Northrop Grumman & Qinetiq propose Gazelle VTUAS for RN

[chopper2004]

QinetiQ and Northrop Grumman produce novel, proven and cost-effective VTUAS solution for Royal Navy

Any thoughts please?

[Army Mover]

Looks good - who's paying for it?

[Herc-u-lease]

Has a Gazelle not been modified before?

Will it also have the following?:

• Jet turbine engine with boost capability, enabling 360° loops
• Heat sensing infra-red filter for night vision
• Closed circuit TV-camera with a 100:1 zoom-lens
• ¾" code-numbered video-system; the tapes can be erased on signal
• Wide-band scanner
• "Whisper Mode" for silent flights
• Three TV-monitors. The center monitor is connected to a vast array of data-banks
• Twin long-range, high-sensitivity shotgun microphones
• Cabin microphone; records cockpit conversations
• A Harrison helmet-mounted fire control/targeting system

[taxydual]

It's not April 1st already, is it?

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Assuming this is intended for DD/FFs, what new capability gap will there be, having removed a Lynx to make room for it?

[glad rag]

Royal Navy’s ability to provide superior persistent Intelligence

what was that joke about MI?

[NutLoose]

This actually makes fine MOD sense, after selling these 30 Gazelles on, ( see link) it allows the MOD to re aquire them at no doubt 3 times their sale price for conversion..


Gazelle , AH-1 Military Helicopters , #29696 - MOD Sales, Military Vehicles & Ex MOD Land Rovers for Sale

[Two's in]

Given the Firescout claims to have 5 hours on-station coverage, unless Qinetiq have found a way to squeeze in more than 340Kg of fuel, I suspect the Gazelle is going to come up a tad short on range and endurance (using a planning swag of 2.5kg/min).

[diginagain]

You can get it down to 2kg/min if the gubbins weighs less than two aging SNCO pilots plus nav bags plus 'supplies'. Selection for type convex to Lynx was often based on reduced endurance on Gaz sorties.