Unmanned Systems Technology 026 I Tecdron TC800-FF I Propellers I USVs I AUVSI 2019 part 1 I Robby Moto UAVE I Singular Aircraft FlyOx I Teledyne SeaRaptor I Simulation & Testing I Ocean Business 2019 report

8 Platform one June/July 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology Guided weapons supplier Almaz- Antey has patented an anti-UAV aircraft built around a 10-shot semi-automatic shotgun (writes Peter Donaldson). The tail-sitting electric VTOL interceptor UAV is a 23 kg, 3 m span fixed-wing, twin-motor canard design, and was originally designed by a student group at the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). The shotgun is a gas-operated Molot Vepr 12 that is patterned on a Kalashnikov assault rifle. It is carried within a fuselage that appears to be an aluminium alloy lattice reminiscent of the geodetic structure of a Wellington bomber used by the RAF in WW2. This structure surrounds the shotgun from the muzzle to the rear of the action, and continues to the trailing edge of the wing. The 10-round magazine protrudes from the underside of the aircraft. The weapon has had its stock and pistol grip removed, and is mounted in a recoil-absorbing/damping mechanism which appears to include a coil spring attached between the rear of the receiver and the fuselage structure. Despite this mechanism though, the flight control system must be able to compensate for recoil, which is significant in 12-gauge shotguns. Autopilot compensation for muzzle blast interference with the canard foreplanes is also likely to be needed. The trigger is operated by a servo, and there is a cut-out in the structure to allow spent cases to be ejected. It is not clear at the moment though whether there is a servo to cycle the gun’s action in the air to clear a jam or a misfire, or if there are any means of operating the safety lever remotely. Aiming is via a first person view camera on the nose, just above and behind the gun muzzle, although MAI implies that automatic target tracking software linked to the autopilot is included. “The device takes shots in the automatic mode, continuing to fly along a given course, and if the target is not hit, the UAV can continue moving behind the object,” the institute said. The camera sends imagery to the operator via what appears to be a Chinese Inchang mushroom transmit antenna mounted on a stalk on the right- hand side, ahead of what seem to be the batteries. These probable batteries are in two large, wedge-shaped packs mounted on either side of the fuselage ahead of the gun’s magazine, and provide a claimed 40-minute endurance. They power two tractor propellers ahead of each wing’s leading edge. Hacker A100-8 motors have a speed constant of 196 rpm/V. Four crossbolts hold the carbon fibre wings to the fuselage, and two control surfaces on the trailing edge of each wing serve either as flaperons or the outer surfaces as ailerons and the inner ones as flaps. The all-moving canard foreplanes that provide pitch control pivot through the structure behind the gun muzzle, while two large vertical stabilisers incorporate the fixed landing gear and the rudders. Taken down by a 12-gauge Airborne vehicles The Almaz-Antey VTOL interceptor is based around a gas-operated shotgun