The Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk is a miniature UAV used for base perimeter protection. It was designed by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

Skunk Works Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified research and developme ...

for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Force Protection Airborne Surveillance System (FPASS) Program on a quick-reaction contract issued late in the winter of 2002, with the first system delivered in the early summer. It was designed quickly, because the program leveraged technology and design studies developed for the MicroStar MAVs. The program was run by Electronic Systems Center. In 2007, the U.S. Air Force FPASS office switched all of their UAV systems over to the RQ-11B Raven. It is made mostly of plastic foam, resembling hobby grade model airplanes, and uses an electric motor driving a pusher propeller as a powerplant, making it very quiet. It is launched with a

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, carries three small CCD cameras, has an endurance of about an hour. It flies mostly under autonomous control, with the operator keeping track of its activity with a laptop computer. The Desert Hawk is also used by the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery of the

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as a tactical surveillance system, and has been used in

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and

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. Desert Hawk has since been replaced with the more capable and rugged Desert Hawk III.

Specifications

* Wingspan: 52 in (1.32 m) * Length: 34 in (0.86 m) * Battery Weight(1.5kg) * Weight: 7 lb (3.2 kg) * Engine: electric motor driving a quiet pusher propeller * Endurance: approx. 1 hour

References

External links

Official website

Desert Hawk: Mini UAV Goes Operational
CodeOne Magazine, 2003

Military.com
Desert Hawk helps protect Tallil
332 AEW Public Affairs, 10/24/2003
Desert Hawk gives security forces an eye in sky
379 AEW Public Affairs, 7/21/2004
Desert Hawk III - Armed Forces International

Lockheed Martin Press Release 8/10/2009 Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Desert Hawk 2000s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Electric aircraft High-wing aircraft V-tail aircraft {{USAF-stub