Post by Tim on Nov 7, 2008 13:31:15 GMT -5
The Need for an unmanned drone in the Union military was obvious. However the type of drone needed was debated. One side argued that a combat drone would be needed to help out infantry while the other said that it should be a recon drone to replace manned recon aircraft. Finally the Union development center put forth plans for a drone that was both mediumly armed and has a range in excess than 200 Miles, this was called the Eagle.
Propulsion:
The Eagle uses an advanced turboprop engine with 1,372 Shaft horsepower. It runs primarily on kersoene based fuel. The maximum range of the Eagle is in excess of 270 miles with full load.
Wings:
The Eagle uses slightly forward-swept wings giving it a high level of maneuverability in combat situations. The wings are constructed of a extremely strong titanium alloy ensuring their stability in these maneuvers and allowing them to securely carry their payload.
USS3-1 Survailence and recon System:
The USS3-1 uses a front mounted camerea to provide intelligence to the commander using the drone. It is capable of scanning a horizion to horizion area with both standard, IR, and night vision. It is also capable of designating targets and tracking targets.
Autonomous Combat Control System:
The ACCS operates the weapons equipped to the eagle. Using the visual from the USS3-1 it locks and fires the weapon best fit for taking down the target. Once it has a lock it will continue to track the enemy until they are either immobilized or deatroyed.
It also comes standard with a Comnet uplink, which allows the Eagle to operate fully independently without human intervention. It's missions and flightplan can be changed by humans at their will however.
Weapons: The Eagle utilizes a weapons platform similar to that of some light helicopters. Located on the wings are 6 hardpoints, 3 per, with each one capable of sustaining different amounts of weight for different munitions.
Typical weapons layout.
2 LCM-1 cluster munitions.
8 AVM-1 Anti-armor missile.
2 SAAM-1 anti-aircraft missile.
Specefications:
- Wingspan: 37.3 Feet.
- Length: 35.6 Feet.
- Range: 600+ Miles.
- Operational time limit: 32 hours.
- Max speed: 120 MPH.
- Cruise speed: 90-105 MPH.
- Ceiling: 40,000 Feet.
Take off and landing:
The Eagle uses a catapult launcher which, combined with the eagle, is light enough to be towed by a vehicle of sufficent power.
It required a flat terrain to land on longer than 150 meters.