A Multi-purpose Autonomous Flight Vehicle System

The use of unmanned aircraft for civilian purposes has been limited to that of remotely controlled flight vehicle operations within line-of-site. The Global Positioning System (GPS) has created new opportunities for the development and application of autonomous flight vehicles. It is now technically and economically feasible to replace manned aircraft and systems currently used in the roles of coastal surveillance, oil discharge policing, aerial geological surveying, weather soundings and severe weather reconnaissance with autonomous flight vehicles equipped with the appropriate sensors. The extremely high cost of undertaking these roles with manned aircraft suggests potentially lower cost methods should be investigated. A study of sensor systems required for each of these roles and mission profiles suggests that a single Multipurpose Autonomous Flight vehicle (MAFV) system is both technically and economically feasible. In order to accommodate the diversity of payload requirements and varying mission durations the proposed flight vehicle is to be of modular architecture, with a common cylindrical fuselage core module and standardized structural/electronic interfaces. Fuel, power plant, payload and navigation/guidance modules will be interchangeable to enable the MAFV to be optimised for the desired mission. The MAFV system concept requires that all configurations would use a common launch and recovery system and data receiving station. Specialist companies and government agencies can lease a MAFV configured for their specific needs from a regional operator. Some specialist users may prefer to supply their own payload based on the standard structural/electronics interface this would further reduce the costs of the basic MAFV system. Modular launch vehicles with customer developed payloads have already proved extremely cost effective in the space industry. The RMlT Wackett Centre has proposed a joint project with the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to develop a MAFV technology demonstrator Jabiru. The basic MAFV-system philosophy, its objective and performance requirements are discussed in detail. Some preliminary sizing and basic design calculations were carried out on a canard configuration the results of which indicate that the proposed MAFV-concept is technically feasible.