PHOENIX UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV)

The Phoenix Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) is an all weather, day or night, real time surveillance and target acquisition system. Its mission is to disseminate battlefield information to command centres and artillery units over secure battlefield communication nets.

With a wing span of 5.5m, the truck-launched Phoenix air vehicle flies at altitudes up to 8,000ft at a cruising speed of around 70 knots. It has an endurance of more than four hours with an operational radius of up to 50 miles from its ground control and data exploitation station.

The Phoenix UAV is made almost entirely from Kevlar, glass fibre, carbon reinforced plastics and Nomex honeycomb and is powered by a 25hp two stroke flat twin engine. The UAV can be launched within an hour of reaching launch site. Up to 2 UAVs can be controlled from the same ground control station.

In service with the Royal Artillery for almost five years, it was used in Kosovo for reconnaissance activities, between 1999 and 2001, logging around 700 flights.

Its current use in Iraq is as an Artillery Targeting platform, providing location and identification services to the British Army's Royal Artillery.
In service with the Royal Artillery for almost five years, it was used in Kosovo for reconnaissance activities, between 1999 and 2001, logging around 700 fligt