Summary
Unmanned Flight
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Extract
Males poised to go high and away.
Piston-engined unmanned aircraft with long-span wings can fulfil a need for affordable, semi-attritable surveillance vehicles that can remain at medium altitudes for twelve hours or more, providing target imagery and designation facilities, and even a limited ground attack role. The US has led in this field, but Israel and the major European nations are now following suit.
Although US surveillance flights over the Soviet Union and China had been discontinued in 1960 and 1971 respectively, the CIA needed to acquire information about other countries which could still be overflown. The Agency thus appears to have provided initial funding for a comparatively low-budget project that could carry sensors to medium altitudes and remain on station for extended periods. The piston-engined General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Gnat-750 first flew in 1989, providing an endurance of over 24 hours and a service ceiling of 25,000 ft, although it is normally operated at around 15,000 ft. The Gnat-750 is believed to have a wingspan of around eleven metres and a normal take-off weight of 517 kg with a 150 kg payload. It carries thr...See the full content of this document
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