Raytheon's Killer Bee Unmanned Aircraft

Posted March 27th, 2008 by George Delozier

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

George Delozier
Motorized Innovations
InventorSpot.com

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Comments

How does it land?

Submitted on March 27th, 2008 by Anonymous

Looking at it, it's hard to tell where the landing gear is. Does it flip over to land?

You've been had by Raytheon PR!

Submitted on March 28th, 2008 by Anonymous

Contrary to the statement about "working on a design for quite some time," Raytheon is a relative newcomer to the Killer Bee 4. The Killer Bee series is actually built by Swift Engineering. They partnered with Raytheon in hope of having better access to the military market.

http://www.killerbeeuas.com/news-marine.shtml

As for the previous question, KB4 doesn't use landing gear. It flies into a net.

Raytheon PR

Submitted on March 28th, 2008 by Anonymous

I don't think it is the PR so much as liberal interpretation by editors. I saw the orignial article that this one was derived from, and Raytheon gave Swift Engineering credit for the Killer Bee. Raytheon is more likely acting as an integrator of systems and is choosing the best components they can find.
The launcher shown in the second image is made by BAI. The sensors, links, transponder, etc, are all probably off the shelf items. Since Raytheon builds the control stations for the Global Hawk and Fire Scout, that is probably the big Raytheon technical contribution. The Killer Bee is going to have a large payload capacity and endurance. If the reliability can be proven, then it will be a formidable program.

UAV or UAS

Submitted on March 28th, 2008 by Anonymous

When are you going to get with the times and use the new terminology? Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is what DoD is now calling these programs.
Check it out:
http://www.acq.osd.mil/usd/Unmanned%20Systems%20Roadmap.2007-2032.pdf