ABSTRACT

The US Navy is interested and envisages three types of Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV): the mini for reconnaissance round normal surface craft; a medium sized vehicle of up to 1,360 kg, primarily for Electronic Counter-Measures missions; and the maxi for high altitude, long endurance missions from aircraft carriers. An RPV is an unmanned, airborne vehicle which is piloted from the ground or from another aircraft. It must contain the necessary sensors to feed back to its pilot details of what it is doing, where it is and what it can see so that the remote pilot can operate it exactly as if he was sitting in the cockpit. Although the use of RPVs for reconnaissance was the first consideration and still plays an important part, there are many other uses to which these versatile vehicles can be put. An RPV must present the lowest possible radar and infra-red signature.