DATE:27/07/09
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
By Andrew Doyle
EADS has conducted a series of test flights of its Barracuda unmanned air vehicle (UAV) demonstrator from Goose Bay air force base in Canada. The manufacturer, which claims the Barracuda is the largest UAV built in Europe, says the four flights were used to test technologies and procedures "in realistic conditions".
During the test campaign in the Goose Bay area of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the jet-powered demonstrator flew autonomously along pre-programmed flight profiles, says EADS Defence & Security (DS). It was monitored from a ground station "with respect to flight safety only", it adds.
The first Barracuda technology testbed had its maiden flight in April 2006, but crashed in September of that year during its second sortie. "We once again have a demonstrator for the autonomous and network-centric UAV mission systems of the future," says Bernhard Gerwert, head of the DS Military Air Systems business unit.