Tata- Urban Aeronautics UAV based on Fancraft technology

[angeldemon_007]

An exhibitor at the Tata exhibition stall explains to the chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata (L), the workings of unmanned aerial vehicles to be built in partnership with Israel-based Urban Aeronautics which are to be based on UrbanAero�s patented Fancraft technology, during the international defence exhibition "Defexpo 08

Tata Advanced Systems explores opportunities with Urban Aeronautics, Israel

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To market and manufacture innovative unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)

Tata Advanced Systems has announced today at the DEFEXPO 2008 exhibition in New Delhi, India, that they are jointly exploring opportunities with Urban Aeronautics from Israel for marketing and manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles based on UrbanAero's patented Fancraft technology for the Indian market. Tata Industries has also invested in Urban Aeronautics. Tata Advanced Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Industries and is focused on providing integrated solutions for defence and aerospace.
Founded by Rafi Yoeli, Urban Aeronautics has established an early lead in developing technology that will enable a family of vertical take off and landing aircraft with no exposed rotors. The entire family of Fancraft that would be developed using this technology is uniquely suited to flying and operating inside of complex urban and natural environments. The Fancraft technology developed at UrbanAero could result in a number of operational vehicles in various markets.

Currently in development at UrbanAero are technology demonstrators in three sizes:

X-Hawk, a manned, twin-turbine powered FAA certifiable version with a capacity of 12 persons including the pilot

Panda, a small, electrically powered surveillance aircraft

MULE, a single turbine powered unmanned aircraft for military re-supply and medical evacuation operations with a payload capacity of 250 kilograms.
Urban Aeronautics is showcasing its technology, including a scale model of its proposed MULE UAV in the Tata Pavilion at the DefExpo in hall No 12 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

A Tata Advanced Systems spokesperson said: "Tata Advanced Systems is pleased to be associated with Urban Aeronautics, which is developing innovative unmanned vehicles based on its patented Fancraft technology. We believe these unmanned vehicles can have multiple applications for defence and civilian applications in India."

Rafi Yoeli, Urban Aeronautics's founder and CEO said: "We believe that there could be no better partner for our future business in India than Tata Advanced Systems. We are extremely pleased to have joined forces with Tata to exhibit this unique technology, with the plan of eventually being able to bring the Fancraft revolution to the Indian market."


Tata group | Tata Industries | Media releases | Tata Advanced Systems explores opportunities with Urban Aeronautics, Israel


Its an old news but it deserve some discussion


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AirMule


Introduction
The AirMule is a compact, unmanned, single-engine, VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft. Internal lift rotors enable the AirMule to fly inside obstructed (e.g. mountainous, wooded, urban) terrain where helicopters are unable to operate. The AirMule is innovative due to its internal rotors and significant payload capacity that allows for the evacuation of 2 casualties as well as fast and flexible payload reconfiguration for other missions. It is also ideally suited to special robotic operation, for example via Tele-Presence.

AirMule Target Markets

Civil - AirMule offers much needed capabilities to emergency responders in routine, day-to-day operations as well as in the most challenging situations such as earthquakes and floods. The ability to quickly deliver water, food and medical supplies directly to affected populations—no matter how isolated—will save lives. During nuclear, biological or chemical emergencies AirMule offers transformative assessment and response capabilities. Day to day multiple mission capability (electric grids, bridge inspection, agricultural spraying, offshore oil platform support to name a few) makes AirMule a cost effective addition to any commercial helicopter fleet.

Military - AirMule, a tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) can help combatants reclaim an essential edge by enabling precise point to point logistic support and CasEvac solutions in battle conditions that are increasingly averse to conventional rotorcraft access. Today’s conflicts are increasingly defined by insurgents whose battlefields of choice are cities, villages and other environments that are inaccessible to helicopters. Supply convoys and medical teams entering these locations experience lethal threats unlike any that have been experienced in the past.

AirMule’s maneuverability, small visual footprint, low noise and reduced radar and IR signatures offer a stealth advantage that greatly enhances its effectiveness and survivability in these environments. Unmatched time to target with the unprecedented capability of CasEvac on return offers life saving potential. Simplicity of design without a complex cyclic rotor head means high reliability and low operating cost.

AirMule Capabilities

AirMule’s internal rotor design and UA's patented Fancraft™ technologies enable AirMule to maneuver with unprecedented precision, safety and stealth in even the most constricted areas. Its minimal footprint is only slightly larger than that of a HUMVEE vehicle.
By removing the human operator from the loop on most missions, AirMule can eliminate personnel exposure to operational hazards.
A single AirMule is capable of ferrying 500 Kilograms of useful cargo per each 50 Kilometer radius sortie, thereby delivering approximately 6,000 Kilograms over 24 hours. A 10-12 AirMule “Mobile Supply Unit” can deliver supplies, day after day, to sustain 3,000 combatants, while at the same time ferrying back their wounded and casualties.
Total available cargo volume is 2,640 liters (93 ft^3); 1,540 liters of which are internal (770 liters in each of the main cabin compartments) and an additional 1,100 liters available in an optional belly mounted compartment.
AirMule can hover in place with high precision and operate in harsh weather and winds of up to 50 knots, a significant improvement over existing helicopters.
The addition of externally mounted utility equipment can enhance the vehicle’s robotic functionality.
AirMule is designed to the most stringent FAA design requirements for Rotorcraft, resulting in an aircraft with very high safety and reliability.
AirMule is equipped with a rocket deployed parachute, that will safely lower the complete vehicle and its payload from almost any height in the case of an unlikely malfunction of its engine or lift rotors.


AirMule - UrbanAero

 

[angeldemon_007]

Some AirMule pictures

 

[angeldemon_007]

Centaur


Introduction
Centaur is a manned variant of the AirMule and possesses a high degree of commonality with the AirMule’s structure and systems. The fact that AirMule is already designed in accordance with FAA standards for manned aircraft will greatly facilitate its adaptation to a manned version. Centaur will be capable of flying up to six occupants for 1-1.5 hours on various Utility, Homeland Security and Special Forces missions. The Centaur will find use mainly in the civil utility, military and Para-military applications, and as an entry level manned MedEvac vehicle for operations inside the urban terrain.


Centaur Target Markets

Civil – Targeting current operators of helicopter fleets, augmenting their capabilities in emergency response, medical and rescue operations in urban or hard to access environments, utility work and missions that require precision during inclement weather that prohibits the use of conventional helicopters.

Military – Special Forces operations and possibly as an entry level manned MedEvac (Medical Evacuation) vehicle.

Centaur Capabilities

Performance figures are similar to AirMule, however max dash speed and cruise efficiency are expected to be lower if an ‘open seating’ arrangement as shown in the above figure are employed.


Centaur - UrbanAero

 

[angeldemon_007]

X-Hawk

X-Hawk is the largest of UrbanAero’s current models of Fancraft™. It is a fully redundant, twin-engine aircraft that is designed to comply with existing FAA certification standards for the ‘Powered Lift’ category (based on FAR 27 & FAR 23) and can accommodate up to 10 passengers plus a pilot.

Military Roles

As a military aircraft X-Hawk is primarily a troop carrier that can transport small fighting units in areas where the use of helicopters is impractical or impossible. Unlike ground transport in urban environments, X-Hawk is unaffected by IED’s and other potentially lethal threats and can deliver troops to any location with great precision including the capability to deliver them directly into a building at any level through a window. This avoids the use of potentially perilous stairwells.

Beyond simple transport, X-Hawk has the potential to fulfill numerous tactical and strategic missions that are currently impossible using existing aerial options.

Civilian Roles

X-Hawk, with its redundant, twin-engine design, is the ideal Fancraft™ for a variety of civil missions. Initially, X-Hawk will be incorporated into existing civil helicopter fleets to provide extended MedEvac and emergency response capabilities and also for use in executive transport.

Design

‘Rotorless’ design eliminates the serious safety hazards associated with helicopter rotors and permits secure access to any location.

Arrival time is reliable, predictable and fast due to the aircraft’s ability to remain unaffected by obstacles.

Minimal landing zone requirements mean that there is no need for a helipad or the prior arrival of a ground team in order to identify and secure a landing zone. With regard to MedEvac, the result is that—for the first time—aerial response can truly be the first response and will significantly reduce delays in medical treatment.

The capability to sustain a safe, stable hover adjacent to a window, wall or slope or to land safely in a congested space allows transport to and evacuation from virtually any location without the use of ladders or hoists.

X-Hawk is significantly quieter than any helicopter, an important consideration with regard to civil airspace, particularly in urban environments.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Yes but India/TATA really has very little (if anything) to do with this project right? And we must be atleast 2 decades away (at best) from seeing such a craft meeting Indian armed forces criteria ready to be inducted.

 

[angeldemon_007]

X-Hawk: Medical Rescue and Evacuation

Medical emergencies arrive without regard to location or time. Unfortunately, emergency medical teams don’t have the same luxury. Both location and time are factors that can hamper their effectiveness and make all the difference between life and death. Medical technology may be miraculous, but it’s not much good unless it can get to you.

Traditional ambulances are subject to the whims of urban traffic patterns. Everyone knows the desperate sound of a wailing siren stuck in a rush-hour bottleneck. Even MEDEVAC helicopters have limitations. We’ve all seen footage of a helicopter, it’s rotor hovering precariously close to a mountainside, struggling to lower a medic to a remote mountain ledge.

X-Hawk, in its air ambulance configuration offers a revolutionary capacity for emergency rescue teams to reach their destination quickly, in spite of practical obstacles or complex landscapes.

What makes X-Hawk so much better?
‘Rotorless’ design eliminates the serious safety hazards associated with helicopter rotors and permits secure access to any location.
Arrival time is guaranteed and predictably speedy with effectively zero vulnerability to contingencies such as traffic or other access obstacles.
The capability to sustain a safe, stable hover adjacent to a window, wall or slope or to land safely in a congested space allows access and evacuation from virtually any location without the use of ladders or hoists.
X-Hawk is significantly quieter than any helicopter, an important consideration with regard to urban environments.

 

[angeldemon_007]

Yes but India/TATA really has very little (if anything) to do with this project right? And we must be atleast 2 decades away (at best) from seeing such a craft meeting Indian armed forces criteria ready to be inducted.

Tata has money...they can simply purchase this small company. As far as i heard, they are pumping money in this project and some technical from their side

 

[angeldemon_007]

 

[punjabimunda]

thts a good engineering project, love to do that in final year.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Tata has money...they can simply purchase this small company. As far as i heard, they are pumping money in this project and some technical from their side

But let's be honest we are at least two decades (probably more) away from seeing this thing ready for Indian forces. And this, IMHO, looks like one of those futuristic projects that is over ambitious and eventually burns itself out- just like the "rocket man" in US who has been promising "flying cars" to us for almost 15 years but has never gotten very far.

 

[angeldemon_007]

^^^
yEAH IF WE WOULD HAVE BEEN BUILDING IT ALONE, IT WOULD TAKE A DECADE FOR US TO MAKE SUCH A THING BUT THANKS TO ISRAEL, TATA WILL BE LAUNCHING THIS UAV AT THE SAME TIME IN INDIA. ITS A REALITY MY FRIEND, THE PROTOTYPE IS WORKING AND TATA EVEN HAS SHARES IN THIS COMPANY AND THIS IS A SMALL COMPANY WHICH WANTS TO INCREASE ITS SALES. THEY HAVE COVERED INDIAN MARKET, NOW THIS COMPANY IS LOOKING FOR A PARTNER IN EUROPE ALSO.

SO IN SHORT, THIS IS A REALITY NOW. THIS UAV WILL ENTER IN INDIAN MARKET VERY SOON, AT THE SAME TIME IT DOES IN ISRAEL. IN INDIA TATA WILL MARKET THIS. NOW ITS UPTO MOD AND IA TO DECIDE WHETHER TO PURCHASE IT OR NOT.