The PAIC Império SP1 is an
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
(UAV) developed and manufactured by the Portuguese Aerospace Industry Consortium (PAIC) and
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (LM RMS), is a Lockheed Martin business segment, headquartered in Washington, DC. Until October 2008 RMS was headquartered in Moorestown Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia; Moorestown remains o ...
to support civilian protection agencies in the
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
detection and
maritime patrol {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008
Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities.
Maritime patrol refers to ac ...
roles.
Império SP1 was developed under the PAIC Império UAS program, which was established in July 2008 as result of the
offset compensation that was part of the contract for the modernization of the
Portuguese Air Force
, colours =
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's
P-3C Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. ,
EDISOFT
EDISOFT – ''Software Services and Development Company, S.A''. is a company of Thales Group that offers software development and engineering solutions, systems integration and technological consulting for critical systems in land, maritime, spa ...
, EMPORDEF, Iberomoldes, INEGI, PIEP,
Skysoft
Skysoft was a Portuguese systems and software house in the areas of aeronautics, security, space and telematics. The company was acquired by GMV Innovating Solutions in 2005.
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Software companies of Portugal
Sof ...
, and
Tekever.
On January 24, 2014, an Império aircraft (SP1-01) executed a demonstration flight as part of a presentation about the program at the
Military and Technical Training Center of the Portuguese Air Force (CFMTFA),
Ota.
Design
Império SP1 is of a high-wing, constant chord
pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
with a
twin-tail boom empennage
The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...
and of carbon and glass fiber and
cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
composite construction. It has a wing span of 5 meters, is equipped with a 3W engine of 157cc and 17 horsepower, and has as a 20 kg sensor payload capacity.
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
Twin-boom aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Unmanned experimental aircraft
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