Boeing ScanEagle

ScanEagle
ScanEagle on the launch catapult
Type:	UAV
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Boeing Insitu
First flight:	June 20, 2002
Commissioning:	2004

The ScanEagle is an unmanned aerial vehicle from the US manufacturer Boeing and Insitu , which has been part of Boeing since 2008. The main tasks of the ScanEagle are reconnaissance , surveillance and the acquisition of intelligence information .

history

The ScanEagle was originally developed in 2001 under the name SeaScan for the fishing industry in order to search for and track schools of tuna from the air . This required an aircraft that could take off and land from normal ships. For cost reasons and to avoid the disadvantages of a helicopter , the developers chose a fixed-wing aircraft with special take-off and landing procedures instead . The need of the US military to be able to observe local areas from the air over a longer period of time ultimately led to an adaptation of the ScanEagle with regard to military matters in 2002.

In Iran, a copy of the ScanEagle was rebuilt from 2012 to the end of 2013 under the name Yasir .

construction

ScanEagle with the lanyard attached to the wing tip

The ScanEagle is designed as a tailless aircraft with winglets as rudders and a 23.2 ° wing sweep . The wings and fuselage are made entirely of fiber composite materials . In order to ensure problem-free transport and to be able to simply replace individual parts in the event of damage, the aircraft has a modular structure. The SeaEagle is powered by a two-stroke engine with a pusher propeller . For this purpose, the engine, originally designed for gasoline, was converted to run on kerosene . A flight control system from Athena Technologies and numerous sensors are integrated to control the aircraft . In addition to a GPS receiver and an INS platform, a magnetometer and air data sensors are available. The control and telemetry via a UHF - data link , while the payload data in the S-band are transmitted at frequencies around 2.4 GHz. The data transmission is secured by using frequency hopping spread spectrum .

The ScanEagle carries one of various SAR (ImSAR), thermal image (DRS E6000) or photo detectors as its payload .

For sea-based use, adapted take-off and landing procedures have been developed for the SeaScan and ScanEagle. The start takes place by means of a pneumatic catapult , which accelerates the aircraft to approx. 90 km / h. Landing can either be done conventionally (only on land) or using the patented SkyHook system. The aircraft flies against a vertically stretched 15 m long line which, due to the wing sweep, slides to the outer ends of the wing and locks into a hook system there.

In order to keep costs low, common standard components ( COTS components) were used in the construction of the SeaScan, especially at the beginning wherever possible . The two-stroke engine for the drive was derived from a model airplane engine, a standard video camera (Sony 1000) was installed and a normal working platform was modified for the landing system . Additional sensors were only added in the course of military retrofitting measures.

operator

The following countries operate the ScanEagle:

•  United States ( US Navy , US Marine Corps )
•  Canada
•  Australia ( Australian Army )
•  Poland
•  Colombia
•  Singapore
•  Iraq Delivered from the US in 2013 and 2014 in support of the fight against IS in al-Anbar province
•  Indonesia From 2018 a unit for maritime air surveillance will be set up.

use

The ScanEagle has so far been used mainly in Iraq , Afghanistan and Pakistan . There it is used by Australian, American and Canadian armed forces. But it has also been used to fight pirates . For example, Maersk Alabama was monitored by pirates from ScanEagles during the occupation. Colombia uses the ScanEagle in the fight against terrorists and drug smugglers .

On December 4, 2012, the Iranian armed forces reported that they had intercepted a ScanEagle type drone. However, this was denied by the US military shortly afterwards. An unnamed US Defense Department official said: “ Whatever the Iranians claim they have, it is not an actively operating US Navy drone. "

Technical specifications

ScanEagle taking off from USS Comstock (LSD-45)

Parameter	Data
length	1.37 m
span	3.11 m
payload	6.5 kg
Empty mass	13.1 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	20.0 kg
Top speed	114 km / h
Cruising speed	69 km / h
Service ceiling	5944 m
Max. Rate of climb	150 m / min
Range	1500 km
Flight duration	over 28 h
Engine	a 3W-28 two-stroke engine (1.9 hp)

See also

• List of aircraft types

Web links

Commons : Boeing ScanEagle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Product on the Insitu website
• Product on Boeing website
• Picture gallery at Boeing

Individual evidence

1. ↑ designation-systems.net: Boeing / Institute ScanEagle. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} insitu.com: ScanEagle. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 16, 2010 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ ^{a b c} flightglobal.com: Scan Eagle Cutaway and feature. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
4. ↑ US Department of Defense: ScanEagle Proves Worth in Fallujah Fight. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Flight Global: ScanEagle Story - finding tuna and terrorists: how a UAV evolved. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
6. ^ Report on the Iranian production on Press TV
7. ↑ http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13911119000421#
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} naval-technology.com: ScanEagle Mini-UAV, USA. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b} insitu.com: ScanEagle A-15. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 23, 2006 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ gizmag.com: ScanEagle UAV gets Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gary Mortimer: Boeing ScanEagle. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 1, 2011 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ flightglobal.com: Insitu receives contract to deliver ScanEagles to Poland. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} uasvision.com: ScanEagles in Colombia Since 2006. Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
14. ↑ Indonesian unmanned aviation squadron to be formed on c4defence.com, accessed July 15, 2018
15. ↑ uasresearch.com: Out-of-Country Operational Military Deployments. (PDF; 18 kB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ^ Daily Times: US ready to supply UAV ScanEagle to Pakistan. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010 ; Retrieved May 12, 2011 . 
17. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine: Iran reports the downing of American drones. Retrieved December 4, 2012 . 
18. ↑ Tagesschau: Iran reports interception of a US drone. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012 ; Retrieved December 4, 2012 . 
19. ↑ Reuters: Iran claims to have intercepted US espionage drone. Retrieved December 4, 2012 . 
20. ↑ Spiegel.de: USA denies Iranian drone catch. Retrieved December 4, 2012 . 
21. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/04/world/meast/iran-us-drone
22. ↑ barnardmicrosystems.com: Insitu Group Scan Eagle UAS A-15. Retrieved May 12, 2011 .