AN UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE CONCEPT WITH TIPJET DRIVE

A new concept is developed for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) config ured with a tipjet-driven, two-bladed, stoppable rotor and circulation control airfoils, The vehicle's high-aspect ratio wing ''converts'' t o a tipjet-driven helicopter rotor for vertical takeoff and landing (V TOL). The conceptual design is presented for a 1200-lb Tipjet VTOL UAV that is suitable for performing various Navy UAV missions, Vehicle pe rformance predictions are included for the key flight regimes of hover , low-speed rotary-wing flight, and conversion between rotary-wing and fixed-wing flight, Results of standard mission performance analyses i ndicate that the 1200-lb Tipjet VTOL UAV is a viable candidate vehicle for the designated Navy UAV missions, Moreover, the Tipjet concept is directly applicable to much larger UAVs that will greatly enhance nav al warfare capabilities.