Pakistan has been using its own drones which it has been manufacturing for a decade.

Pakistan has been using its own drones which it has been manufacturing for a decade.

Pakistan UAVs: This article is Rupee News-RIR (RN-Research in Progress) and will be updated periodically

High Speed DroneThis is picture of Pakistan high speed drone which is under wraps.

The latest Uqaab is one in a series of Unmanned Aircraft being deveopled by Pakistan. Pakistan has been working very closesly with the Turks who have had access to Israeli technology on UAV development.

US Shadow similar to Pakistan\'s UqaabMarch 24, 2008: Pakistan announced the successful completion of flight tests of a new UAV, the Uqaab. The design looks very similar to models offered by a Pakistani firm, Integrated Dynamics, which has been producing smaller (under 500 pounds) UAVs for the government and commercial market since 1997. The Uqaab also appears similar to the U.S. Army RQ-7B Shadow 200. Each Shadow 200 UAV platoon has 22 troops and operates 3-4 UAVs, plus the ground control equipment. Typically, each combat brigade has one Shadow UAV platoon. Each 350 pound Shadow 200 UAV cost $500,000, and can stay in the air 5.5 hours per sortie. A day camera and night vision camera is carried on each aircraft. Able to fly as high as 15,000 feet, the Shadow can thus go into hostile territory and stay high enough (over 10,000 feet) to be safe from hostile rifle and machine-gun fire.

The Integrated Dynamics UAVs appear to operate in a manner similar to the Shadow 200, which is not high tech, just good engineering and quality manufacturing. Integrated Dynamics has many export customers, including some in the United States.

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RQ-7a similar to Pakistan\'s UqaabAAI RQ-7 Shadow 200
The Shadow 200 short-range TUAV (Tactical UAV) was developed by AAI Corp. in the 1990s. When the RQ-6 Outrider TUAV ran into continued troubles in the 1997/98 time frame, the U.S. Army decided to conduct a competitive evaluation between the Outrider and Shadow 200 TUAV systems in 1999. The latter was declared winner of this competition, and AAI subsequently received a first LRIP (Low-Rate Initial Production) contract to provide Shadow 200 systems for further testing and evaluation. The UAV itself was officially designated RQ-7A. Between April 2001 and late 2002, the IOT&E (Initial Operational Test & Evaluation) phase of the program was conducted successfully, and in October 2002 the Shadow 200 was approved for full-rate production.
Photo: AAI RQ-7A

RQ 7A1 similar to Pakistan\'s UqaabThe RQ-7A is of the same twin-boom pusher layout as several other battlefield UAVs, like e.g. the RQ-2 Pioneer and the RQ-5 Hunter. It is powered by a UEL AR-741 rotary engine, and has a non-retractable tricycle landing gear for conventional wheeled take-off and landing. The RQ-7A can also be launched from a catapult and has a tailhook to catch arresting cables for a shorter landing run. A Shadow 200 system consists of four RQ-7A air vehicles and the associated equipment. The latter includes two GCSs (Ground Control Stations), from where the operators have full control over the UAVs and their sensors. Both LOS (Line-Of-Sight) and non-LOS datalinks are provided for command uplink and sensor data downlink. The Shadow 200 UAV can be equipped with a GPS-based navigation system for fully autonomous operations. The UAV’s tasks include day/night reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment). The primary mission payload for the initial (Block 1) RQ-7A production vehicles is an IAI Tamam POP (Plug-In Optronic Payload) IR/EO (Infrared/Electro-Optical) sensor turret, but Block 2 vehicles are planned to use an improved Wescam EO/IR sensor. Other payloads are also under consideration, including a SAR/MTI (Synthetic Aperture Radar/Moving Target Indicator) unit. Photo: U.S. Army RQ-7A

By March 2004, the U.S. Army has ordered 33 Shadow 200 systems (4 aircraft each) plus a number of additional air vehicles as attrition replacements. 20 systems have been delivered, and current procurement plans call for a total of up to 88 systems.

In August 2004, the improved RQ-7B air vehicle began to roll off from AAI’s production line. The RQ-7B has larger wings with a more efficient airfoil and increased fuel capacity, allowing an endurance of up to 7 hours. Additionally, the vehicle has an enlarged tail, upgraded avionics (including an improved flight controller with an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and increased computing power), and new payload options. The RQ-7B will also be fitted with the Army’s Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL).

Specifications
Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for RQ-7A/B:

RQ-7A RQ-7B
Length 3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
Wingspan 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in) 4.27 m (14 ft)
Height 0.91 m (3 ft 0 in)
Weight max: 149 kg (328 lb); empty: 75 kg (165 lb) max: 170 kg (375 lb)
Speed max: 204 km/h (110 knots); loiter: 130 km/h (70 knots) max: 194 km/h (105 knots); loiter: 111 km/h (60 knots)
Ceiling 4270 m (14000 ft) 4570 m (15000 ft)
Range 125 km (67 nm)
Endurance 5 h 7 h
Propulsion UEL AR-741 rotary engine; 28.3 kW (38 hp)


Main Sources
[1] Kenneth Munson (ed.): “Jane’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets, Issue 15″, Jane’s, 2000
[2] Tom Kaminski: “The Future is Here”, article in Combat Aircraft Vol. 4, No. 6, 2003
[3] AAI Corp. Website
[4] PR Newswire Story, 4 August 2004
[5] “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap, 2005-2030″, Office of the Secretary of Defense, August 2005