The Denel Dynamics Skua is a

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

-engined

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operationa ...

used to simulate fast-moving attack aircraft during surface-to-air and air-to-air training exercises and weapons tests. It is manufactured by the

Denel Dynamics Denel Dynamics, formerly Kentron, is a division of Denel SOC Ltd, a South African armaments development and manufacturing company wholly owned by the South African Government. It underwent a name change from Kentron to Denel Aerospace Systems dur ...

division of the South African

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

Denel Denel SOC Ltd is a South African state-owned aerospace and military technology conglomerate established in 1992. It was created when the manufacturing subsidiaries of Armscor were split off in order for Armscor to become the procurement agency ...

aerospace and defence conglomerate.

Airframe

The Skua has a composite airframe, its wingspan is 3,57 m and length 6,00 m. Under-wing

hardpoint A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station or station) on the ...

s can carry tow-targets and signature enhancement equipment up to 160 kg. An internal payload bay has a capacity of 70 kg. It is recovered by parachute and lands in an inverted position on airbags, this makes water landings possible.

Performance

* Maximum speed: Mach 0,86 at 10 000 m * Controllable range: 200 km (line of sight) * Altitude: from 10 m to 10 700 m * Endurance: 85 minutes at 10 000 m and Mach 0,75

System

The system includes between four and eight UAVs, a launcher vehicle, a mobile

ground control station UAV ground control station (GCS) is a land- or sea-based control centre that provides the facilities for human control of ''Unmanned Aerial Vehicles'' (UAVs or "drones"). It may also refer to a system for controlling rockets within or above the ...

(GCS) and various support equipment. The truck-mounted zero-length launcher includes an engine starter. The mobile GCS houses the flight control system and telemetry equipment used to control the aircraft. The GCS can control two drones in flight at the same time. Tracking the drones is by feedback from the on-board navigation system.

Uses

* The Skua has been used during development of the

A-Darter The V3E A-Darter (Agile Darter) is a modern short-range infrared homing ("heat seeking") air-to-air missile, featuring countermeasures resistance with a 180-degree look angle and 120-degrees per second track rate, developed by South Africa's Den ...

SRAAM. * Testing of the Brazilian

MAA-1 Piranha The MAA-1 Piranha is a short-range infrared homing missile and the first air-to-air missile developed by Brazil for its Air Force and Navy. It was designed to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in Brazilian service and has since been exported to ...

air-to-air missile. * Testing of the Umkhonto surface-to-air missile by Denel Dynamics and for operational missile training by the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

References

External links

Manufacturer's Skua web page
Target drones Unmanned military aircraft of South Africa Post–Cold War weapons of South Africa Denel {{UAV-stub