

Date Posted: 14-Nov-2007
Jane's Defence Weekly
Chile explores options for UAV procurement
José Higuera JDW Correspondent
Santiago
Chile is planning to procure unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fitted with infrared cameras and other vision systems and sensors for battlefield monitoring, intelligence gathering and even weapons delivery, sources in Santiago have confirmed to Jane's .
The Chilean Army is already experienced with UAVs. It received some development Vulture UAVs, manufactured by South African company Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE), in 2000 to support testing of the later cancelled Rayo artillery rocket system co-developed by Chile's state-owned FAMAE and the then Royal Ordnance.
Current requirements call for a new UAV, designed for combat intelligence and long-range artillery target designation, to be operational between 2010 and 2012.
An obvious commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) candidate is ATE's fully developed Vulture, which is now in production in South Africa. Similar UAVs manufactured by the Malat Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are also under consideration.
With regard to South American co-operation, Chile has been invited to join Argentina's Lipán M3 UAV programme. General Aldo Cardinali, chief of the Chilean Army's Technological Development Directorate, recently visited Argentina to be briefed on the Lipán M3 and the projected Lipán M4.
The Chilean Army has also had contacts with Argentine company Nostromo since 2006. Marcelo Martínez, owner and chief designer of Nostromo, recently joined Chilean investors and scientists to create Aero Robots Chile.
The new company is set to adapt the Nostromo designs to fit civil and military requirements in Chile. It is already working on preparing and equipping two of Nostromo's Yarara UAVs for application tests in geological surveys in support of mining projects. According to sources in Santiago, this programme is being closely observed by the Chilean Army.
The Chilean Air Force is also planning the acquisition of UAVs for battlefield monitoring and intelligence-gathering tasks. Other applications, including the use of UAVs in offensive missions such as defence suppression, have been studied. The aim is to deploy an operational UAV by the middle of the next decade.
Options being assessed include the Northrop Grumman/IAI Malat Division MQ-5C Extended Range E-Hunter; Chilean Air Force teams have visited Israel to see the system working.
The Boeing/Insitu Scan Eagle UAV has also been proposed as an option. Boeing is exploring options for local assembly as well as servicing and support logistics with Chilean aerospace company ENAER.
The Chilean Navy and RMS, a local company with long experience in building drones for targeting training, jointly built and tested an experimental UAV in the late 1990s. The service has been showing interest in rotary-wing UAVs for shipboard use but it is unclear whether this is purely academic or related to substantive plans.
La caída del avión no tripulado -UAV, en sus siglas inglesas y denominado provisionalmente Barracuda- se produjo cuando el aparato se precipitó al mar sobre las 8.10 horas, en la fase final de la aproximación a la base, a apenas 800 metros de la cabecera de la pista 23, después de haber realizado con éxito el vuelo que tenía programado, según el Ejército del Aire. En la recuperación de la aeronave trabajaban efectivos de la Guardia Civil, Protección Civil y EADS-CASA, aunque al estar fabricada en fibra de vidrio es probable que el prototipo no pueda volver a volar. La aeronave accidentada, que comenzó en mayo sus primeros vuelos de pruebas en España, no transportaba ningún tipo de armamento, según el Ejército del Aire, que señala que durante esta última semana todas las pruebas de rodaje y motor dieron resultados satisfactorios, cumpliendo todas las medidas de seguridad.
Lo siento , pero tu me induces a las contestaciones con tus pasadas
Andrés Eduardo González escribió::cool:Tranquilos, no es para tanto. Iris tiene razón en algo: cuando se prueba un prototipo de lo que sea, es normal que éste sufra accidentes, y es deseable que esto se presente en dicha etapa y no cuando se declare operativo; así se tiene la oportunidad de mejorar el diseño y corregir errores de fabricación, de software o hardware, dependiendo que haya fallado. Creo que todos los aviones y UAV's que hay hoy día en el mundo (en prueba u operativos) han sufrido fallas y por ende accidentes en su etapa de prueba, por ejemplo la FAC ya perdió uno de sus prototipos en un accidente en Antioquia. Es mejor ahora y no en el momento de la verdad, como una batalla, guerra u operación militar de gran importancia y que contaba con la información que supuestamente iba el UAV a recoger para su éxito...
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