AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven

History

The AeroVinronment RQ-11 Raven is classified as a "Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" (SUAV) as a direct result of its manageable size and weight. The Raven was developed from the privately owned "FQM-151 Pointer" SUAV released in 1999 and later used by the US Army and USMC.

AeroVironmental, Incorporated was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Monrovia, California, led by aerospace engineer Paul MacCready. The company has produced countless and even ingenious technological products, including the first viable human-powered aircraft, a variety of solar-powered aircraft as well as solar- and conventional-powered drones, a hydrogen-powered "Global Observer," a solar-powered "Sunraycer," "cars, and even flying." A replica of the pterosaur dinosaur. The Raven SU??AV is currently in service with the armed forces of Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom (on loan from the United States) and the United States.

The African Union's Burundi and Uganda will accept the type of fighting insurgents in Somalia.

The Raven can perform a variety of aerial missions for the military and civilian markets, but is best known for its military applications, where it has been used to visually acquire targets of interest, gather area information, or reconnaissance locations. To date, approximately 13,000 Ravens have been produced and are currently in widespread use in the US SOCOM (Special Forces), US Army and Air Force, and other ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The small size of UAVs has proven useful at the brigade, company and small unit levels by providing real-time battlefield intelligence. The Raven first flew in 2001 and was officially launched in 2003. Mass production began in 2006, costing US taxpayers $35,000 per unit.

The entire Raven complex - the aircraft and corresponding control station - cost over $250,000.

The design of the Raven UAV is as traditional as the aircraft, although the key qualities of the system are its compact size and manual launch operation. The Crow just had to have one member launch the nose of the plane into the air first to take off. The main working parts of the body are contained within a rectangular body covered by a curved nose cone assembly that houses the all-important camera kit. At the front of the fuselage is a forward-facing, side-facing CCD EO camera system with electronic pan-tilt zoom and full stabilization, as well as an infrared night vision camera with front- and side-view capabilities.

The tail boom extends from the lower tail of the Raven fuselage and features a vertical tail with integrated horizontal stabilizers. The Raven's main wing components slope significantly upward outside the fuselage. A simple two-bladed propeller is located on the top rear of the fuselage and is used to propel the small drone through the air (in a "thrust" arrangement). Power is provided by a single Aveox 27/26/7 AV electric motor, giving the aircraft a top speed of 56 km/h and a mission duration of approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. The vehicle has a barrel length of 55 inches, a wingspan of 4.5 feet, and an operating weight of 4.2 pounds.

These factors allow transport in a standard backpack.

The RQ-11 can operate in both day and night environments thanks to the use of day and infrared camera systems and can be controlled by a ground operator or scheduled to fly autonomously at set waypoints and be guided to each Points become GPS navigation. Unlike the larger, more powerful UAV platforms currently in service, the Raven's aerial surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities are limited by line-of-sight operations up to 10 kilometers, although video transmissions are real-time and in color.

An "Autoland" feature is built into the software to allow recovery and reuse.

The original production form of the Raven series was the RQ-11A, although this form is no longer offered today. The U.S.

Army procured at least 376 Raven A variants (after they were selected as the winners of the Army SUAV competition), followed by the "enhanced" RQ-11B Raven B, which also spawned the eight-channel RQ-11B as the RQ-11B DDL with digital data link for spectrum management and interoperability. Model B builds on the original Raven design's inherent advantages in mission durability and functionality, including support for IR illumination, upgraded GCU, lighter operating weight, and upgraded optics. long.

Series production of the B model began on October 5, 2006, with 80 prototypes in service by the end of the year.

Specification

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