MARKET OVERVIEWS: UAV ENGINES

UAV Engines

Introduction
Reliability, endurance, weight, size and fuel are the key drivers in the development of UAV power plants. As more mission types are found for UAVs in both the civilian and military arenas, the need for continuous development of engine technology and fuel efficiencies becomes ever more crucial. Military persistent surveillance missions are set to extend into weeks or months rather than the current missions lasting just a few days at the most. The telecommunications industry is looking into UAVs as a replacement for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites for its own relay needs which would also require missions lasting much longer than current endurance capabilities. Reliability is a key requirement for the operation of UAVs in controlled airspace, which is itself a prerequisite for the UAV industry to realise its full market potential. The military would prefer to extend the use of heavy engine fuels (HFEs) for their UAV systems, especially on board ship, not just for safety reasons but also to simplify the logistics of fuel supply. Diesel-powered engines are one route towards a solution, as is the use of kerosene-based jet fuels such as the JP-4/5/8 types. The US Army is spending a lot of time and money on its goal to use JP-8 fuel on all of its land and air-based weapon systems. As part of this effort, Northrop Grumman announced in June 2004 that it had completed successful tests of a US Army RQ-5A Hunter UAV with a new heavy fuel engine. Mini and micro UAVs are stretching the imaginations of those involved in electric motor development, particularly in battery and fuel cell technology. Boeing technicians at the Advanced Unmanned Systems unit of the Phantom Works Integrated Defense Advanced Systems (IDeAS) have integrated fuel cells onto some of their UAV designs and are developing a hybrid system combining fuel cells and with solar panels manufactured by Boeing Spectrolab. Boeing Research and Technology Europe in Madrid, Spain, created in 2002, is working on a parallel project to develop fuel cell technology for commercial aircraft applications. Teamed with Intelligent Energy (UK), Diamond Aircraft (Austria), Advanced Technology Products (USA) as well as the Spanish companies Sener and Aerlyper, the project will integrate fuel cells onto a Diamond Super Dimona motor-glider in time for test flights in 2005. Although this project is looking for alternative solutions for commercial aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) the resulting technology will inevitably feed back into the UAV industry. Solar power technology is being proven by companies such as AeroVironment with their Helios and Pathfinder Plus aircraft and nuclear power has even been suggested as a solution for the larger HALE UAVs.

The market will dictate which of the future solutions will eventually win out in each of the UAV categories, but who currently supplies the UAV engine market and what development activity is taking place?

Europe
Europe has a very successful record in the supply of UAV engines around the world. General Atomics has been selecting piston engines developed in Austria by the Bombardier subsidiary, Rotax Aircraft Engines for many years. The Altus UAV, from which the Predator, Gnat and IGnat are derived, uses a Rotax 914 air/liquid-cooled, horizontally opposed four-cylinder four-stroke piston engine as does the I-Gnat and RQ/MQ-1Predator. Predator B and its Altair and Mariner versions however, are equipped with the Honeywell TPE-331-10T turboprop engine. Rotax Aircraft Engines has also achieved much success elsewhere and has supplied its engines to the French Sperwer/Ugglan UAV developed by Sagem of France and in service with the Canadian, Dutch, Swedish, French, Danish and Greek armies. A Rotax 914 was selected by IAI/Malat for their Heron MALE UAV, by EADS for the Eagle 1 MALE UAV and by the Science Applications Industrial Corporation (SAIC) for their Vigilante 502 VTOL UAV improved version of the 496. Austrias neighbour, Germany, has several UAV engine manufacturers; most notably Hirth-Engines, a unit of Gbler-Hirth Motoren KG, Limbach Flugmotoren GmbH & Co KG and Rolls-Royce Deutschland. The SAIC Vigilante 496 mentioned above is powered by a Hirth F 30 horizontally opposed four-cylinder two-stroke piston engine. The Swiss RUAG Ranger in service with the Swiss Air Force and the Finnish Defence Forces has a Hirth F 31 inline air-cooled two-stroke engine which was specifically developed for the aircraft and a sister engine, the Hirth 27006-R05 from the 2700 series was selected for the Kamov Ka-137 VTOL multipurpose UAV. In April 2004 Gbler-Hirth Motoren KG announced that it had entered into an agreement with Orbital of Australia to use its airassist DI on a new range of two-stroke engines which are being designed to operate with heavy fuels. Orbitals airassist DI allows spark ignition engines to operate on kerosene-based fuels and a Hirth engine equipped with the Orbital system was displayed at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon in March 2005. The Bombardier/EADS CL-289 recoverable surveillance UAV, which has been in service with the French and German armies since the early 1990s and has been used very successfully in the Balkans, is powered by the T117 single-

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shaft axial turbojet, designed and manufactured by KHD Luftfahttechnik. The engine, although no longer in production, is capable of using JP-4 and JP-8 fuels. BMW Rolls-Royce, now Rolls-Royce Deutschland acquired KHD in 1990. Another notable German UAV engine manufacturer, Limbach Flugmotoren, based in Knigswinter, specialises in two- and four-stroke piston engines for small pleasure aircraft including ultra-lights. The company is actively promoting their expertise for UAV applications and the L 275E two-stroke engine powered the EADS DCS Fox tactical UAV (in service, but no longer in production) and the L 550 four-cylinder, two-stroke engine is fitted to the Kentron Seeker II reconnaissance, target location and artillery fire correction UAV. French UAV engine industry is based around Microturbos TRI 60 and TRS 18 turbojets. Designed under contract to the French Governments Direction des Recherches et Moyens dEssais, the single shaft turbojet TRI 60 has been used in subsonic missiles as well as UAVs including target drones and is compatible with JP-4/5/8/10 fuels. The Indian Lakshya target drone, currently being modified to carry imaging sensor packages for surveillance roles, was fitted with the TRI-60-5 turbojet. The TRS 18 turbojet engine, originally designed to offer self-launch and climb capabilities to gliders, has since been adopted by the ultralight and UAV industries and powers the Galileo Mirach 150 low altitude deep penetration medium-range tactical UAV. Microturbo better known for its fast jet and missile was acquired by the French engine manufacturer Snecma in 2000. In early 2005 Snecma announced that it was to merge with Sagem and is expected to trade under the new name Safran. The United Kingdom boasts one of the most prolific manufacturers of UAV engines in the world, UAV Engines limited (UEL), thanks mainly to its association with , which is a 100% subsidiary of the Israeli UAV manufacturer, Elbit Systems Silver Arrow. Originally known as Norton Motors Ltd, the company was subject to a management buyout and was renamed Alvis UAV Engines. In 1994 it was renamed UAV Engines following its acquisition by the Elbit subsidiary, Silver Arrow. The company is renowned for producing Wankel-type engines with exceptionally high power to weight ratios. Its AR 731 single rotor air-cooled engine has been installed on various target drones and UAVs, most significantly the Silver Arrow Hermes 450, AAI/IAI Pioneer and AAI Shadow 200 and is said to have the highest power to weight ratio of any rotary engine. The water-cooled AR 801 has also been used to power the Silver Arrow Hermes 450 as well as the AAI Shadow 600 and a modified version produced by Teledyne Continental Motors of the US provided the power to the R4E SkyEye built by BAE Systems in the US. Meggitt Defence Systems of the UK produces the MDS 342 Hurricane piston engine originally known as the WAE 342 when it was produced by Weslake Aeromarine Engines Ltd. This horizontally-opposed, two-stroke engine has been widely used over the years and is currently installed on the UKs BAE Systems Phoenix battlefield surveillance and target

acquisition UAV as well as the Sagem Crecerelle in use by the French Army. The company also produces the MDS 520 Tempest air-cooled four-cylinder two-stroke engine with all major components of new design but with the same mounting points of the MDS 342. In the mid 1990s the UK Ministry of Defence funded a project by Bernard Hooper Engineering (BHE) of Shropshire, England, to develop the SPV580 UAV engine in order to meet future needs for low mass, advanced UAV engines. The stepped piston engine, which comes in both air- and liquid-cooled versions, uses two banks of paired cylinders offering the advantages of both two- and four-cycle engines and eliminating the disadvantages particularly problems associated with lubrication. The SPV580 has also been subjected to research work on the feasibility of using heavy fuel, notable kerosene JET A-1. Results of this study were presented at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers Conference on UAV propulsion systems in April 2005. The Observer short-range demonstrator UAV developed by QinetiQ and Cranfield Aerospace Limited uses a Bernard Hooper 88-H twin-cylinder two-stroke engine which was also used on the RAE X-RAE 2 UAV. Elsewhere in Europe, a company with 19 years experience in the production of two-stroke piston engines is the Italian firm Zanzoterra Engines. Its latest model the 498ia opposed two-cylinder, two-stroke, boxer, injection engine produces 39 HP at 6700 rpm, weighs 18.6 Kg and is specifically designed for the UAV market for UAVs such as the Aeronautics Aerostar and the ATE Vulture. Russian-built UAVs are powered by engines designed and manufactured by the Klimov Corporation, Samara MachineBuilding Design Bureau and Soyuz. The Pchela UAVs are installed with the Samara P-032 horizontally-opposed, aircooled two-cylinder two-stroke engine. The single-shaft turbojet UAV engine built by the Klimov Corporation of St Petersburg known as the TR3-117 is used on the Tu-143 Reis and Tu-243 Reis-D UAVS and the Tu-141 Strihz UAV is powered by the Soyuz R-9A-300 non-afterburning axial turbojet, which is a variant of the Tumansky-designed RD-9 engine.

Asia and the rest of the world

In Japan, the Yamaha Motor Co designed and makes the 24cc, water-cooled, horizontally opposed, 2-cylinder piston engine for the RMAX Type IIG VTOL UAV, which is the latest in the Yamaha series of what are primarily agricultural vehicles, but which are being modified to carry sensor payloads for surveillance capabilities. The company claims that because the engine is water-cooled it is particularly effective in high altitude areas especially in the hot sun. Fuji Heavy Industries has developed a Fuji Robin three-cylinder, water-cooled two-stroke engine for its RPH-2 VTOL UAV. Propulsion systems for Chinese UAVs are supplied by Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA)

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with their WP11 reverse-engineered version of the Teledyne Continental J69-T-41 used to power the Chang Hong highaltitude multi-purpose UAV, which itself is a reverse engineered version of the Teledyne Ryan (Northrop Grumman) 147H (AQM-34N). The Xian ASN-104 and ASN105B reconnaissance/surveillance UAVs are reported to be powered by the Xian HS-510 which was originally developed by the South Aero-Engine Company (SAEC) at Zhuzhou with the Xian-206 short-range multi-role UAV also having a Xian-built SAEC derived, air-cooled four cylinder two-stroke piston engine. A two-stroke, air-cooled piston engine, the 40 F, designed by the Nanjing Research Institute for Simulation techniques (NRIST) for use on mini UAVs is reported to be developed and is now available. The engine has a diaphragm carburettor, capacitor-discharged magneto ignition and both manual and electric starting.

North America
The US has a well-established UAV engine manufacturing base, with well-known global brands like Pratt & Whitney and the not so high profile companies like Herbrandson and DeltaHawk Diesel Engines. Pratt & Whitney supplied the JT15D-5C turbofan engine for the X-47A Pegasus UAV demonstrator aircraft which has since been incorporated into the US Air Force/Navy/DARPA Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program. This work has coincided with the US Government initiative on Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) which includes the Joint Technology Demonstrator Engine (JTDE) project. As part of the JTDE, P&W were awarded a 3-year contract in mid-2003 by the US Naval Air Systems Command to develop and demonstrate a broad range of turbine engine technologies for potential use in US Navy and Air Force UAVs. The US$12.7 m contract will integrate the advanced technologies into its PW800 engine and will focus on high temperature lightweight materials. This demonstrator will also serve as one of P&Ws baseline configurations for the US Governments Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engine (VAATE) program which is starting just as the IHPTET program winds down with the completion of the final large military demonstrator engine in June 2004. Pratt & Whitney also supply the PW2005-55 turboshaft engine for the TR911D demonstrator version of the Bell Eagle Eye VTOL UAV, the earlier demonstrator, TR911X, having a Rolls-Royce Corporation 250-C20R turboshaft/turboprop. The Rolls-Royce Corporations AE 3007H single-stage two-shaft turbofan originally developed by Allison to power airliners and business jets was selected to power the Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk. Another well-known manufacturer of turbofan engines, Williams International, supplied the F112 turbofan which is being used on the X-50 Canard Rotor Wing also known as the Dragonfly. Piston-engines for UAVs produced by the Californian Herbrandson Engines Company have been used to power

the ill-fated US Army Lockheed Aquila UAV (Dyad 280B) and the Dyad 290B two-cylinder two-stroke engine is installed on the DRS Sentry. According to Herbrandson, the company has operated spark-ignition two-stroke engines on JP-5/8 fuels since 1987. Another North American piston-engine manufacturer, originally based in Canada, is Quadra Aerrow which specialises in model aircraft twostroke, air-cooled engines. The company merged with US Engines Inc in February 2004 to form USQ Aero Inc based in Pennsylvania in the US. It has retained its UAV engine business line which supplies engines for the BAI Aerosystems Exdrone and Dragonfly DP VTOL UAV series of DP3, DP4-X, and DP5-X used initially in the film industry but now also equipped with imaging payloads for surveillance and reconnaissance roles, as well as being trialled as a weapons platform with the Australian company Metal Storm. Live firings of the 40 mm weapon are expected in mid 2005 following the cancellation of the scheduled live firing in March 2005. Diesel engine development for UAV applications is taking place at DeltaHawk Diesel Engines who have partnered with TRG Helicorp limited of New Zealand to develop a diesel-powered engine based on its DH160V4 for the TRG Snark 3 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). Flight tests are due in 2005 to test the engine which, according to DeltaHawks President Diane Doers will have an estimated 30% greater range over a standard gasoline engine. Sonex Research Inc has successfully applied for a patent for its Sonex Combustion System (SCS) consisting of a starting system and modified combustion chamber design for converting two-stroke gasoline engines for JP-5/8 heavy fuels. This followed a 10-month US$744,246 contract awarded to Sonex by DARPA in late 2002 to develop a heavy fuel conversion process for an existing six-cylinder, spark-ignited, four-stroke gasoline UAV engine using its Sonex Controlled Auto Ignition (SCAI) system and a US$165,000 DoD contract awarded in 2003 to convert two lightweight, two-stroke, spark-ignited gasoline engines to start and operate on standard military kerosene-based fuels based on its patented SCS system. Finally, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a not for profit research and development organisation, was awarded a 24-month contract to design and develop a heavy fuel UAV engine by the US DoD. The air-cooled engine features a two-stroke IDI combustion process with positive displacement external scavenging. Engine suppliers worldwide, like all other organisations involved with the development of UAV systems are having to adapt existing technologies and develop new ideas to meet the global demand for UAVs with enhanced efficiencies, longer endurances, lighter material and more capable systems. These demands will never cease but so far the industry is developing the technologies and solutions in line with expectations.

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