The Teledyne Ryan BQM-145 Peregrine (manufacturer designation Model 350) is a reconnaissance
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 in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the 1990s as a joint
U.S. Navy/
Marine Corps and
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
"Medium Range UAV" program, with the Navy developing the airframe and the Air Force providing the payload. The BQM-145A was designed to precede airstrike packages into a target area and relay
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 ...
information in real time.
Design and development
Production BQM-145As were to have a metal airframe, but the initial two prototypes were built with plastic composites, with initial flight in May 1992. The program then collapsed in 1993 due to technical difficulties and funding cutbacks. Six BQM-145As with plastic-composite airframes then under construction were later completed, with first flight of a composite BQM-145A in 1997.
Operational history
Apparently
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
has continued to use the BQM-145As for other experiments. Some sources claim they have been evaluated for unmanned
strike missions, and paintings have been circulated showing a BQM-145A fitted with a "high-power microwave (HPM)" generator in the nose to fry adversary electronic equipment. It has been confirmed that BQM-145As have been flown in the US on test flights carrying HPM payloads.
The BQM-145A has some broad similarities to the
Scarab, with a similar configuration except that it has twin air intakes on either side of the fuselage, just forward of the wing roots. Like the Scarab, it has no
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
. It is powered by a
Teledyne CAE F408-CA-400 (Model 382-10C)
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine, with thrust. It can be
air launch
Air launching is the practice of releasing a rocket, missile, parasite aircraft or other aircraft payload from a mother ship or launch aircraft. The payload craft or missile is often tucked under the wing of the larger mother ship and then "drop ...
ed from a standard
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
such as the
F-16
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
or the
F/A-18.
Specifications
See also
References
This article contains material that originally came from the web articl
''Unmanned Aerial Vehicles''by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.
1990s United States military reconnaissance aircraft
Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States
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