With a wingspan of 14 meters and a payload capacity of 200-250 kg, Sokil-200 will surpass its Turkish rival Bayraktar by a margin of two meters and several times, respectively, whilst retaining the same air endurance of 24 hours.
This came from an interview given to Defense Express by Oleh Korostelev, Chief of Design and CEO at DKKB Luch.
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"We are developing a full-mission UCAV equipped with capabilities for automatic takeoff and landing, autonomous preprogrammed inertial navigation flight and long-range live video streaming via an encrypted link”, Mr Korostelev said.
Sokil-200 UCAV will feature some of the technology solutions that DKKB Luch has already tried out and implemented in its Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM) system Neptune and similar projects. Here we talk about the command and control station with associated communication facilities as well as the inertial guidance system and some other electronic systems fielded on the Neptune’s R-360 missile.
The new UCAV will carry Luch’s Barrier-V precision-guided anti-armor missiles capable of ranges up to 7.5 km. It will be equipped with the Ukrainian-designed optronic weapon aiming pod OPSN-1 that can pick up targets at ranges out to 14.5 km away.
Regarding the engine for the new UCAV, Luch is hesitating choosing between a turboprop and a piston engine. Defense Express estimates that an Ivchenko-Progress turboprop or a piston engine with specs similar to the Austrian Rotax 914 are best suited for this application. Here the talk is about Ivchenko-Progress AI-450 turboprop that delivers 450 horsepower at a weight of 130 kg. Just for record, Turkey had selected the AI-450 for its Akinci UCAV.
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