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Arcturus T-20

2009 MODERN AIRCRAFT DRONE TECHNOLOGY

History of the Arcturus T-20

The Arcturus T-20 was originally developed as a private company by the Arcturus-UAV LLC group in California, USA, and advanced by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. As the name suggests, Arcturus-UAV LLC is a developer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for commercial and military applications.

Today, the company sells three different drone models, including the "T-15", "T-16" and the largest drone design to date, the "T-20". The T-20 is classified as a medium-range, reusable reconnaissance drone that can control a payload of advanced sensors, cameras and other applicable surveillance, tracking and surveillance equipment.

The first flight of the T-20 was recorded in 2008, and the U.S. military evaluated the system in early 2009. To date, about 10 have been delivered, with 160 expected to be delivered eventually.

The design of the T-20 is essentially a conventional aircraft with a predominantly composite fuselage. Its design features a plate-side fuselage equipped with a nose-mounted engine unit and a conventional T-tail. Avionics are located at the rear of the fuselage, while fuel is stored in the wings.

The empennage consists of a large vertical rudder terminated by a horizontal fin surface. The main wing assembly is shoulder mounted and has great lift capability (especially during takeoff) and good overall ground clearance (there are four underwing hardpoints available for "pod" jumps).

The design of each wing is straight and has a truncated tip. The interior fuselage compartment can hold up to 65 pounds, while the modular pallet system allows waiting ground crews to replace existing payloads in minutes and get the T-20 back in the air in no time.

An onboard camera kit can transmit visual information in real-time to the appropriate ground station, providing an unobstructed 360-degree field of view (FOV). The T-20 also features an integrated electro-optical, infrared and laser targeting system, as well as a GPS-based autopilot capable of autonomously navigating preset waypoints.

The T-20 fuselage has a full wingspan of 17.25 feet, a barrel length of 9.4 feet, and is powered by a single 10 hp fuel-injected 4-stroke gasoline engine mounted on the nose handle with a two-bladed propeller. Top speed listed is 104 mph and cruising speed is 63 mph. The T-20s configuration allows for more than 16 hours of mission endurance (this has a 35 lb payload - up to 500 miles at an altitude of 15,000 feet).

Curb weight is listed as 80 pounds, while the T-20 weighs 165 pounds on a fully loaded mission.

While the T-20 does not have an integral landing gear facility, the aircraft can be propelled into the air using the included pneumatic portable catapult. Officially named the Portable Launch System (PLS) by Arcturus, the launch system can be used for drone operations on land- or sea-based naval vessels - recoverable almost anywhere in the world a flat landing surface can be found drone. The Arcturus T-20 can land in two ways - via a prepared mesh array or on a chute along its belly.

This allows the T-20 to operate almost anywhere there is space for launch and recovery, and without the need for the runaway facilities that its larger, more expensive siblings are prepared for.