Honeywell to develop organic vehicle prototype for US Army

Honeywell has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) prototype for the United States Army's future combat system.

The OAV will allow the army to gather information from a "micro" flying air vehicle, which uses remote sensors onboard and a ground station for control to perform autonomous flights with full reconnaissance capabilities.The prototype demonstrator, which has been built and successfully flown, stands 22 inches tall, 14 inches wide, and weighs 5 pounds and will pioneer new flight modes for this size aircraft with miniaturisation of payloads and avionics.

"The OAV represents a new business area for Honeywell and we will explore this opportunity and others that allow us to use our equipment capabilities for projects like this," said Jacques Esculier, Vice President and General Manager, Honeywell Environmental Control Systems/Electric Power.

In Phase I, which ends December 2001, the aircraft will demonstrate basic required flight capabilities for OAV missions such as vertical takeoff and landing, stable hover and high-speed horizontal flight as well as autonomous pre-programmed, or waypoint, navigation capability.Simultaneously, next generation avionics and future designs will be researched, designed and tested.

Honeywell's Defense and Space group expects to have a vehicle design available for the US Army in December 2002.This OAV will complement the Future Combat Systems development programme that is being sponsored by DARPA and the US Army.

REF XQQAS XQQAR XQQLD