Tube-Launched Rotary Wing UAV for Remote Surveillance Operations

The Navy desires to equip P-3's and similar future aircraft with UAV's that can be launched from a standard A-size sonobouy tube and return real-time information including video images from remote locations to the P-3 for further analysis and action. Lite Machines has previously developed an electric-powered rotary-wing UAV having a cylindrical body and a counter-rotating, coaxial, rotor system, that fits within these tight size constraints, and that could be reconfigured for use in the Navy program. This Phase I work plan will measure the flight performance of the existing prototype UAV and use these measurements to calibrate a computer software model. This model will then be used to predict the flight performance of variants of the current UAV developed to meet specific P-3 mission requirements.