Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk

Desert Hawk

Desert Hawk preparing to be launched.

Role

Remote-controlled UAV

Manufacturer

Lockheed Martin

Primary user

British Army

Desert Hawk being launched with a bungee cord

The Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk is a small Miniature UAV used for base perimeter protection.It was designed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works for the U.S. Air Force Force Protection Airborne Surveillance System (FPASS) Program on a quick-reaction contract issued late in the winter of 2002, with the first system delivered in the early summer. It was designed quickly, because the program leveraged technology and design studies developed for the MicroStar MAVs. The program was run by Electronic Systems Center. In 2007, the U.S. Air Force FPASS office switched all of their UAV systems over to the RQ-11B Raven.^[1]

It is made mostly of plastic foam, in resemblance to hobby grade model airplanes, and uses an electric motor driving a pusher propeller as a powerplant, making it very quiet. It is launched with a bungee cord, carries three small CCD cameras, has an endurance of about an hour. It flies mostly under autonomous control, with the operator keeping track of what's going on with a laptop computer.

The Desert Hawk is also used by the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery of the British Army as a tactical surveillance system, and has seen use in Afghanistan.^[2]

Desert Hawk has since been replaced with the more capable, rugged Desert Hawk III.

Specifications

Wingspan: 52 in (1.32 m)
Length: 34 in (0.86 m)
Weight: 7 lb (3.2 kg)
Engine: electric motor driving a quiet pusher propeller
Endurance: approx. 1 hour

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk.

Official website
Desert Hawk: Mini UAV Goes Operational, CodeOne Magazine, 2003
DESERT HAWK UP: New Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Part 1, Military.com
Desert Hawk helps protect Tallil, 332 AEW Public Affairs, 10/24/2003
Desert Hawk gives security forces an eye in sky, 379 AEW Public Affairs, 7/21/2004
Desert Hawk III - Armed Forces International
Lockheed Martin Flies First 360-degree Infrared Sensor on Small Unmanned Aircraft System, Lockheed Martin Press Release 8/10/2009

Lockheed and Lockheed Martin aircraft

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Military transports	C-69 Constellation C-121 Constellation C-130 Hercules C-130J Super Hercules HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 C-141 Starlifter C-5 Galaxy R6V Constitution Tristar (RAF)

Attack and bombers	YP-24 Hudson XB-30 Ventura AC-130 A-4AR Fightinghawk F-117 Nighthawk Have Blue FB-22

Drones/UAVs	AQM-60 Kingfisher D-21 Desert Hawk Desert Hawk III MQM-105 Aquila Polecat RQ-3 Darkstar RQ-170 Sentinel DC-130

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