The CL-227 Sentinel is a remote-controlled

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) made by

Canadair Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadair's origins lie in the establishm ...

. It displays a distinctively unusual bulbous peanut shaped profile which gave it its nickname of the flying peanut. Lift is provided by a set of

coaxial rotors Coaxial rotors or coax rotors are a pair of helicopter rotors mounted one above the other on concentric shafts, with the same axis of rotation, but turning in opposite directions (contra-rotating). This rotor configuration is a feature of helicopt ...

emanating from the waist of the system. The engine air is exhausted upwards to minimize the infrared signature. The blades are made of composite materials as well as all the external skin and legs, in an attempt to reduce the radar signature. The main structure is made mostly of aluminium. The CL-227 was designed in 1977, and the "phase one" prototype made its first flight on 25 August 1978; the larger production "phase two" vehicle first flew untethered on 14 December 1981.Jane's 1987-1988, p.816 Following evaluation by NATO in March 1982, and was made available to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

allied clients in the early 1980s. In the late 1990s it was replaced by an updated version, the CL-327.

Bombardier Aerospace CL-327 Guardian

The CL-327 was developed as an upgraded and advance version of the CL-227. The new UAV production line began in 1996 under

Bombardier Aerospace Bombardier Aviation is a division of Bombardier Inc. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. Its most popular aircraft included the Dash 8 Series 400, CRJ100/200/440, and CRJ700/900/1000 lines of regional airliners, and the newer CS ...

, which acquired the assets of

, the original developer of the CL-227.

Specifications (CL-227 Phase 2)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft'', 1987-88 edition. McGraw-Hill, 1987; p.816 *

External links