Thai Military Charts Course Towards Armed UAVs

23 November 2019

RV Connex Sky Scout-X UCAV (photo : Shephard)

The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) does not currently operate any armed UAVs, but it has already taken steps to develop and introduce a future armed platform for the first time.

The evidence for this new direction came at Defense & Security 2019 in Bangkok, where Thai company RV Connex exhibited its Sky Scout-X UAV fitted with Thales Freefall Lightweight Multirole Missiles (FFLMM) under its wings.

Thales describes the FFLMM thus: ‘Installed on light to medium airborne platforms, including tactical and MALE UAVs, any rotary-wing or low-cost tactical fixed-wing aircraft, FFLMM provides a highly effective, accurate, low-collateral-damage weapon against both conventional and asymmetric threats.’

The FFLMM, weighing less than 6kg and measuring 700mm long, employs INS and SAL (optional GPS for midcourse guidance) and carries a 2kg dual-effect warhead to minimise collateral damage. At least two can be fitted on tactical UAVs, and it has a >4km range when launched at 10,000ft.

RV Connex Sky Scout-X UCAV (photo : AAG)

RV Connex has already produced 17 Sky Scout UAVs for the air force, where it is now known as the RTAF U1. On 14 November, the RTAF held a ceremony commemorating the operationalisation of the RTAF U1 fleet, even though they had been in service for a long time before that.

These RTAF U1s with 6.2m wingspan are being used by 206 Squadron as lead-in trainers for air force pilots graduating to the Aeronautics Aerostar tactical UAV. The RTAF U1 can also be used as a test platform for new payloads and concepts of operations.

It requires a team of two technicians and three ground control station (GCS) operators to fly the UAV. The GCS is truck-mounted and operates via the C band, while UHF provides a backup. A small portable terminal called the Launch and Recovery System can be used for take-offs and landings, although the U1can now perform these fully automatically.

Some 90% of the UAV is produced locally in Thailand, with only the two-stroke 25hp boxer engine, EO/IR payload and communications suite imported. RV Connex has continually improved the flight control software over the past two years since production commenced.

Thales Freefall Lightweight Multirole Missiles (FFLMM) (photo : AAG)

Returning to the armed Sky Scout-X, no formal contract has yet been signed between the RTAF and RV Connex, but Peeraphon Trakulchang, managing director of RV Connex, said development work has already commenced.

The project is currently in the first of three phases, that of analysis, which is exploring how arming the Sky Scout will affect drag and the aircraft structure. Trakulchang said the second phase will involve modifying the aircraft in accordance with what was revealed in phase 1, including the airframe and flight control system.

The final phase will be that of test and evaluation. Trakulchang predicted the Sky Scout-X could commence test firing of inert rounds about 2.5 years later, which would equate to sometime in 2022.

With the U1 already acting as a trainer, the use of a UCAV based on the same airframe would bring a lot of training and logistics advantages to the RTAF.

Trakulchang said he hoped the Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Marine Corps might show interest in the U1/Sky Scout as well, although they would likely require modifications to suit their unique purposes.

The U1 was one of the earliest projects launched under the Thai government’s purchase and development approach whereby indigenous development is preferred.

RV Connex also has a third UAV under development. This smaller conceptual UAV was seen mounted aboard a Panus Assembly HMV-420 4x4 armoured vehicle, from which it would be launched before landing via parachute or a recovery net.

RV Connex is cooperating with Panus Assembly on this UAV design that has not even received a name yet.

(Shephard)