With the Innovation of UAV Technology, Fixed Wing and Rotor Modes Can Be Switched Freely

The flight principles of rotor and fixed wing are different, so they have their own characteristics. Why are many rotors so popular at present? Because with the development of electronic technology, the control of multi rotor becomes simple. Because it can hover, monitoring can be used in many occasions, such as aerial photography. Multi rotor relies on the lift generated by multiple rotors to balance the gravity of the aircraft, so that the aircraft can fly. The stability and attitude of the aircraft can be controlled by changing the speed of each rotor, so the multi rotor aircraft can hover. Fixed wing aircraft rely on the thrust generated by propeller or turbine engine as the driving force for the aircraft to fly forward. The main lift comes from the relative movement of wing and air. Therefore, fixed wing aircraft must have a certain airless relative speed to have lift to fly.

A new military concept UAV announced by British aerospace systems is expected to bring new changes to the battlefield in the future. This small UAV can easily switch from fixed wing flight mode to helicopter rotor flight mode, and can efficiently perform reconnaissance and strike missions in field battlefield and complex urban environment.The design of this UAV is completed by the company in cooperation with researchers from Cranfield University in the UK, which is called "adaptive UAV". The UAV looks like a ring, extending two wings, and both ends of the wing are equipped with small variable direction rotor propulsion devices.

The adaptive UAV can be hung on a specially designed pole like a collar at ordinary times. The pole can be assembled on tanks, ships, submarines and other vehicles. Just extend the pole to make the UAV take off and land vertically at any time. Due to the combination of the high-speed flight of fixed wing aircraft and the air hovering and vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of rotary wing aircraft, this UAV has great deployment flexibility. In addition, it has a light body and can release multiple aircraft to form a fleet at one time, so as to improve the task execution efficiency.

Nick colossimo, a technician in charge of the frontier field of British aerospace systems, said that the future battlefield environment needs new technology solutions to deal with different threats to ensure the safety of human operators. This concept of UAV and related technologies is one of the many schemes discussed by the industry and academic circles.