Perspective of Future Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the U.S. Army

摘要

This presentation provides an overview of current Army efforts in the area of micro unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs), the operational purpose of MUAVs, and the various missions they serve, including reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, battlefield damage assessment, unit patrols, and force protection. The SUAV can perch and stare and it can hover and stare. It can do inflight tasking for surveillance and reconnaissance and can act as an unattended ground sensor. The MUAV is soldier operated so there is no need for a dedicated operator; it is man-packable, retaskable, and reusable; it can be launched and recovered in confined spaces; it provides line-of-sight and non- line-of-sight; it can be powered by fuel or battery; it is extremely quiet; it has a range of 5 to 8 kilometers; its endurance time is 50 minutes on target and 70 minutes flight time; and it is low in cost. Military users will be primarily dismounted soldiers, including scouts, infantry, special operations, engineers, chemical specialists, and military police. Sensor payloads include electro-optical/infrared imagery with real time direct receipt of imagery and day/night imagery, chemical biological detector payload, and zoom features. The presentation consists of eight briefing charts.