Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III

The History of the Lockheed Martin Desert Eagle III

The Desert Eagle III, developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunkworks, first flew in 2006 and is modeled after an unmanned surveillance aircraft (UAV). The Desert Eagle III system is a larger, lighter version of the original Desert Eagle drone released in the early 2000s. The original system was successfully used in the early stages of the Afghanistan War on Terrorism, primarily by the British Army for tactical surveillance.

This model was replaced by the updated Desert Eagle III series, which brought several improvements to the series - including increased flight endurance.

The 8-pound Desert Eagle III vehicle is powered by a low-signal electric motor that drives a twin-blade propeller unit mounted on the front of the fuselage. The Desert Eagle III is a cost-effective alternative to a more feature-rich and larger drone that is fairly simple to be manually launched by an operator who then delegates control of the aircraft via a briefcase-style ground control station (GCS) . Since the Desert Eagle III does not have a traditional wheeled landing gear, it recovers via a belly landing, and also has an inherent "split" design that allows for a hard landing while retaining the drone's key components.

The drone can reach speeds of up to 55 mph.

Externally, the Desert Eagle III has a traditional aircraft layout with shoulder-mounted main wings, a vertical tail and a fuselage containing all applicable operational and mission components. The fuselage is teardrop-shaped from nose to tail, and the main wings are straight appendages.

A 360-degree traversing optics is located on the center mass of the vehicle belly. The UAV's compact size and lightweight, sturdy construction make it easy to transport - in a hard case or backpack.

The 15lb GCS allows remote control of the Desert Eagle III with full tracking support and control of up to four Desert Eagle III drones from a single GCS. Manual controls are provided, and operators are specially trained in the handling, operation, launch and recovery of this UAV system.

Waypoints can be pre-programmed into the device and fed to the drone, enabling automatic flight over the target area - take-off and landing actions are fully controlled by the operator. GCS provides in-flight reassignment, moving map display, mission playback capabilities and other features.

The Desert Hawk III series supports Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and can perform Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Communications Intelligence (COMINT) missions through a "plug and play" design. It can be equipped with infrared (IR) sensors, electro-optical (EO) sensors, long-wave infrared imager (LWIR) devices, and laser illuminators to provide the necessary surveillance capabilities the modern warfighter needs on the battlefield.

Versatility is an advantage, as surgery can be performed both day and night.

At one point, the Lockheed Desert Eagle III accounted for almost half of the UK drone inventory. It is also used by the US military.

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