Peruvian company Diseños Casanave has sold its CW-40D intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to the armed forces of Ukraine and Peru.
The sale took place in January 2023, but the company declined to reveal the numbers sold.
According to Diseños Casanave, the CW-40D is a fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone with a hybrid (electric battery and gasoline) engine. It was designed specifically for ISR. The company is producing the CW-40D in collaboration with Chinese UAS firm Jouav.
One CW-40D costs about USD 155,000 and is equipped with an MG170E-type camera with an electro-optic sensor, dual field-of-view lenses, 1080 pixels at 50 Hz video resolution, 30x zoom, 640×512 infrared sensor resolution, 50–4,000 m distance measurement (±2 m measurement accuracy), and shock absorber and inertial stabilised turret system, the company said.
The CW-40D integrates Jouav’s EagleMap mapping software, a TC200 portable tablet, and a GCS-303-type double-screen portable ground control station.
It has a wingspan of 2.3 m length by 4.6 m width (wing surface), 45 kg maximum take-off weight, with a four-stroke engine, communication range of up to 200 km, a maximum speed of up to 150 km/h, wind resistance of 13.9–17.1 m/s, an operational ceiling of up to 21,325 ft, and flight endurance of up to 10 hours.
Diseños Casanave produces the CW-40D UAV jointly with the Chinese company Jouav (the UAV is actually a Chinese development), and therefore the sale of these UAVs to Ukraine is quite intriguing, as in theory it would require China’s permission.
Sources: ITM; Janes; Defense Express: