Single Use Uncrewed Aircraft with Oceanic Range

Tropical Cyclone meteorological data from the Atlantic main development region (MDR) is difficult to collect due to the remoteness of the location and difficulty of deploying manned aircraft to the region. Data collection is frequent upon development of a major hurricane but many tropical disturbances in the MDR leading up to hurricane development are of interest. Being able to collect meteorological data nearly on-demand could be of great benefit, both in predicting hurricane formation and in tasking manned assets for higher fidelity data collection. Dragoon proposes that a lightweight (sub-30 lbs), disposable, long endurance (more than 24 hrs) small UAS be developed for tropical cyclone meteorological data collection. The platform will utilize Dragoon’s internally developed hybrid electric propulsion system and integrated avionics package. Phase I will involve a demonstration of a long duration data collection flight using an existing demonstration aircraft. The flight will show feasibility of the propulsion system as well as data collection and upload via a satellite link. A roadmap for de-risking regulatory approval for future flights will be developed, as well as a high-level design for the prototype aircraft used for in-situ measurements in Phase II.