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Short‐range, unmanned air vehicle system development at Cranfield

Robert Jones (Cranfield University, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, UK)
David Dyer (Cranfield University, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, UK)
Peter Thomasson (Cranfield University, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, UK)

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

ISSN: 0002-2667

Article publication date: 1 October 2001

1085

Abstract

In the mid‐1990s Cranfield began work on a programme to develop a short‐range, unmanned air vehicle system for surveillance use. The basic aim of the work was to prove the technologies to provide real time reconnaissance imagery of ground targets to operators having the minimum of skills in air vehicle operations. Cranfield was able to bring a wide range of proven skills to the programme in the areas of airframe and control system design, mathematical modelling and real time simulation plus system integration and flight trials. All of these contributed to the work described here. The programme led to the demonstration of a complete “Observer” system, including the new Cranfield A3 air vehicle, which met the requirements for a robust, simple to operate system for providing the imagery information required without the need to master the complexities of the technologies deployed to provide it.

Keywords

Citation

Jones, R., Dyer, D. and Thomasson, P. (2001), "Short‐range, unmanned air vehicle system development at Cranfield", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 73 No. 5, pp. 480-490. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005879

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited

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