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Armed Forces - a6a9 - British Army - Artillery - Phoenix UAV (Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle)
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PHOENIX UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) |
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Phoenix is an all weather, day or night, real time
surveillance system which consists of a variety of elements. The twin
boom UAV (unmanned air vehicle) provides surveillance through its
surveillance pod, the imagery from which is data linked via a ground
data terminal (GDT) to a ground control station (GCS).
This controls
the overall Phoenix mission and is used to distribute the UAV provided
intelligence direct to artillery forces, to command level, or to a
Phoenix troop command post (TCP).
The principle method of
communication from the GCS to artillery on the ground is via the
battlefield artillery engagement system (BATES).
Powered by a 19kW (25hp) Target Technology 342 two stroke flat twin
engine, the Phoenix air vehicle (with a centrally mounted fuel tank)
is almost entirely manufactured from composites such as Kevlar, glass
fibre, carbon reinforced plastics and Nomex honeycomb. The principal
subcontractor was Flight Refuelling of Christchurch in Dorset.
The modular design UAV can be launched within one hour of reaching a
launch site and a second UAV can be dispatched within eight minutes
from the same launcher. The wing span is 5.5 m and the maximum launch
weight 175 kgs. The manufacture, GEC states that "Flight endurance is
in excess of four hours, radius of action 50 kms and the maximum
altitude 2,700 m (9,000 feet).
A flight section consists of a launch and recovery detachment and a
ground control detachment.
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The launch and recovery detachment consists of
three vehicles; the launch support vehicle, with several UAVs and
mission pods in separate battlefield containers, plus operational
replacement spares and fuel; the launch vehicle, which features a
pallet mounted lifting crane, the hydraulic catapult and launch
ramp, a pre launch detonator device, built in test equipment, and
the Land Rover recovery vehicle which is fitted with cradles for
the air vehicle and mission pod.
The ground control detachment consists of two vehicles, the ground
control station and the Land Rover towed ground data terminal.
The British Army has one regiment (32 Regiment) equipped with
Phoenix. Each of the three Phoenix batteries in 32 Regiment are
believed to be equipped with 27 x UAV, with associated ground
support equipment and a battery has enough resources to launch 72
flights. The total cost of the programme was £227 million and each
Phoenix aircraft is believed to cost approximately £300,000. The
overall initial purchase was 198 Phoenix
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PHOENIX UAV Specifications |
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Length |
3.8m |
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Wingspan |
5.5m |
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Maximum
launch weight |
175kg |
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Mission
pod |
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Weight
mission pod |
50kg |
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Propulsion |
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Motor |
WAE
342, two stroke, flat twin fuel injection,19kW (25hp) |
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Propeller |
Two
blade fixed pitch wooden propeller, 780 mm |
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Generator |
Plessey
900 watts |
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Performance |
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Maximum
speed |
85
knots, 155km/hr |
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Flight
endurance |
more
than 4 hours |
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Radius
of operation |
more
than 50 km |
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Maximum
altitude |
2,750m
- 9,000ft |
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Launch
& Recovery |
Truck-mounted
hydraulic catapult, parachute - airbag |
Photos Crown
Copyright
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