Shahbal is an
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed by a group of aerospace engineers at
Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, ...
.
Design and development
Shahbal was designed by the team of three newly graduated
aerospace engineers
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
of
Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, ...
, namely Alireza, Amirreza Kosari and Mohammad Rahim.
Originating from a national competition, Shahbal was first designed to fulfill the contest requirements. Right at the beginning stages, the development team expanded their goals.
Shahbal was awarded the Best Design Prize during the first National UAV Design Competition (NUDC-2006) of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
and was awarded as a top-ranked vehicle after passing all the flight tests planned for the contest.
Technical design
Shahbal is a close-range multi-role
UAV
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 ...
and is well-designed for
surveillance/
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 ( skirmishe ...
missions, along with
patrol
A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area.
Etymology
From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Frenc ...
s and
pilot training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills.
Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
s. The structure is mainly
composites and with a small
radar cross section (RCS), Shahbal is able to complete its missions very close to the enemy
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
s.
The twin tail configuration empowers Shahbal of high sharp and fast maneuvers in both
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...
applications. Control is both in manual (
radio control) and
autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...
(
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
/
INS INS or Ins or ''variant'', may refer to:
Places
* Ins, Switzerland, a municipality
* Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS)
* Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS
Biology
*''Ins'', a New World genus of bee flies
* INS, the gene for the insulin ...
) mode. The autopilot used is a
MP2000 of
MicroPilot; also Shahbal is designed to fulfill
nap-of-the-earth
Nap-of-the-earth (NOE) is a type of very low-altitude flight course used by military aircraft to avoid enemy detection and attack in a high-threat environment. Other, mostly older terms include "ground-hugging", "terrain masking", "flying under t ...
maneuvers such as
terrain following and
terrain avoidance
In aviation, a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) is generally an on-board system aimed at preventing unintentional impacts with the ground, termed "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, or CFIT.Federal Aviation AdministrationInsta ...
.
The
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. Marti ...
mechanism is a fix
tricycle
A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle.
Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...
plus an
arresting hook
A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook is a device attached to the empennage (rear) of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at sea, ...
. Powerplant is a 4.5 hp
ZDZ engine installed as pusher, at the end of main body.
Mission payloads are depending on the type of mission, and range from small cameras and
telemetry systems to heavy
munition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...
s and
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...
s. Maximum payload weight is 5.5 kg (12 lb).
Specifications
See also
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*
List of unmanned aerial vehicles
The following is a list of unmanned aerial vehicles developed and operated in various countries around the world.
Algeria
* AL fajer L-10
* Amel (UAV)
Argentina
* AeroDreams Chi-7 ( AeroDreams)
* AeroDreams Strix Reconnaissance (2006 ...
, see also=
*
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
*
Sarad
Sarad is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed by a group of Mechanical engineers ( Sarad group) at Imam Khomeini International University.
Sarad could rank second in 2nd National UAV Design and Construction Contest held in Sharif Univer ...
*
Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, ...
External links
Official ''National UAV Design Competition'' website
Unmanned aerial vehicles of Iran
Aircraft manufactured in Iran
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Twin-boom aircraft