Testing Talk - Ducted fan UAVs have, until now, been manufactured as demonstration models, the author takes a close look at the next generation, the GoldenEye-80

摘要

Without helicopter rotors or fixed-wing propellers, vertical take-off ducted fans may make Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) safer to handle on the ground and stealthier in flight. Aurora Flight Sciences headquartered in Manassas, Virginia began flight testing its third-generation GoldenEye ducted fan UAV for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). "The previous two were designed to be technology demonstrators," explained chief engineer Martin Gomez. "GoldenEye-80 was designed as a real military requirement." Though the US Army has deferred its requirement for a company-level UAV, production prototypes of the GoldenEye-80 joined the test program in February and will begin customer demonstrations this spring.