Geneva Aerospace Inc. has successfully completed six consecutive auto landings of a Dakota unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the United States Army proving grounds in Yuma, Ariz. This series of flight tests were the next phase under Geneva's current contract with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and the United States Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab. The tests served as the precursor to flying the Berkut UAV that will use Geneva's proven integrated avionics technologies, as well as the auto-landing capability. The Berkut test flight is tentatively scheduled for early 2006. The Berkut UAV has a ceiling of 16,000 feet, a cruising speed of 80 knots and can stay aloft for 10 hours.
Geneva personnel, in conjunction with NAVAIR, conducted the tests using a Dakota UAV that weighs approximately 200 pounds and has a wingspan of 16 feet. The vehicle was outfitted with Geneva's command, control and communication (C3) solutions, which comprise a missionTEK ground control station, a flightTEK flight control computer and a linkTEK data link computer. Geneva's C3 product suite, coupled with the auto land capability, delivers affordable and reliable solutions for autonomous flights.
"The auto landing technology that we have developed can bring precision landing capability to a wide variety of UAVs, but at an order-of-magnitude lower cost than existing systems," said Dave Lleras, program manager for Geneva. "The next stage of our program will involve demonstrating this technology on a 2000-pound class vehicle." While the demonstrations at present are land-based, future objectives will also include shipboard landings.
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