AeroVironment RQ-14 Dragon Eye
Backpack-portable reconnaissance UAV for USMC squad-level operations.
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The AeroVironment RQ-14 Dragon Eye is a small, backpack-portable reconnaissance drone built for the United States Marine Corps. Developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, it provides reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) to company, platoon, and squad levels within about 10 kilometers.
The aircraft has a tailless, rectangular wing design with two propellers. Weighing 5 pounds with a 3-foot wingspan, it fits into a backpack and can be launched by hand or with a standard bungee cord. Its break-apart construction improves durability: sections separate on impact rather than shattering, and can be reattached or replaced. Navigation relies on a GPS-INS waypoint system.
Operators monitor the Dragon Eye through video goggles linked to a laptop computer; the control system weighs roughly 12 pounds. The drone is primarily used for scouting urban areas and is especially effective during urban assaults. With a trained Marine at the controls, its camera can spot enemies without revealing the UAV’s presence.
AeroVironment received the production contract in 2003, and over 1,000 units were built before the Marines switched to the AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven B for the remainder of the contract. The Dragon Eye has been deployed in Iraq from 2003 onward.
Background
The Dragon Eye is a tailless design with a rectangular wing and twin props, built to fit into a backpack. It weighs 5 lb with a span of 3 ft and can be launched by hand or using a store-bought bungee cord.
The aircraft uses a break-apart system to increase durability—parts of the plane break apart instead of shattering and can be reattached later or replaced with new parts. It has a GPS-INS-based waypoint navigation system. The operator monitors Dragon Eye operation through video goggles connected to a laptop computer; the control system weighs about 12 lb.
The Dragon Eye aircraft is used primarily for scouting urban areas, and is especially useful in urban assaults. Its camera, when used with a trained Marine, can be used to spot enemies without alerting them to the UAV's presence. The production contract for Dragon Eye was awarded to AeroVironment in 2003, and over 1000 aircraft were built before the Marines switched over to another UCAV of AeroVironment (RQ-11 Raven B) for the remainder of the Dragon Eye production contract. The Dragon Eye has been used in Iraq, post-invasion, from 2003–present.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: AeroVironment RQ-14 Dragon Eye (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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