One Marine gives a demonstration of the Dragon Eye, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that can fly over enemy lines for one hour sending back infrared real-time images.

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A marine releases a Dragon Eye surveillance drone on the outskirts of Falluja. These low-flying aircraft are equipped with cameras that transmit live images, helping the marines plan their attacks. Hearing the drones’ high, irritating buzz during the battle meant the shooting had stopped for a few minutes.


The following are photos of the Dragon Eye UAV system at work in Fallujah.
Photos by LTC Norm Root



The U.S. Marine Corps is returning to Iraq with as many Dragon Eye mini-UAVs as they can get their hands on. The five pound aircraft is launched with a large rubber band and transmits pictures back to a laptop computer, which also contains the software that controls the aircraft. With a 45 inch wingspan, the battery powered Dragon Eye can stay in the air for about an hour and can fly up to ten kilometers from the operator. Only one Dragon Eye went to Iraq last year, and it was out of action after a week when the laptop that controlled it broke. But for that one week, the Dragon Eye performed well, and continued to do so when the marines returned to the United States. The Dragon Eye has proved very useful in training, and the marines are trying to get as many as 180 of the small UAVs for the units returning to Iraq this year. Eventually, the marines plan to buy 1,026 of the aircraft and 342 ground control units. The Dragon Eye uses many of the same components as the Air Force Desert Hawk mini-UAV. That means that the operator doesn't have to "fly" the UAV, just indicate on the laptop screen what route it should take, and use a mouse click to show it where it should just circle. Each $100,000 Dragon Eye unit has three aircraft, a ground control station (radio transmitter/receiver, laptop) and maintenance equipment. The aircraft is very popular with company commanders, who can quickly send a Dragon Eye up to check out an area before they enter it, and keep an eye on surrounding areas during operations.


Dragon Eye 'Backpack' UAV
showing demountability into an 'ALICE' pack sized container

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/ ... _1_750.jpg
NRL's Electronic Warfare Division, in collaboration with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), is developing an affordable, expendable airborne sensor platform, Dragon Eye, to demonstrate Small Unit reconnaissance and threat detection capabilities.

The ONR/MCWL- sponsored Dragon Eye will consist of a man-portable, 5.5 lb., hand or bungee launched air vehicle, and a Ground Control Station (GCS) to provide command and control and receive the aircraft's video and GPS position. The vehicle characteristics will enable an operational capability in adverse weather conditions.

Dragon Eye will feature autonomous flight capability to allow one-person operation. The endurance is 30- 60 minutes at 35 kt airspeed, with an electric propulsion system. Interchangeable 0.5 lb. modular commercial off-the-shelf components payloads for Dragon Eye will include daylight, low light, and infrared imaging systems and robust communications links.


Photo: U.S. Navy
Dragon Eye (NRL/MCWL prototype)










A Dragon Eye system consists of the three UAVs and the ground control equipment. All components are light-weight (2.7 kg (5.9 lb) for one UAV, 5.4 kg (12 lb) for the ground control station) and are carried in a soldier's backpack. The air vehicle is powered by two electric motors which drive wing-mounted propellers. It is launched either by hand or with the help of a bungee cord, and is recovered by an autopilot-controlled belly landing. The UAV has an effective operating radius of about 10 km (6 miles) and a duration of about 60 minutes. The ground control equipment includes a laptop computer, which is used to program waypoints into the Dragon Eye's GPS navigation system. The UAV can fly its mission fully autonomously, but the operator can optionally update the waypoints during the flight. The Dragon Eye is equipped with interchangeable nose assemblies which house different types of side-looking motion cameras - either full-color daylight electro-optical or low-light monochrome cameras. The camera imagery is downlinked in real-time to the operator, who uses special goggles to watch the video.


Photo: Sparta Inc.
RQ-14A

Beginning in mid-2002, Dragon Eye systems were supplied to some Marine Corps units to evaluate the system under field conditions. The UAV was operationally used for the first time during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 for reconnaissance and battle damage assessment. This deployment was considered a success although some weaknesses became apparent. The main problems were the lack of a zoom capability for the camera (the video images were not good enough for quick and reliable friend-or-foe identification of people on the ground) and the lack of an infrared camera option for night-time operations.

In November 2003, the Dragon Eye production prime contract was awarded to AeroVironment, and the USMC's current procurement plans call for 467 Dragon Eye systems with 3 UAVs each. In early 2007, the official designation RQ-14A was finally allocated to the Dragon Eye.

The RQ-14B Swift is an upgraded variant of Dragon Eye, which uses the same standardized ground control equipment as other AeroVironment UAVs, e.g. FQM-151 Pointer, RQ-11 Raven, Puma and Wasp. This variant can therefore be flown under full manual control. At least six Swift systems have been delivered to the U.S. military's SOCOM (Special Operations Command).

Aerovironment and the Marine Corps are also developing a Dragon Eye Block Upgrade known as X-63 (this is not a military aircraft designation). The X-63 has a larger wingspan (1.6 m (63 in)) and an improved battery for longer endurance. Additional features include improved landing accuracy and in-flight navigation, new payloads (IR and zoom cameras), and a new communications system with 8 instead of 4 up- and downlink channels.

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for RQ-14A/B:

.............................RQ-14A..................................................RQ-14B
Length .......................................0.91 m (2 ft 11.75 in)............................
Wingspan .........1.14 m (3 ft 9 in)........................................1.10 m (3.6 ft)
Weight .................2.7 kg (5.9 lb)..............................................2.8 kg (6.1 lb)
Speed max: ..........65 km/h (40 mph); cruise: 35 km/h (22 mph).........max: 83 km/h (52 mph); cruise: 50 km/h (31 mph)
Ceiling ...................300 m (1000 ft) ..............................................................?
Range ............................................10 km (6 miles)......................................
Endurance ..........60 min. ....................................................80 min.
Propulsion .........................2x Aveox 1005/6Y electric motor................................