By Geoff Fein
Acuity Technologies and Piasecki Aircraft Corp., are both in the midst of a phase two Navy small business innovation research (SBIR) effort to develop a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be deployed from either a Lockheed Martin [LMT] P-3C or Boeing‘s [BA] P-8 surveillance aircraft.
For Menlo Park, Calif.-based Acuity, this is their first Navy SBIR program. Their concept is a folding wing, tail-less, flying wing, UAV dubbed the AT-3 OWL.
The Navy required the UAV to be wing or bomb bay launched, Robert Clark, company president, told Defense Daily yesterday at the 2008 Navy Opportunity Forum in Arlington, Va.
The UAV will be used to deploy sonobouys, sensors and act as a communications relay, Clark added.
The AT-3 also has an in-flight variable sweep wing that allows the UAV to compensate for center of gravity changes that could occur depending on the payload it is carrying.
The AT-3 is capable of carrying up to a 200-pound payload, the equivalent of five full size, or 10-half-size, sonobouys, Clark noted.
The AT-3 will be able to carry an electro-optical camera and could have an infrared camera mounted in its nose, he added.
It will also be capable of acting as an over the horizon communications relay, Clark said.
The UAV is made out of a carbon fiber and fiberglass material.
A significant area of technology development is the propulsion system for the AT-3. The UAV uses a 15-inch ducted fan. Acuity has demonstrated more than 100 pounds of thrust to date, according to a company release.
The engine selected for the AT-3 is a heavy version of the AR-741 produced by United Kingdom-based UAV Engines Limited. The engine is in the late stages of development, according to Acuity.
Acuity is a true small business, employing eight people at its Bay Area offices.
“SBIR is very good for helping to fund development of new ideas,” Clark said. “It’s been helpful in getting our technology developed.”
The company has done seven phase one and four phase two SBIRs. However, this UAV effort is the first Navy SBIR the company has undertaken, Clark said.
“The Navy has an organized transition program to go beyond phase two,” he noted. “It’s unique.”
The company will move the AT-3 from ground-based testing to flight tests in late 2008 or early 2009, Clark added.
Acuity and Piasecki Aircraft Corp. were two of 50 proposals submitted for a phase one SBIR. The Navy selected five companies for the phase one effort and then narrowed the field to two for phase two, Clark said.
“Both phase twos have gone on to a phase two option,” he said.
Piasecki’s effort is called Turais. The company will test drop a prototype in the next fiscal year, a company representative said.
Currently, Piasecki is looking at a turbo fan engine because the company is expecting the UAV to attain speeds of approximately 200 knots, the representative said.
“The engine is open ended. The customer hasn’t defined a speed requirement,” the representative said.
Because the requirement is for the UAV to be “optionally recoverable, the key is to keep the Turais low-cost, the representative said.
Turais has folding wings to fit into the P-3C bomb bay and to reduce drag if carried and deployed from the wings, Jonathan den Hartog, project engineer, told Defense Daily yesterday.
The company had a quarter-scale model of its UAV on display at the 2008 Navy Opportunity Forum.
In addition to being deployed from a P-3C or P-8, den Hartog added that the UAV is also “compatible with other ship launched aircraft.”
For example, the F/A-18 or MH-60 helicopter, he added.
The 53-year-old company employs 65 people and has developed more than 25 advanced manned and unmanned aircraft, den Hartog said.
Turais has an aluminum fuselage with composite wings, he said.
In addition to Turais, Piasecki is developing the X-49A “SpeedHawk” Vector Thrust Ducted Propeller compound helicopter technology, den Hartog said.
“It transitioned to the Army in 2004 from a Navy SBIR,” he added.