South Korea’s locally developed TR-60 tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has for the first time successfully carried out flight trials from a moving ship, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said in a statement on 11 July.
The 200 kg UAV took off from and landed on the flight deck of a Korea Coast Guard vessel travelling at a speed of 10 kt. The flight manoeuvres, which were conducted on 7 July, confirmed the possibility of the TR-60 operating from a vessel, said the company, adding that the UAV can be used in a number of areas, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, search-and-rescue operations, transport, communication, and relay.
The production-ready TR-60 UAV was unveiled at the 2016 DX Korea land warfare exhibition, held at the KINTEX convention centre in the South Korean city of Goyang. As Jane’s reported at the time, the TR-60, which is constructed from lightweight composites, measures 3 m in length as well as wingspan (and approximately 5 m from one rotor tip to another), and has a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 210 kg, according to specifications provided by KARI.
A 55 hp rotary engine transfers power mechanically to the twin swivelling nacelles, enabling the UAV to operate at a top speed of 250 km/h at a maximum altitude of 14,763 ft.
Source: Jane’s 360