Design and experiment of a small air-launched UAV

Yafei LU; Qingyang CHEN; Peng WANG; Bo WANG; Zheng GUO

doi:10.7527/S1000-6893.2023.28642

ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >

2023 , Vol. 44 >Issue 15: 528642 - 528642

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7527/S1000-6893.2023.28642

Fluid Mechanics and Vehicle Conceptual Design

Design and experiment of a small air-launched UAV

Yafei LU ,
Qingyang CHEN ,
Peng WANG ,
Bo WANG ,
Zheng GUO

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^1.College of Aerospace Sciences and Engineering，National University of Defense technology，Changsha 　410073，China
^2.National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology，Chinese Academy of Military Science，Beijing 　100171，China

E-mail： chy1982_008@nudt.edu.cn

Received date: 2023-03-02

Revised date: 2023-03-28

Accepted date: 2023-05-06

Online published: 2023-05-12

Supported by

National Level Project

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Abstract

A design scheme for a small-sized air-launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle （UAV） system with a large aspect ratio is proposed in this paper for a typical long-range aerial reconnaissance mission. Constraints are as follows： takeoff weight of 4 kg， endurance time of one hour， payload of 0.5 kg， and folded dimension not more than ⌀0.120 m×0.914 m. The following details are discussed： the overall aerodynamic layout of the air-launched UAV， folding and unfolding mechanism， the simulation estimation of aerodynamic parameters， the design and selection of key subsystems， etc. A principle prototype is produced， and air launch flight test is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the UAV’s air launch， rapid wing deployment， and cruise flight. Test result shows that the folded wing and tail wing can be unfolded rapidly during the launch process， the cruising speed is conformed to the design value， variations in roll angle and pitch angle are within controllable ranges， the effect of weight changes and airflow disturbance on carriers during launching is controllable， and the effective flight duration is approximately 65 min， which meets design expectations.

Key words： air-launched UAV; system design; aerodynamic layout; folding and unfolding mechanism; verification test

Cite this article

Yafei LU , Qingyang CHEN , Peng WANG , Bo WANG , Zheng GUO . Design and experiment of a small air-launched UAV[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2023 , 44(15) : 528642 -528642 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2023.28642

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