Raytheon's Killer Bee Unmanned Aircraft

Ever since the military realized the benefits of using unmanned aircraft, there has been a race to build the most up-to-date UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), with the winner receiving a government contract. Raytheon has been working on a design for quite some time and finally showed it to the world.

The Killer Bee was designed with the intention of replacing the current ScanEagle being utilized by the US Marine Corps and Navy. The requirements were few, but very hard ot achieve in some cases. Both branches wanted something portable, easy to launch and capable of flying for at least 10 hours while navigating on its own.

Although the ScanEagle meets all of these, Raytheon clams the Killer Beeis better suited. It offers a longer flight time and over 100 miles of range. The bent tip of the wings solves both the problem of antennae placement as well as giving more stability during tight turns. The Bee also has a higher payload capacity and more impressive arsenal.

Killer Bee and Launch Pod

It can track objects both during the day and after dark by using a system of live video and Infrared sensors. It can also fire precision guided munitions by using an on-board laser for target designation.

The military is expecting a final decision by June or July of this year with the first combat missions being in early 2011.

Via : Defense Update