The Desert Hawk is a small unmanned aerial vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...

 (UAV) used for base perimeter protection.
It was designed by Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

's Skunk Works

Skunk works

Skunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs , formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk, and the F-22 Raptor...

 for the Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 FPASS (Force Protection Airborne Surveillance System

Force Protection Airborne Surveillance System

The Desert Hawk is a small unmanned aerial vehicle used for base perimeter protection.It was designed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works for the Air Force FPASS Program on a quick-reaction contract issued late in the winter of 2002, with the first system delivered in the early summer...

) Program on a quick-reaction contract issued late in the winter of 2002, with the first system delivered in the early summer. It was designed quickly because the program leveraged technology and design studies developed for the MicroStar MAVs. The program is run by Electronic Systems Center

Electronic Systems Center

Electronic Systems Center is a product center of Air Force Materiel Command headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission is to develop and acquire command and control, communications, computer, and intelligence systems. ESC consists of professional teams specializing in...

.

It is made mostly of plastic foam, suggesting something like a Nerf

Nerf

Nerf is a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. The acronym NERF stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, but there are also several different types of Nerf toys, such as balls for sports like football,...

 toy, and uses an electric motor driving a pusher propeller as a powerplant, making it very quiet. It is launched with a bungee cord, carries three small CCD

Charge-coupled device

A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...

 cameras, has an endurance of about an hour. It flies mostly under autonomous control, with the "pilot" keeping track of what's going on with a laptop computer.

The Desert Hawk is also used by the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery

32nd Regiment Royal Artillery

32nd Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the surveillance and target acquisition role, and is equipped with the Hermes 450 and Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicles.-History:...

 of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 as a tactical surveillance system, and has seen use in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 .

Desert Hawk has since been replaced with the more capable, rugged Desert Hawk III.

Specifications

• Maiden flight : 2003
• Wing Span 52 in (1.32m)
• Length 34 in (0.86m)
• Weight 7 lb (3.2 kg)
• Engine : electric motor driving a pusher quiet propeller
• Endurance approx. 1 hour

External links

• Official website
• Desert Hawk: Mini UAV Goes Operational, CodeOne Magazine, 2003
• DESERT HAWK UP: New Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Part 1, Military.com
• Desert Hawk helps protect Tallil, 332 AEW Public Affairs, 10/24/2003
• Desert Hawk gives security forces an eye in sky, 379 AEW Public Affairs, 7/21/2004
• Desert Hawk III - Armed Forces International
• Lockheed Martin Flies First 360-degree Infrared Sensor on Small Unmanned Aircraft System, Lockheed Martin Press Release 8/10/2009