UAVs for atmospheric research in the north of Sweden

The Eagle UAV, built by IAI and marketed in Europe by EADS, can be considered a mature UAV. It is approximately 17 m in wingspan, weighs 1100 kg and can fl y up to 10 000 m altitude. The max speed is around 200 km/h and it has 24 hour endurance. The aircraft has a large cargo-bay in the middle of the fuselage around CG, which makes it easy to use payloads of different kinds as the different payload weight does not affect the CG. In other UAVs lighter payloads might have to be balanced with extra weights. The available volume is around 1 cubic metre and maximum payload weight around 250 kg. In the future, hardpoints will also be installed on the wings. These will be able to hold 50 kg each, making it possible to hang science pods on the vehicle.