part of a payload totalling up to 70kg.
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Unmanned Systems Group |
Potential applications for the type could include performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks for military customers, or providing a border monitoring and coastguard capability for civilian operators, the company says.
Headquartered in Switzerland and with its fixed-wing development activities centred in Linköping, Sweden, the Unmanned Systems Group last month merged its capabilities with those of Swiss UAV, whose products include the vertical take-off and landing Neo S-350. It also has forged a relationship with Kuwait Aerospace Technologies, through which it has tested its equipment under the tough environmental conditions encountered in the Middle East.
"We offer a complete range of services, from advice and training through to platforms and leased services," Olofsson says.
"We don't just design equipment," he adds: "some of our operators have thousands of hours on the Reaper and Predator, from Afghanistan and Iraq."
Source: Flight Daily News
