"lfk f; \"A Lt. - Airborne Systems

VEHICLE RECOVERY
Vehicle!; that have employed recovery as a necessary
sequentiaf funcrion incfude target drones, remotely
piloted vehicles, missiles, sounding rocket pavloads
manned or unmanned flght mission controlled by a
pilot, or an autonomous on-baard guidance unit,
priQr tQ using the recovery system.
Recovery of Target Drones and Remotely Piloted
Vehicles.
Target drones generallv are small , reusable . ground
controlled air vehicles in the 200 to 2000 Ib class that
simulate the optical , electromagretic and electro.
optical signatures of operational aircraft Their flight
performance freqmmtly duolicates that of existing
aircraft in order to provide realistic ta'get practice for
air-to-air and ground-te-air weapons. Target drones
are flown in friencly territory, on controlled tese:
ranges and recovered in designated areas; they frequently
receive aerial damage due to target practice.
Remotely piloted vehicles :RP\J's) are ground or
air- launched . use ground control or autonomous navigation,
weigh up to 7,000 Ibs and perfeJrm reconnaissarce
, electronic countermeasure, strike or other
mission functions in support of ooer3tional aircraft.
They are more sophisticated than aerial dl'ones, carry
more sensitive electronic equipment and flV over
hostile territory in combat areas. RPV velocities
range from 50 knots to high subsonic speeds.
E;conomy of operation 's achieved bV rnaxinum
reuse of both vehicle types , usua:ly facilitated by
recovery with minimal damage. using a simple retreval
method and requiring minimum refurbishrrent cost
and time. The following requir.ements are typical to
meet th is goal:
Recovery capability from sny point in the tot,,1
flight performance envelope (for target drones t'18t
may be partially damaged in target practice).
\1inimal damage to vehicle 0.' on- board equipment.
Simple, low cost recovery system design of minimum
weight and volume which can be easily
installed,
Capabili:y of long tme storage and operation
under extreme environmental conditions.
Cost effective retrieval and refurbishment cycle.
Landing accuracy.
Insensitivity to combat or target practice damagc-
Low life cycle cos1.
Representative Systems. Several typical target
drone and RPV recovery systems are described in the
following paragraphs
KD2R-5 and MQM-74C Target Drones. The first
target drone of the US Armed Forces , becoming
operational in 1943 was the Radioplane 00-2 By
1950, this original drone hac developed into the
Army and Air "'orce 00-19 and later the NcYy
KD2R.5 aerial targets we' ghing approximately 350 Ib
at recovery with a maximum velocity of slightly
above 200 knots.
The MOM-74C target dro1e, developed during the
1960' s, has a recovery wright of 360 Ibs, a max imum
velocity of 500 knots a'ld carries !Tore sensi tive electronic
equipmem than the KD2R-5. An efficent 30.
ft diamete' , fully extended skirt parachute lands the
MQM-74C at a sea lev81 rate of descent of 22 fps.
The targeo: drone impacts at an angle of 65 degrees to
the horizontal and uses a crushable fiberglass nose
cone as en ilTpact shock attenua:or. Tf"e preSSlire
pecked parachute is s owed in a rel'lovable fiberglass
container locateo on the upper side of the fuselage in
front of the vertical stabilizer. Command from the
qrcund Gontroller. or an emergency command, denergizes
a solenoid that releases the spring loaded
cla-nshell doors of the MQM-74C pc:rachu:e compartment.
The spri'1!; loaded pilot chute ejects, opens
beh ind the vertical stabil iZEr and extracts the reefed
main parachute. The parachute system, including
pilot chute, bridle, riser and ground disconnect.
weighs "f pounds.
The MQM-74C recovery system is also used in the
KD?R- 5. Figure 1 1 shows the arrangement and the
main dimensions for both the MOM-74C and the
KD2R-5 rocovery systerrs , the difference being that
the rvOM.74C r:arachute employs reefing and the
KD2R.5 parachute without reefing. uses e skirt hesitator
and a different vehicle attitude at landing.
Deployment of the rrain parachute past the vertical
stabilizer is controlled by pilot chute crag force
which keeps tens ' on on all elements of the deploying
main parachute. A smooth scabililer wit'" no pro
truding parts and a slanting leading edge preve'lts
snagging of the parachute. /\n c.utomatic ground disconnect
disengages the parachLlte ae landing to prevent
ground dragging in high surface winds. The
ground disconnect device works on the load relaxation
principle and has a built-tn time delay to prevent
disengagement during parachute opening. Water
flotation 1$ accom!:lished on the KD2R- 5 by waterproof
compartments. The MOM.7'C floats in a horizontal
atti ude oy means of a water-tight nose section
housing all electronic equipment ard a (stored/ gas
inflated flotation bag attached to the tail of the vehicle.
The land and water recovery system of both
target dro:1es has proven to be reliable. simple In
operation , and easy to rraintain and refurbish. A!
simple recovery system of this type is usually suitable