TAI Gözcü is a

radio-controlled Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a smal ...

short-range tactical drone. Designed, developed and built by

Turkish Aerospace Industries Turkish Aerospace Inc. ( tr, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş., TUSAŞ) is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey. Located in Ankara ...

(TAI), the

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) is in use by the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

purposes. Gözcü is the Turkish word for observer.

Overview

Built of composite material, the drone is launched from a catapult, and is recovered by parachute. It has max. takeoff weight and can reach an altitude of . Having max. payload capacity, TIA Gözcü carries EO/ IR sensor, and transfers real-time video imagery in a range up to . It has waypoint navigation and autonomous flight capabilities. The UAV with delta wings and V-tail is propelled by a

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

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 ...

having , and can cruise with a max. speed of . Its endurance is over 120 minutes.

Development

The

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...

of the drone took place on March 6, 2007. The first flight with camera was on April 4, 2007. The prototype of TAI Gözcü was presented to public at the International Defence Industry Fair IDEF in Mai 2007, and took part in the

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

parade end August the same year. The following flight tests in September 2007 showed that the UAV was in the beginning unable to monitor the vehicles in the terrain, over them it was flying, because it was too fast. Unlike the

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 ...

s the surveillance drones must fly slower, the TAI officials admitted. In 2011, it was reported that the flight tests were successfully completed. TAI Gözcü is intended to serve nonstop for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in military operations against infiltration and activities of terrorists in southeastern Turkey.

Specifications

References

External links

Images of TAI Gözcü at Facebook

Unmanned military aircraft of Turkey Gozcu Turkish military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Delta-wing aircraft V-tail aircraft 2000s Turkish military aircraft {{UAV-stub

Overview

Development

Specifications

See also

References

External links