The Northrop Grumman Bat is a medium-altitude

unmanned air vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

originally developed for use by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

. Designed primarily as an intelligence " ISR" gathering tool, the Bat features payload capacity and a wing span. Northrop Grumman received design and marketing rights from

Swift Engineering Swift Engineering is an American engineering firm that builds Autonomous robot, autonomous systems, helicopters, submarines, spacecraft, ground vehicles, robotics, and composite parts. The chairman and CEO is Hiro Matsushita, a former racecar dr ...

to the Killer Bee, renamed the Bat in April 2009. The Bat UAS was redeveloped to increase payload carrying capacity and extend range. The latest variant has a wing span of and can carry up to of payload. The Bat "14" UAS has a maximum altitude of above sea level and a maximum endurance of 18 hours.Defense Revie

retrieved on August 15, 2014 On August 12, 2011, Northrop Grumman won a $26m contract for Sand Dragon B Tier II UAVs able to detect IEDs and roadside bombs.

Characteristics

* The Bat UAS System is packaged for transport into two major assemblies: Launch/Recovery and Air Vehicle/GCS. * Transportable on

MV-22 The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...

HUMVEE The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

and by helicopterAirforce Technolog
"Bat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), United States of America"
retrieved on August 15, 2014 * Bat UAVs incorporate

COTS COTS may refer to: * Commercial off-the-shelf, products that are commercially available and can be bought "as is" * Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, a NASA program for delivery to the International Space Station by private companies * ...

payloads for reduced costs and ease of maintenance. * Automatic Recovery is programmed and controlled via autonomous computer and

differential GPS Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPSs) supplement and enhance the positional data available from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). A DGPS can increase accuracy of positional data by about a thousandfold, from approximately to ...

using a portable net system. * Catapult launcher functions are controlled and monitored by GCS software.Defense Revie
"Northrop Grumman Bat 12 UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System): Catapult-Launched Tactical Low-Observable/Stealth Drone Aircraft with Blended Wing-Body for Electronic Warfare (EW)/Attack Ops (Video!)"
retrieved on August 15, 2014 The

blended wing A blended wing body (BWB), also known as blended body, hybrid wing body (HWB) or a lifting aerofoil fuselage, is a fixed-wing aircraft having no clear dividing line between the wings and the main body of the craft. The aircraft has distinct wing ...

s merge with the fuselage into a single

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

to reduce aerodynamic drag, improve fuel economy and increase flight endurance. Made largely of composites, including

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

and

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, the airfoil is rigid, providing a structural efficiency which reduces materials and manufacturing costs. With net hooks in the nose and a rear pusher propeller, the craft lands in a mobile retrieval net. The current Hirth engine with its five-bladed propeller provides a flight time of up to 18 hours. The Bat is designed to have a lower than average visual and

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), denoted σ, also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy b ...

profile. A heavy-fuel engine version is also available. The payload capabilities include still image and real-time video cameras, EO/IR and SAR sensors, Kestrel MTI, laser range finders, laser designators, infrared cameras, communication relays, IED detection, radar jamming EW, chemical and biological detection systems, psy ops, and flare dispensers.

Uses

The Bat UAS can carry numerous types of payloads for collecting intelligence, including still image and real time video cameras, EO/IR and SAR sensors, laser range finders, laser designators, Infra-Red cameras, communications relay equipment, chemical, biological, and IED detection systems and flare dispensers. The Bat series is offered for surveillance of civil disturbances, borders, pipe- and power-lines, as well as

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

. retrieved on March 17, 2007

Specifications (Bat UAS)

References

External links

{{Grumman aircraft

Bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

2000s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Single-engined pusher aircraft Blended wing body Aircraft first flown in 2006

Characteristics

Uses

Specifications (Bat UAS)

See also

References

External links