Description. Aerial target and lethal drone systems. Sponsor. South African National Defence Force through the Ministry of Defence. Status. South Africa is working on a number of UAV development and production efforts that will fulfill a variety of training and attack missions. Total Produced. Approximately 143 ARD-10 attack drones, 554 HTD-1 Skuas, and 4,973 various target drones were produced in South Africa, South Korea, and other parts of Asia through 2018. Application. Aerial targets for training and lethal drones for attack missions. Price Range. The ARD-10 is estimated to cost $322,900 and the HTD-1, $402,500. Propulsion. The HTD-1 is powered by an Apex gas turbine engine. South Africa's other aerial targets use small rotary engines for propulsion. Denel is working under a research contract to study the optimization of UAV engines. ATE developed the Apex TJ-350, a low-cost expendable gas turbine engine for target drones. Static thrust at sea level is 3,500 N. Work commenced in 1985, and the turbojet later became available for production. Control & Guidance. A radio command/autopilot guidance system is available, as are preprogrammed flight profiles. Launcher Mode. Catapult launched from pneumatic truck-mounted rail. Recovery. The aerial targets can be recovered via a parachute. The lethal systems are expendable.
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