Friday, January 09, 2009

UCAR

IOC: 2015

Origin
United States of America

Contractor/s
Lockheed Martin
Northrop Grumman
Textron

Aircraft, Vehicles & Crafts:
A2C2S
RAH-66 Comanche

Description: The Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) is being designed to perform attack and reconnaissance missions in support of the FCS unit of action. The UCAR would be controlled remotely by the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, the A2C2S helicopter and ground control stations. In 2004 RAH-66 Comanche manned attack helicopter was cancelled favoring Apache improved models and UCAR development. It will operate at low altitude jointly with manned and unmanned aircraft with critical decisions such as open fire against a potential targets taken by human operators.

Currently, the UCAR program is being managed by DARPA and the US Army under feasibility studies. Two teams lead by Northrop-Grumman and Lockheed-Martin are the bidders for this program. The Critical Design Review of the project is scheduled for April 2005 as part of the program's Phase III effort. The US Army plans to field a first operational UCAR aircraft by 2015.

The US Army intends to field a rotary wing unmanned combat vehicle capable of performing with awesome vertical lift and speed skills. Current figures suggest that the UCAR would be able to climb at 500-ft per minute (152 meters/minute) reaching a ceiling altitude of 18,600-ft (+5,600 meters). Moreover, the UCAR would fly at a maximum speed of 170 knots (+300 kph) with a gross weight of 5,500 pounds (2,500 kg). The US Army has high demanding requirements for hot-day performance (for example 95 degree Farenheit) consisting of 6,000-ft (+1,800 meters) ceiling altitude while retaining a 500-ft per minute climb rate.

Specifications
Accommodation: Unmanned

Weights: Max Weight 2,500 kg (5,511 lb)

Performance: Ceiling 5,600 m (18,373 ft), Top Speed 88 mps (317 kph)

Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) kN (KiloNewton) Ton (t)
Meters per Second (mps) Kilometers per Hour (kph) Knot (kt) Miles per Hour (mph)
Liter (l) Galon (gl)
Year (yr) Minutes (min) Second (sec)
Shaft-Horse-Power (shp)

Last Updated: Saturday, December 20, 2008

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