ST Engineering unveils Veloce fixed-wing VTOL UAVs

摘要

Singapore defence prime ST Engineering unveiled the Veloce family of hybrid fixed-wing/vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the 2020 Singapore Airshow. The company showcased two market-ready Veloce variants -the Veloce 15 (V15) and Veloce 60 (V60) - at the event. Both air vehicles are centred on a common airframe design comprising a main fuselage pod that supports the type's payload, avionics, shoulder-mounted wings, and a rear-mounted piston engine that drives a two-bladed pusher propeller. The airframe also features four vertical-lift electric motors housed in booms attached to the underside of the wings, which in turn supports an inverted V-shaped tail assembly. Like other fixed-wing VTOL UAVs, both the V15 and V60 can be deployed without a runway or a dedicated launch and recovery system (LARS) due to their ability to take-off and land vertically using their electric motors, before tran-sitioning to conventional flight when the appropriate altitudes have been reached.