Uninhabited and Unafraid, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UCAV, UAV, and Drone Aircraft)

[GTX]

May after losing the ATF contest Northrop decide to develop the YF-23 into a UCAV:



Regards,

Greg

[GTX]

C'mon Greg do the F-22 Turkey Buzzard.  Grin

Your wish is my command....



regards,

Greg

[kitbasher]

If we're talking about the model in this thread, or a P-61 variation, how about a B-26 Marauder, or an A-20 Havoc, a P-61 proper or even a B-24?

Howzabout a B-24 carrier aircraft and a stripped-down P-61 (belly mounted 20mm guns removed and replaced with fuel tanks) as the controller?
Jon

By 'eck, lad, what a good idea.
Anyway, here's my UCAV as featuring in the Styrene Junkyard GB:

[Maverick]

Actually, slightly off topic, but when did drones start getting called UAVs anyway?  Is it some for of snobbery or is there some actual reason for the name change?

Regards,

Mav

[Ed S]

Actually, slightly off topic, but when did drones start getting called UAVs anyway?  Is it some for of snobbery or is there some actual reason for the name change?

Regards,

Mav

Hey, you're talking about the military here.  "Unmanned Air (Combat) Vehicle" sounds a lot more impressive than "drones".  Obviously some general in charge of these things didn't want to be called the "head drone" so he had the name changed.

Ed

[Maverick]

Pretty much the way I was thinking Ed, but I was almost guaranteeing there'd be a 'reason' that someone would say was valid,  .

Regards,

Mav

[GTX]

Well  if you want to get really picky, there are URAVs, ULAVs, UCAVs etc now.  Actually I should say, URAS, ULAS and UCAS as the Vehicle part is only a part of the overall System which is looked at these days.  The term 'Drone' is now more reserved for the early, pre-programmed platforms which were unable to be retasked in flight.

Regards,

Greg

[GTX]

Cool new Lockheed UAV revealed.

Regards,

Greg

[chrisonord]

After having a root around in my bits tin I came across an engine pod of a B-52, some tail wings of a su-34, some ecm pods off a EA-6b and some F-84 drop tanks.....and voila, I superglued it all together with some other bits I cant remember what what they were off and there we have a ECM UCAV. Took me the whole of ten minutes of rooting and gluing to get the basic shape, all it needs is some filling and sanding then possibly a means of launching it, either by mothership or a ramp with a RATO sled. There is not enough room for landing gear so it will probably have to slide on its tanks or parachute down. It looks kind of unique, two podded engines with wings stuck to it and a small tail plane. I will photo it when I have finished it properly.
Chris.   

[chrisonord]

Whilst having a look through some bits I have in my shed, I found some air refueling pods of an old Matchbox Victor, and I thought what about an air refueling UAV??
I have some wings from various aircraft including a Sky warrior I built years ago, another b52 engine pod and some large drop tanks. This would be a fairly large craft compared to other UAV's but could stay on station for longer over a safe part of airspace as there will be no need for a pilot or other aircrew. I am open to discussion on this as I am genuinely thinking of having a go at making one of these along with something else I have in the pipeline.
I too have a drone from an SR-71 doing nothing and was thinking of arming it with air to air missiles.My thinking being that these drones would go into a dog fight alongside F-22's and F-35's or stay a safe distance away and be used as auxiliary missile platforms, when the fighters run out of missiles they augment their radar with the missiles on the drones and use those also thus multiplying the fighters lethality.
Just a thought... tell me what you think.
Chris. 

[GTX]

hat about an air refueling UAV??

See here for real world developments.

Regards,

Greg

[Just call me Ray]

I think where uninhabited autonomous vehicles can really hit it big is in the civilian sector, but I think there are certain design considerations that need to be factored in. Namely, civilian (and smaller military) UAVs should really start to consider fuel cells or other non-fossil fueled powerplants. To better capitalize on the advantages of such powerplants, they need to be lightweight and have high lift coefficients, so I'm envisioning very simple flying wings. These can, for example, fly pre-programmed routes inspecting oil pipelines (I understand they're using UAVs to do this already), conduct traffic monitoring - or yes, even deliver pizza or personalized mail. If these UAVs can be made to run off of fuel cells, solar cells or similar technology they'll represent a massive jump in efficiency and environmental conservation compared to modern personalized delivery.

[chrisonord]

well ten minute wonder man has just been at it again. 1/72nd scale drone from the sr-71, taileron from a F-104 starfighter glued to the top of the drones tail fin, and six flush fit amraam's fitted into the fusalage belly.
Iwas thinking that these could operate in swarms and be augmented by fighter aircraft or B-1Bs on a bombing run into a "hot" target area, the drones could also be armed with HARM's also for a mission into heavily defended targets.
Chris.

[GTX]

What to do with old Skyhawks?? Turn them into UCAVs!!!



Regards,

Greg

[GTX]

I wonder what a Mig-29 (A or M version) UCAV would look like?

Maybe something like this:



Regards,

Greg