PRO.R.A. UAV: The Italian Research Program on UAV Technologies

摘要

In the frame of the Italian Aerospace Research Program (PRO.R.A.) an important research line is related to the development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aimed at the flight demonstration of technologies particularly relevant to the national aeronautical community; the final goal of the program is to face the very ambitious challenge of the high altitude and long endurance flight. PRO.R.A. UAV program represents the strategic choice of realizing technological demonstrators, by making use of the concept of unmanned aerial vehicles, motivated by both the growing interest in this kind of unmanned vehicles for scientific, civil and military aims, and the direct fall-out for the whole aeronautical community of the related technological progress. This paper will present the PRO.R.A. - UAV program, that will be developed in a time frame of nine years (2002-2010). The program has been organized so as to guarantee a strong synergy between the realization of the flying demonstrators and the development of technological projects, in the areas of Aerodynamics, Structures and Materials, Guidance, Navigation and Control, Propulsion. The study and the development of the above technologies have a dual significance, i.e. to provide the know-how needed to the realization of the flying platforms and to be finalized and demonstrated by the same platforms.