__NOTOC__ The Freewing Scorpion is a reconnaissance UAV of unusual design developed in the United States in the early 21st century by a company associated with the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, Freewing Aerial Robotics Corporation. Working with well-known small-aircraft designer Burt Rutan, Freewing designed a series of piston-powered short-takeoff-and-landing UAVs, based on a design where the fuselage pivots relative to the wing surfaces. The "freewing" design also allows the UAV to operate as a stable observation platform during turbulent conditions. The Scorpion will be offered for a US Army short-range UAV requirement, and is being proposed by

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...

of France for use on French navy frigates and patrol boats. The Matra version is named "Marvel" and will carry a Matra-designed electro-optical day-night camera system initially, but the French navy has expressed interest in extending the payload to include communications relay, electronic warfare, and antisubmarine warfare equipment. Freewing is also offering the similar but smaller "Scorpiette", with a payload of up to 6.8 kilograms (15 pounds) for commercial, third-world military, and law enforcement organizations.

Specifications (Scorpion 100)

References

This article contains material that originally came from the web articl
''Unmanned Aerial Vehicles''
by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain. {{reflist 2000s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Aircraft manufactured in the United States