Yabhon Smart Eye is a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed and manufactured by ADCOM Systems, a company based in the UAE.
The UAV is designed to conduct strategic and tactical operations, and is suitable for a variety of missions, including near real-time (NRT) combat assessment, battle damage assessment (BDA), border surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, humanitarian aid, communications relay, and other special operations. It can also be used for protecting critical national infrastructure.
The Yabhon Smart Eye UAV is manufactured at ADCOM’s facility in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi. It was exhibited first at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2009 held in Abu Dhabi.
The Yabhon family of unmanned air systems also includes Yabhon-R MALE, -R2 MALE, -RX, -H, -Smart Eye1, –United 40 (Smart Eye 2) MALE, and -United 40 block 5 MALE.
Bayraktar is a mini UAV produced by Baykar Makina for the Turkish Armed Forces.
Yabhon Smart Eye UAV design and features
The Smart Eye is fitted with glider-like wings at the front section. The wings have a high glide ratio of 30:1. The tail assembly is mounted with two vertical tail fins. A three-bladed propeller is mounted in the middle section.
The vehicle features tri-cycle landing gear configuration with a nose wheel and two main wheels. The retractable and steerable nose wheel offers optimal flight operation. The long-range Yabhon Smart Eye UAV features flexible design that enables remote area monitoring and other operations.
The unmanned aerial vehicle has a length of 7m, height of 2m and a wing span of 21m. The empty weight is 450kg and the maximum take-off weight is 1,000kg. The fuel storage capacity is 900lt and the payload carrying capacity is up to 550kg.
An advanced ADCOM-3D flight control unit (FCU) is incorporated to facilitate autonomous operation by providing independent inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global positioning system (GPS) navigation services for the UAV. The FCU is capable of controlling up to 16 different payload systems. The UAV is capable of generating mission plan prior to flight. It also supports online mission profile update and recording.
Payloads of Yabhon Smart Eye UAV
The Yabhon Smart Eye MALE UAV can carry two gyro-stabilised payload platforms, synthetic aperture radar, and sonar terrain avoidance system. It can also carry up to four pods of 100kg capacity each under the wings.
The payload system includes two gimballed camera platforms, infrared (IR) sensor, thermal imager, and electro-optical (EO) sensors to capture high resolution imagery and video in real time during day and night operations. A Laser Designator and Range Finder (LDRF) is also installed to measure distances and designate targets.
The UAV can be optionally equipped with a variety of payload sensors and signals intelligence systems to meet the varying mission requirements.
Propulsion and performance of the UAV
The Yabhon Smart Eye unmanned air system is driven by a primary pusher-propeller engine, which is available in output power ratings of 80hp / 100hp / 115hp. The main engine is complemented by an auxiliary engine for improving the UAV’s performance.
The drone has a stall speed of 55km/h and a maximum speed of 222km/h. It can cruise at a speed ranging from 65km/h to 130km/h, and has an unrefueled endurance of 120 hours. It can operate at a maximum altitude of 7,300m.
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The Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market 2011-2021
This project forms part of our recent analysis and forecasts of the global unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) market available from our business information platform Strategic Defence Intelligence. For more information click here or contact us: EMEA: +44 20 7936 6783; Americas: +1 415 439 4914; Asia Pacific: +61 2 9947 9709 or via email.
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