Non-Subscriber ExtractBoeing receives MagEagle study contract |
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By Gareth Jennings
19 November 2009
The ScanEagle, on which the MagEagle is based. The MagEagle Compressed Carriage will be carried in aerodynamic canisters under the Poseidon's wing or internally in the bomb bay and will be recovered aboard ship or land bases. (US Navy)
The US Navy (USN) has awarded Boeing a USD275,000 study contract associated with its plans to operate the MagEagle Compressed Carriage (MECC) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from its P-8A Poseidon multirole maritime patrol aircraft, a company spokesperson told Jane's on 17 November.
The contract, which was originally announced on 11 November, will see Boeing undertake a study of the magnetic noise associated with the heavy-fuel propulsion system of the magnetic anomaly detector (MAD)-equipped MECC.
For this effort, Boeing will measure and characterise the magnetic noise of a fully assembled, heavy-fuel engine suitable for use on a small tactical UAV such as the MECC. It will measure subcomponents of the selected engine to identify materials and parts that contribute to magnetic noise and recommend such candidate parts for redesign or replacement.
In addition, the company will measure the magnetic noise characteristics of peripheral systems, such as the fuel injection, that are integrated with the propulsion system. It will identify and characterise dynamic magnetic noise with the engine operating for subsequent noise compensation or filtering design efforts.