Quanfeng UAV

Quanfeng UAVs are Chinese UAVs developed by Anyang Quan-Feng Aviation Crop Protection Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Quanfeng, 安阳全丰航空植保科技有限公司), mostly for agricultural applications.

3WQF294-40 Blue Shark

3WQF294-40 is an unmanned helicopter developed by Quanfeng for agricultural applications, and it is intended to replace Japanese Yamaha unmanned helicopters. Specification:^[1]

• Main rotor diameter (m): 3.6
• Height (m): 1.2
• Width (m): 1
• Length (m): 3.2
• Payload + Fuel (kg): 45
• Max take-off weight (kg): 120
• Cruise speed (km/hr): 60
• Hovering altitude (km): 1.5
• Ceiling (km): 2.5
• Temperature range for operation (°C): -10 to +40

3WQF80-10

3WQF80-10 is an unmanned helicopter developed by Quanfeng for agricultural applications, and it is the smaller cousin of larger 3WQF294-40 Blue Shark. 3WQF80-10 incorporates modular design concept can adopt various rotors of different sizes. Specification:^[2]

• Main rotor diameter (m): 1.62 – 1.9
• Height (m): 0.75
• Width (m): 0.6
• Length (m): 2.92
• Payload + Fuel (kg):
• Endurance (min): 10 – 15
• Speed (m/min): 15
• Hovering altitude (km): 0.3
• Range (km): 1
• Temperature range for operation (°C): -5 to +50

QF-260

QF-260 series is a family of unmanned helicopters in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. The origin of QF-260 series traces back to 2007, when Japanese government arrested three officials of Yamaha Motor Company in early 2007 for exporting nine Yamaha unmanned helicopters to China in 2005, allegedly could be converted to military application from its original crop dusting role. This alleged charge is denied by both Yamaha and China, and Yahama has claimed that these unmanned helicopters only have a range of only 200 meters, or 656 feet, from the person who is controlling them and are therefore unlikely to be used to carry weapons of mass destruction, but the Japanese government nonetheless pressed charges.^[3] The action of Japanese government triggered a massive Chinese response in a nationwide effort to develop domestic Chinese unmanned helicopters to replace those imported from Japan, including the rapid acceleration of existing unmanned helicopters in China. The massive nationwide effort has resulted in more than a hundred domestic Chinese unmanned helicopters, most of which are completed by integrating existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) airframes with COTS autopilots and flight control systems (FCS). Eventually these Chinese unmanned helicopters evolved into models with all subsystems such airframe and flight control systems indigenously developed in China.^[4] QF-260 series is one of the direct result of such national effort launced by China. There are three versions of QF-260 UAV, with QF-260-1,^[5] QF-260-2,^[6] and QF-260-3,^[7] beginning with QF-260-1 as an integration of COTS airframe, autopilot and FCS. QF-260-2 replaced the imported autopilot and FCS with their respective domestic Chinese counterparts, and in QF-260-3, the COTS airframe is replaced by the one indigenously produced in China. QF-260 series has been superseded by more advanced version of unmanned helicopters but still in service.

QF26-1

QF26-1 is a development of earlier QF-260 series and has identical layout with that of QF-260 series. One of the improvement is that the FCS is modified to allow different sizes of main rotors to be used based on customer requirement, and the incorporation of GPS. Specification:^[8]

• Payload (kg): 5
• Speed (m/s): 0 – 15
• Normal operating altitude (m): 0 – 300
• Normal operating radius (km): 10
• Main rotor diameter (m): 0.81 – 0.95
• Length (m): 2
• Width (m): 0.63
• Height (m): 0.78

QF80-1

QF80-1 is an unmanned helicopter developed by Quanfeng mainly for agricultural application, and it is in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. QF80-1 is the larger cousin of QF26-1 with twice the payload, but it lacks the smooth aerodynamic airframe of QF26-1.^[9] Specification:^[10]

• Payload (kg): 10
• Speed (m/s): 0 – 15
• Normal operating altitude (m): 0 – 300
• Normal operating radius (km): 10
• Main rotor diameter (m): 0.81 – 0.95
• Length (m): 2.92
• Width (m): 0.6
• Height (m): 0.75
• Navitation: GPS

Blue Shark 120

Blue Shark 120 is an UAV jointly developed by Quanfeng and Beihang University, and it is an unmanned helicopter in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. It is mainly intended for agricultural purposes. Specification:^[11]

• Payload (kg): 45 (including fuel)
• Max take-off weight (kg): 120
• Speed (km/h): 60
• Normal operating altitude (km): 1.5
• Ceiling (km): 2.5
• Endurance (h): 1
• Main rotor diameter (m): 3.6
• Length (m): 3.2
• Width (m): 1
• Height (m): 1.2
• Normal operating temperature (°C): - 10 to 40

See also

List of unmanned aerial vehicles of the People's Republic of China

References