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UAV Requirements and Design Consideration

1. SUMMARY 
This paper deals with the UAV requirements based on 
the battlefield experiences. IJAV roles in tactical areas 
and constraints, which affect the UAV mission to be 
conducted, are explained and suggestions are given. 
Constraints; such as environmental conditions, effects on 
UAV missions, battlefield situations, operational 
restrictions and technological limits are overviewed. 
Based on the current applications and systems, some 
remarks are presented. Considering the future 
requirements; air vehicle performance, data link and 
expected payload specifications for a general UAV 
system are addressed. Assessments and 
recommendations are given for system design 
consideration. 
2. INTRODUCTION 
There have been increasing demands in modem world to 
use UAV systems as Intelligence, Reconnaissance, 
Surveillance and Target Acquisition Systems. Although 
requirements for UAVs change based on the missions to 
be carried, expectations are generally similar for each 
type. Cost-effectiveness, reliability, maintainability, 
usefulness and operational availability are some of the 
requirements that all systems should have. Besides these, 
all UAV system should also lillfill certain basic 
requirements, as outlined below: 
• 
Performing emcient surveillance and 
reconnaissance missions for the armed forces 
Day and night operations 
Operating in a wide range of weather conditions 
Various altitude operation 
Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) operation 
Real-time operation 
Multi-mission capability, etc. 
These requirements help to define the UAV system 
specifications in terms of the performance parameters of 
the following basic subsystems: 
Air vehicle 
Ground control station 
Payloads 
Data link 
Support equipment 
Performance parameters are closely interrelated and 
usually shape these subsystems. At the beginning of the 
program definition phase, requirements are always 
beyond the technological advances. However, an 
optimum cost-performance system definition can be 
reached by adequate trade-off studies, taking operational 
concepts and technological capabilities as parameters. 
Requirements and system specifications for each 
subsystem are considered in the next section of this 
paper. Following these assessments, general issues such 
as reliability, availability, maintainability, mobility, 
transportability, deployability, 
sustainability, 
environmental conditions, survivability, safety, 
interchangeability and modularity aspects of UAV 
systems are examined.