29 Dec 14. Iran’s Mohajer Tested in Military Exercises. Two versions of Mohajer (Migrant), one of Iran’s homegrown Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), were flown on the first day of the Army’s large-scale military drills. The Mohajer2-N (M2-N) and Mohajer 4 (M4) reconnaissance drones were flown in the general area of the wargame. Titled “Muhammad Rasullullah” (Muhammad, the messenger of God), the massive military exercises began on Thursday with the participation of units from the Army’s Ground Force, Air Force, Navy, and Air Defense. The maneuver will continue for a week (until December 31) in a large area of 2.2 million square kilometers, stretching from the northern Indian Ocean (10 degrees latitude) to the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and in the southern Iranian provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan and Hormozgan. On the first two days of the drills, the focus will be on displaying the capabilities of the Ground Force, including the force’s Drone Unit which flew its UAVs to provide support for the ground and artillery units. Mohajer2-N (M2-N), one of the UAVs used in today’s exercises, is a reconnaissance and spy drone capable of carrying out combat operations. It is equipped with a range of modern apparatus and systems that have boosted its capabilities for diverse missions. The drone can be employed for a range of military and civil operations, including aerial reconnaissance and patrol missions, traffic control, rescue and relief, cartography and oil pollution control at the sea. Equipped with a 360-degree camera on the nose gear, M2-N can record and send back instantaneous high resolution images. It can also be armed with missiles thanks to the launchers installed beneath its wings. The M4 was another drone flown in the military drills. With its front cameras and those installed beneath the fuselage, it has very good capability in reconnaissance missions and monitoring the enemy moves. The M4 drone is equipped with GPS-guide technology and is capable of carrying missiles. (Source: UAS VISION/Tasnim News Agency)
30 Dec 14. NASA Seed Funds SR 72 Hypersonic UAV. NASA has funded a parametric design study to establish the viability of a Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) Propulsion system consisting of integrating several combinations of near-term turbine engine solutions and a very low Mach ignition Dual Mode RamJet (DMRJ) in the SR-72 vehicle concept. The SR72 would fly at speeds of Mach 6.0, or 4,500 mph. That’s almost double the speed of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which made its first flight 50 years ago. Lockheed Martin is working with Aerojet Rocketdyne to find a way to integrate a turbine engine, which would get the plane up to Mach 3, with a supersonic ramjet engine, or scramjet, to push it to Mach 6. Lockheed believes it can develop its SR-72 by 2030. The $892,292 contract funds a design study to determine the viability of a TBCC propulsion system by combining one of several current turbine engines, with a very low Mach ignition Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ). NASA previously funded a Lockheed Martin study that found speeds up to Mach 7 could be achieved with a dual-mode engine combining turbine and ramjet technologies. The problem with hypersonic propulsion has always been the gap between the highest speed capabilities of a turbojet, from around Mach 2.2 to the lowest speed of a ramjet at Mach 4. Typical turbine engines cannot achieve high enough speeds for a ramjet to take over and continue accelerating. The NASA-Lockheed study is looking at the possibility of a higher-speed turbine engine or a ramjet that can function in a turbine engine’s slower flight envelope; the DARPA HTV-3X had demonstrated a low-speed ramjet that could operate below Mach 3. Existing turbofan engines powering jet fighters and other experimental designs are being considered for modification. If the study is successful, NASA will fund a demonstrator to test the DMRJ in a flight research vehicle. (Source: UAS VISION/Next Big Future)
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