CAS UAV

CAS UAVs are Chinese UAVs developed by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Most of CAS UAVs are developed by Beijing Tian-Yu (meaning Sky Universe) Smart Map Co., Ltd. (TYSM, 北京天宇智图有限公司), a company that is wholly owned by Institute of Atmospheric Physics, (中国科学院大气物理研究所) of CAS. TYSM have developed both the fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAVs, with the rotary-wing UAVs classified by the payload carried, while the fixed-wing UAVs are named as Expedition (Yuan-Zheng, or Yuanzheng 远征).^[1]

5 liter class UAV

5 liter class UAV is a gasoline-powered unmanned helicopter developed by TYSM by utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) airframe with flight control system indigenously developed by TYSM. 5 liter class UAV is in conventional helicopter layout, and the landing gear consists of a pair of skids. 5 liter class UAV is mainly designed for agricultural applications, and it can carry up to 5 liters of liquid chemical for crop dusting. Specification:^[2]

Payload: 5 l
Speed: 4–8 m/s
Power plant: 26 cc
Fuel consumption: 2 l/h
Main rotor diameter: 1.765 m
Length: 1.623 m
Width: 0.38 m
Height: 0.704 m
Max take-off weight: 15 kg
Ceiling: 2 km
Max wind scale (speed) allowed for operation: 3 (5 m/s)
Operating temperature: 0–60 °C

10 liter class UAV

10 liter class UAV is a gasoline-powered unmanned helicopter developed by TYSM by utilizing COTS airframe with flight control system indigenously developed by TYSM. 10 liter class UAV is in conventional helicopter layout, and the landing gear consists of a pair of skids. 10 liter class UAV is mainly designed for agricultural applications and it can carry up to 10 liters of liquid chemical for crop dusting. Specification:^[3]

Payload: 10 l
Speed: 4–8 m/s
Power plant: 80 cc twin cylinder
Fuel consumption: 4 l/h
Main rotor diameter: 2.1 m
Length: 2.63 m
Width: 0.55 m
Height: 0.71 m
Max take-off weight: 35 kg
Ceiling: 2 km
Max wind scale (speed) allowed for operation: 3 (5 m/s)
Operating temperature: 0–60 °C

20 liter class UAV

20 liter class UAV is a gasoline-powered unmanned helicopter developed by TYSM by utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) airframe with flight control system indigenously developed by TYSM. 20 liter class UAV is in conventional helicopter layout, and the landing gear consists of a pair of skids. 20 liter class UAV is mainly designed for agricultural applications and it can carry up to 20–25 liters of liquid chemical for crop dusting. Specification:^[4]

Payload: 20 kg
Speed: 15–40 km/h
Rate of climb: 6 m/s
Power plant: 170 cc
Fuel: 3 l/h
Main rotor diameter: 2.146 m
Tail rotor diameter: 0.376 m
Length: 2.555 m
Width: 0.47 m
Height: 0.711 m
Empty weight: 20 kg
Max take-off weight: 41 kg
Endurance: 1 h
Ceiling: 3.5 km
Max wind scale allowed for operation: 6
Operating temperature: up to 80 °C

Expedition 1

Also known as Expedition I, Expedition 1 UAV is a fixed wing micro air vehicle (MAV) developed by TYSM, and it is one of the two MAV fielded by CAS in 2008 for atmospheric environmental surveillance missions (the other being Expedition 3), with a payload of 3 kg.^[5]

Expedition 2 Albatross

Also known as Expedition II, Expedition 2 Albatross UAV is a fixed UAV of twin-boom layout with tricycle landing gear. Propulsion is provided by a two-blade propeller driven by a pusher engine mounted at the rear end of the fuselage. Specification:^[6]

Wingspan: 3.9 m
Length: 2.4 m
Height: 0.65 m
Empty weight: 8 kg
Payload: 8 kg
Max take-off weight: 32 kg
Control radius: 200 km
Max speed: 150 km/h
Cruise speed: 100 km/h
Ceiling: 4.2 km
Endurance: 4 h
Range: 300 km
Rate of climb: 5.5 m/s
Max wind speed allowed for operation: 12 m/s for flight, 15 m/s for take-off and landing

Expedition 3

Also known as Expedition III, Expedition 3 UAV is a fixed wing micro air vehicle (MAV) developed by TYSM, and it is one of the two MAV fielded by CAS in 2008 for atmospheric environmental surveillance missions (the other being Expedition 1), with a payload of 5 kg.^[5]

Expedition 5

Expedition 5 is a fixed-wing UAV in twin-boom configuration with inverted Pelikan tail. Propulsion is provided by a two-blade propeller driven by a pusher engine mounted at the rear end of the fuselage, and it has tricycle landing gear. Specification:^[7]

Cruise speed: 70 km/h
Max speed: 90 km/h
Ceiling: 2 km
Endurance: 4 h
Length: 1.85 m
Wingspan: 2.61 m
Height: 0.4 m
Max take-off weight: 9 kg
Payload: 1 kg
Launch and recovery: taxiing

Expedition 6 Ostrich

Also known as Expedition VI, Expedition 6 Ostrich is a fixed-wing UAV that is in twin-boom layout with twin tail. Expedition 6 has frequently but erroneously confused with Expedition 8, which resulted in the mistake made by reporters when Expedition 8 was first revealed to the public. Expedition 6 has tricycle landing gear. Specification:^[8]

Cruise speed: 120 km/h
Max speed: 160 km/h
Ceiling: 4.3 km
Endurance: 4 h
Range: 300 km standard, 400 km max
Length: 6.1 m
Wingspan: 3.3 m
Height: 0.65 m
Max take-off weight: 80 kg
Empty weight: 52 kg
Payload: 30 kg
Launch and recovery: taxiing
Rate of climb: 4.5 m/s
Max wind speed allowed for operation: 13 m/s for flight, 15 m/s for take-off and landing

Expedition 7

Also known as Expedition VII, Expedition 7 is a fixed UAV in conventional layout with high-wing configuration. Propulsion is provided by a propeller-driven tractor engine mounted in the nose.^[9]

Expedition 8

Expedition 8 is a fixed-wing UAV currently under development. Expedition 8 is in conventional layout with V-tail. Propulsion is provided by a two-blade propeller driven by a pusher engine mounted at the end of empennage, and Expedition 8 has tricycle landing gear. A scaled-down model of Expedition 8 has already been successfully tested. Expedition 8 has frequently but erroneously confused with Expedition 6, which resulted in the mistake made by reporters when Expedition 8 was first revealed to the public. Specification:^[10]

Length: 8.1 m
Width: 4.7 m
Endurance: > 30 h
Operating altitude: 150–6000 m

Mountain Eagle

Mountain Eagle (Shan-Di-Ying or Shandiying, 山地鹰) series UAVs are Chinese UAVs developed by Chengdu Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE, 中国科学院•水利部成都山地灾害与环境研究所) of CAS and Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China (MWR). The existence of Mountain Eagle was first publicized in 2013 when they were deployed for post disaster accessement mission in 2013 Lushan earthquake. Two models of Mountain Eagle series UAVs have been identified, the smaller one is in conventional layout with high wing configuration, and it is approximately one meter long. This smaller model and has a ceiling of 1 km and is usually recovered via recovery net. The larger model is approximately one and half a meter long and has an ceiling of 6–7 km.^[11]

References

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