Unmanned Systems Technology 005 | Selex ES Falco UAV | Sense and avoid systems | RCV Engines DF70 | DSEI show report | Fuel cells | CUAV Expo, InterDrone and CUAV Show reports | SLAM

18 F alco is the Italian word for hawk, and that neatly sums up one aspect of the UAV designed and produced by Selex ES in Italy. A hawk is a bird of prey of course, but whereas the Falco wasn’t designed to kill it does share its namesake’s exceptional vision capability. It was designed as a medium-altitude, unarmed, surveillance-oriented platform capable of carrying a wide range of payloads including several types of high-resolution sensor. Powered by a small internal combustion engine, it has a 7.2 m wingspan, can reach a flight speed in excess of 100 knots and has an endurance of more than 12 hours. Aside from its Wankel-type rotary engine, the Falco – including the control system and many payload options – is produced by Selex ES at its Ronchi dei Legionari plant near Venice. Its design is intended to meet European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidelines for airworthiness, it has automatic take-off and landing, and can be operated at night. Now well proven, the Falco made its maiden flight at the end of 2003 and has been operated by customers since 2007. In addition, for almost two years the United Nations has used Falcos in a peacekeeping role in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was selected because of its proven track record in long-endurance surveillance missions, together with its ease of deployment. Background Finmeccanica is noted for allocating a high proportion of its total expenditure to r&d. Within the Finmeccanica group, Selex ES, Alenia Aermacchi and AugustaWestland are all currently involved in the development of UAVs, the latter having recently developed through its Polish subsidiary an optionally piloted version of an existing helicopter, the SW-4 Solo. It has also co-developed with Italian helicopter technology specialist IDS the smaller, unmanned SD-150 Hero rotor craft. At Selex ES, unmanned flight began in the mid-1950s, through the Meteor CAE Spa company that it now embraces. At that stage the owner of Meteor, Furio Lauri, famed for his exploits as a fighter pilot during World War II, had been asked by his wife to give up flying after surviving a crash in a prototype light aircraft. That prompted an interest in remote piloting, which in turn led to the development of reciprocating-engined unmanned aerial targets, which were used at the Italian air force’s Salto di Ian Bamsey investigates the technology of this surveillance UAV Watching like a hawk The Falco has been embraced by the UN for its operations in the Congo Dec 2015/Jan 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology