Microturbine Propulsion for UAVs

19AERP08_03

08/01/2019

Abstract
Content

Seventy years ago, military aviation moved from reciprocating engines to vastly more reliable turbo jets and turboprops. Shortly after, the commercial air transport industry followed suit, enabling modern air transport. Today, virtually all large aircraft rely on turbine propulsion, yet small aircraft, both manned and unmanned, have not exploited the advantages of turbines for propulsion.

While UAVs have become integral for both commercial and military aerial missions, the continued use of reciprocating engines has limited the UAV market's ability to reach its true growth potential. The industry has been slow to innovate and develop turbine propulsion systems for small aircraft because it is far more difficult to design and produce high performance small turbines than large ones.

Meta TagsDetails
Pages
3
Citation
"Microturbine Propulsion for UAVs," Mobility Engineering, August 1, 2019.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Aug 1, 2019
Product Code
19AERP08_03
Content Type
Magazine Article
Language
English