Vigilante® Helicopter Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Overview

Vigilante® is an SAIC-developed family of small, inexpensive Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Optionally Piloted and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that are based on the commercially available Ultrasport 496 sport helicopter.

Applications

Vigilante are fully capable VTOL UAV systems including air vehicle and ground support systems. All the variants of Vigilante have a maximum gross weight of 1,100 pounds, a main rotor diameter of 23 feet, an overall length of 26 feet and a main rotor height of 8 feet. Vigilante are easily transported via trailer towed by auto/truck/van and reconfigurable for a variety of datalinks and payloads. They can be operated by as few as two people.

Features

The Vigilante 496 is either optionally piloted or an autonomous UAV. See photo. It is capable of a maximum true air speed of 96 knots and altitudes over 10,000 feet. It has 12 cu ft interior volume and a 300-lb. payload capacity with its full fuel capacity of 18 gallons. The Vigilante 502 is a UAV only aircraft. See photo. It is capable of a maximum true air speed of 117 knots and altitudes over 12,000 feet. It has 5 cu ft interior volume, a 150-lb. payload capacity with its full 36-gallon fuel capacity in a NASCAR type crashworthy fuel system, and less drag for improved aerodynamic performance.

The flight control system allows for fully autonomous flight, waypoint control, and direct state commands by the ground station operator. Aircraft are currently in service with a US Navy and a US Army customer.

Benefits

Vigilante systems use a large number of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components because they are based on a kit. Benefits include:

• Lower initial cost
• Fewer spares required on hand
• Less expensive long-term support

The open design is easily reconfigurable to a large variety of payloads and can easily trade payload for more range and endurance. See chart.

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