Libyan Rebel Forces Deploy Scout Micro UAV

photo by Dkroetsch

26/08/2011 by Armed Forces International's Aviation Expert

A UAV design manufactured in Canada has been a key surveillance tool in the hands of Libyan rebel forces, attacking the Gaddafi regime. In their hands, the Aeryon Scout Micro UAV has been used as a data acquisition platform and a means through which resistance efforts have been coordinated.

According to a press release issued by Aeryon Labs Inc - with information previously not in the public domain - Libya's TNC (Transitional National Council) tested a number of UAV designs before settling on the Scout.

The Aeryon Scout development programme ran between 2007 and 2009, with operational evaluation trials conducted in the final year. The design features a four-rotor layout, allowing it to carry out vertical takeoffs and landings and, when in flight, it has an almost silent acoustic profile.

Aeryon Scout Micro UAV

The Aeryon Scout Micro UAV has a maximum weight of just 1.7 kilograms and measures less than a metre across. It typically cruises at 31 miles per hour and has a maximum range of three kilometres and an operational ceiling of 1,000 feet, with a two metre per second rate of climb.

It's also extremely stable and, despite its small size, able to withstand wind gusts as strong as 50 miles per hour. Its minimal flight characteristics, real-time imagery streaming facility, stealthy qualities and ease of handling have all made the Aeryon Scout the perfect technology for Libyan rebels to use on discrete recce flights.

Examples of the system were delivered to the Libyan rebel forces by Zariba Security Corporation, which also provided training.

Libyan Rebel UAV

"After only one demonstration flight, the TNC soldiers operated the following flight", Zariba's Charles Barlow stated in Aeryon's 24 August Libyan rebel UAV press release. "I was amazed how easy it was to train people with no previous UAV or aircraft experience, especially given the language barrier. Soldiers need tough, intuitive equipment - and the Scout delivered brilliantly."

The Transitional National Council was established earlier this year as a body representing the anti-Gaddafi movement within the Libyan uprising. Equipped with the Scout UAV, its members surveyed Gaddafi's forces by day and by night, capitalising on the drone's ability to function in harsh and extremely hot desert environments.

"The system has been operating perfectly, with no incidents - quite impressive for those familiar with the statistics of other small UAVs in operational theatres", Barlow added.