The Honeywell RQ-16A T-Hawk (for "
Tarantula hawk
A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera ''Pepsis'' and ''Hemipepsis.'' They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze the ...
", a wasp species) is a
ducted fan
In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertical takeoff and landing
(VTOL) applicatio ...
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...
miniature UAV
A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. Smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle.
Miniature UAVs range from micro air vehicles (MAVs) that can be carried by an infantryman, t ...
. Developed by
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
, it is suitable for backpack deployment and single-person operation.
Development
The Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) program was launched by
DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
Originally known as the Adv ...
. Following a $40 million technology demonstration contract to
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
Defense and Space Electronic Systems in 2003, the MAV project was transferred to
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
's
Future Combat System
Future Combat Systems (FCS) was the United States Army's principal modernization program from 2003 to early 2009. Formally launched in 2003, FCS was envisioned to create new brigades equipped with new manned and unmanned vehicles linked by an unpr ...
(FCS) program to fulfill the need for
Class I platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...
-level drone. In May 2006, Honeywell was awarded a $61 million contract to develop an advanced MAV with extended endurance and heavy-fuel engine.
In 2007, the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
awarded Honeywell a $7.5 million contract for 20 G-MAVs (denoting the use of a
gasoline engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
) for deployment to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
with the U.S. Multi-Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. The hovering feature of MAV has been critical for U.S. forces in Iraq that search for
roadside bombs. Military convoys have been using MAVs to fly ahead and scan the roads. A MAV's benefit is its ability to inspect a target — a suspicious vehicle, structure, or disturbed earth — from close range, covering ground much more quickly than an unmanned ground vehicle and without putting people at risk.
![Class1Soldiers2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Class1Soldiers2.jpg)
The Iraq trials were so successful that the U.S. Navy placed a surprise order for 372 MAVs, designated RQ-16A T-Hawk, in January 2008 for
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams. The 186 MAV systems each consist of two air vehicles and one ground station. In January 2009, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
was reported to have ordered five complete T-Hawk systems for delivery by 2010. In April 2010, Honeywell conducted demonstrations of the T-Hawk's at the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College, Kanker, Chhattisgarh. As a result, Indian security forces are set to conduct user trials.
Design
The gasoline engine powered RQ-16 is reported to weigh , have an endurance of around 40 minutes, ceiling and an operating radius of about . Forward speeds up to have been achieved, but the G-MAV is operationally restricted to by software.
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...
operation is subject to a maximum wind speed of . Sensors include one forward and one downward looking daylight or
IR cameras.
U.S. Army service
Designated XM156 (or Class I) by the United States Army, the aircraft was intended to provide the dismounted soldier with Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (
RSTA
Reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) refers to a joint doctrine of reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition conducted by the United States Armed Forces. RSTA operations are designed to support military operation ...
) and laser designation. Total system weight, which includes the air vehicle, a control device, and ground support equipment is less than and is back-packable in two custom
MOLLE
MOLLE (pronounced ,, homophonic with the name Molly) is an acronym for Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment. It is used to define the current generation of load-bearing equipment and backpacks used by a number of NATO armed forces, espe ...
-type carriers.
![XM156 Class I UAV backpack](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/XM156_Class_I_UAV_backpack.jpg)
This
micro air vehicle
A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a class of miniature UAVs that has a size restriction and may be autonomous. Modern craft can be as small as 5 centimeters. Development is driven by commercial, research, government, and mil ...
operates in open, rolling, complex and urban terrains with a
vertical take-off and landing
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...
capability. It was interoperable with select ground and air platforms and controlled by mounted or dismounted soldiers. The Class I used autonomous flight and navigation, but it would interact with the network and soldier to dynamically update routes and target information. It provided dedicated reconnaissance support and early warning to the smallest echelons of the
Brigade Combat Team
The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a ...
(BCT) in environments not suited to larger assets.
The Class I system provided a hover and stare capability that was not available in the Army UAV inventory for urban and route surveillance. The Class I system also filled known gaps that existed in force operations, such as: Protect Force in Counterinsurgency (
COIN
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
) Operations, Soldier Protection in COIN environment, Ability to Conduct Joint Urban Operations, Enhanced
ISR/RSTA Capabilities, Hover and Stare operations.
The Class I UAV was part of Spin Out 1 and entered evaluation by Soldiers at the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF). It was to be fielded to
Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCT) starting in 2011. However, the Army issued Honeywell a stop-work order on January 6, 2011, with formal termination on February 3 the following month. Its role has gone to the
Puma AE.
Continued service
![T-Hawk Remotely Piloted Air System in Afghanistan MOD 45156607](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/T-Hawk_Remotely_Piloted_Air_System_in_Afghanistan_MOD_45156607.jpg)
On September 19, 2012, Honeywell was awarded a support contract for the RQ-16B Block II T-Hawk. Despite the Class I UAV program being cancelled, RQ-16s are still being used in the field in Afghanistan.
As of 25 October 2013, the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
has 18 T-Hawks in service as part of its Talisman suite of counter-IED tools. 15 Field Support Squadron of
21 Engineer Regiment were the first troops to use Talisman operationally, in Afghanistan in 2010.
Civilian application at disaster site
On Friday, April 15, 2011, a T-hawk drone was used to conduct surveillance of the damaged
Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station. This nuclear plant suffered
severe damage as a result of a devastating earthquake and tsunami which struck the east coast of Japan one month earlier. The damage resulted in several of the reactors at the facility undergoing partial meltdown, releasing radioactivity into the local area. The radiation was thousands of times above the safe limit for exposure, making the area unsafe for human habitation. The radiation was intense enough to make even short-term exposure hazardous, preventing people from going in to assess the damage. The T-hawk drone took numerous photographs of the damaged reactor housings, turbine buildings, spent nuclear fuel rod containment pools, and associated facilities damaged by the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent hydrogen gas explosions at the facility. This allowed Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to better determine where the releases of radioactivity were coming from and how to best deal with them.
On Friday, June 24, 2011, a T-Hawk apparently crash-landed on the roof of the number 2 reactor building at Fukushima.
Specifications (approximate)
See also
*
Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee
The Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee (U.S. Army designation; earlier Army designation: HO-1) was a unique direct-lift rotor aircraft, using contra-rotating ducted fans for lift inside a platform upon which the single pilot shifted body weight for directional c ...
References
External links
RQ-16 T-Hawk – Honeywell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rq-016 T-Hawk
2000s United States military reconnaissance aircraft
Q-016
Ducted fan-powered aircraft
Micro air vehicles
Unmanned military aircraft of the United States
Lift fan