Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Penetrator UAV (1995)

STEALTHY PENETRATOR IS A FORCE MULTIPLIER, SAYS TELEDYNE RYAN

Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical is one of the oldest companies involved in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) business, and its products have seen action in many operational theatres. Unveiling a new design at the Paris Air Show in June 1995 (picture A), was, therefore, a major event for the company. Penetrator is a completely new, company-funded, multipurpose design, which has currently completed its feasibility stage, with the main design parameters now decided, including performance, weight, general layout and the propulsion unit. Two versions are currently foreseen: a subsonic UAV, the Penetrator-TFM (TFM = Tactical Force Multiplier), and the supersonic Penetrator-T (T = target), which uses the same wings, tail and propulsion unit, but has a slightly shorter fuselage. Both versions have a multi-faceted, stealthy fuselage, with shoulder-mounted wings, and twin fins angled sharply outwards. In order to minimise the radar cross-section (RCS) the engine is mounted low in the fuselage, and, while, the twin air intakes are in the conventional cheek position, the exhaust is above the fuselage and between the fins (picture). Penetrator-TFM is designed to be used for reconnaissance, surveillance and electronic warfare (EW), and the relatively large fuselage and 113kg payload will enable it to carry a substantial amount of sensors and realtime data-transmission systems. The vehicle will operate at high subsonic speeds (typically, Mach 0.78 at 13,700m or Mach 0.9 at 6,000m) with onboard systems navigating it autonomously to its operational area to perform its missions and then return it to a predetermined area for automatic recovery. Penetrator-TFM will use a zero-length launcher and will be recovered by parachute. Reconnaissance and surveillance payloads will include electro-optical devices (...)

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