Dornier Lapwing
| Dornier Do 34 Lapwing | |
|---|---|
 Do-34 Kiebitz with battlefield radar ARGUS |
|
| Type: | Unmanned reconnaissance platform |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Dornier-Werke GmbH |
The Kiebitz was an unmanned military mobile reconnaissance platform , which, built by the Dornier-Werke , was primarily used for battlefield reconnaissance , i.e. H. remote moving target detection and tracking should be used. The development was based on a requirement of the army branch for its own system for immediate and timely reconnaissance of the opposing battle area. While Kiebitz I was still financed by its own funds and supported by research funds from the BMVg , Kiebitz II received an order from the BMVg from 1972 onwards.
description
Based on the single-seat Dornier Do 32 U small helicopter with a blade tip drive , Dornier began developing two versions of tied rotor platforms of the "Kiebitz System" type from 1966 onwards. Kiebitz I Do 32 K ( K operably linked), once with the rotor and driving the Do 32 (see below) and to the second is greater in performance kiebitz II with a larger rotor, also with a blade tip drive, but with KHD-T212- or MAN -Turbine. This version was called Do 34. With the blade tip drive, the compressor air from the drive turbine is directed to the thrust nozzles on the blade tips of the two rotor blades , which then drive the rotor. The drive turbine was built compactly in a clad support frame under the rotor. The system contained a controller on board to stabilize the position of the hovering flight ( hover ), to regulate the rope tension and to control / reverse control of shelves due to the wind and gusts. This was developed with the Lapwing I, tested and proven in 1976. However, it turned out that a higher payload and flight altitude will be necessary in operational operation in the future.
The flight systems were built on launch platforms for the loading area of standard army trucks. A striking feature of the launch platforms was a driven drum for a multifunctional tether rope. The rope contained an integrated hose for the fuel supply of the turbine drive from the ground. The rope also contained data lines for the control signals and data transfer from and to an active or passive sensor system . The length of the rope allowed the Lapwing I a maximum hovering height of 200 m, while with the Lapwing II it was the 300 m required by the consumer. The launch platform at Kiebitz II, in the form of a truck loading area superstructure, contained the driver's cab for the "pilot", the drum and the launch area with the flight system, as well as the tank for the jet fuel. The launch area and aircraft could be swiveled into the loading area structure for road transport .
The aircraft took off from the driver's cabin using control signals from the pilot and pulled the rope off the drum to the desired flight altitude released by the drum. At a height of 300 m, the quasi-optical range of vision is approx. 65 km. Taking into account the ability of electromagnetic waves to follow the curvature of the earth, this visibility is even up to 85 km. Reconnaissance ranges that corresponded to the demands of the army's area of interest for these tasks at that time. The aircraft could theoretically fly indefinitely and thus carry out a permanent reconnaissance, provided the tank on the ground was refilled accordingly. The Kiebitz I was still without sensors, the Kiebitz II had a radar , there were also jammers and warning systems to recognize a threat from approaching missiles or jamming systems to disguise one's own measures in the operational area.
The sensors were installed in the Kiebitz II in a payload carrier under the engine carrier frame. The radar had a circumferential 360 ° antenna and was protected by a radome , which gave the lapwing its characteristic appearance with the thickening at the base. For the radar, the German government (BMVg) signed a cooperation agreement with the French government (Ministry of Defense) in 1974, which ordered the French company LCT as a program partner and add-on for the radar to be installed called Orphée. The system of carrier, ground station and radar was now called the Lapwing Argus. In September 1981 France withdrew from the program and Dornier continued to develop on its own. Although the blade tip drive does not have torque compensation like a mechanically powered helicopter, e.g. B. via tail rotor is required, the stabilization was not sufficient for the intended radar. The aircraft was supplemented with two downward sloping tubes with nozzles, through which air flowed out to stabilize the platform / keep the radar steady.
The Kiebitz-Argus development came into troop trials with the army in 1981. It turned out that the altitude of 300 m defined at the beginning (1972) of the development was already too low due to the technical progress of the opposing technology, although the set tasks were fully fulfilled in a maneuver with a test scenario. The radar was even able to detect the rotor speeds of low-flying helicopters via the Doppler effect and thus assign the type. The modern enemy weapon systems now required a reconnaissance range of 150 km, which meant flight altitudes of 1000 m and more. Dornier made the suggestion of an unrestrained platform, as the rope weight to be carried by the aircraft would have been too great at 1000 m and the pumping up of the fuel without intermediate stages would have reached physical limits. This proposal was not accepted because, among other things, a. the Bundeswehr had changed its concept, according to which only the air force should carry out aerial reconnaissance with their manned aircraft and deliver the results to the armed forces. The BMVg discontinued the program. Because those in charge of the army continued to signal this need and also wanted to enforce it, Dornier decided to use its own resources to develop an untethered system under the name GEAMOS .
In the test program until the end of September 1981, more than 550 flights were carried out with the Kiebitz II, 47 of them at a height of 300 meters with more than 165 flight hours. The pilot on the ground with at least a private pilot license had to register his flights with the flight control and have them approved and was connected to the general air traffic. A procedure that would still have to be modified in the event of a war in the military.
The Kiebitz I Do 32K and Kiebitz II flight systems are now exhibited in the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen , and another of the Do 34, of which two systems were built, are in the Defense Technology Collection in Koblenz . However, the ground stations were scrapped and the lorries were returned to the army.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Dates of the Do 34, Kiebitz II |
|---|---|
| Rotor diameter | 8.4 m |
| Number of rotor blades | 2 |
| principle | Blade tip drive |
| Flight mass | 550 kg |
| Empty weight | 350 kg |
| Cable mass (300 m) | 85 kg |
| payload | 140 kg |
| drive | an Allison 250 C20 shaft turbine |
| power | 309 kW (420 WPS ) |
| Mission time / flight endurance | 24 hours |
| Maximum bet amount | 300 m |
| Ascent time to 300 m | 6 min |
literature
- Kyrill von Gersdorff, Kurt Knobling, Carl Bode: helicopter and gyrocopter, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1999, pp. 144–147. ISBN 3-7637-6115-2 .
- A documentation on the history of the Dornier company, published by Dornier GmbH, 1983, 214 pages bound.
