When designing the Avenger and Sea Avenger UAVs, the greatest attention was paid to reducing the aircraft's radar signature, comparable in size to a medium-range administrative passenger aircraft. For this, the tail unit is represented by only two full-turn stabilizers-elevators with a camber angle of about 90 degrees, as well as a dorsal air intake, which reduces the RCS of the drone when irradiated from the lower hemisphere. The compressor blades of the turbojet engine are reliably hidden from the enemy air-based radar due to the inclination of the air intake channel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage (UAV roll). Another feature is the special radio-transparent material of the head fairing and turret of the Avengers Lynx SAR radar, which only passes well the Ku-band of centimeter waves and partially absorbs the centimeter X / G-band, as well as the decimeter and meter bands, making it difficult to detect ground-based radar, enemy fighters, as well as AWACS aircraft
The Indian Armed Forces are increasingly considering the possibility of several military conflicts on the country's borders at once in the foreseeable future. This is evidenced by numerous data regarding possible defense contracts for Delhi for the purchase of promising strike and reconnaissance aircraft systems, both manned and unmanned. The acquisition of 8 long-range P-8I Neptune anti-submarine aircraft, possessing excellent reconnaissance qualities, was only a small part of the implementation of the plan to establish control over the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean.
According to the publication from the Swiss observer “L'Inde s'intéresse au drone Avenger!” That appeared in the European blogs “Les Blogs”, the Ministry of Defense of India plans to conclude one of the largest contracts in history for the purchase of multipurpose attack and reconnaissance UAVs with GAAS (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems "). The prime candidate is the Avenger (Predator-C), a long-range multipurpose high-altitude drone. This contract is dozens of times larger and more significant than the well-known contracts of Japan and South Korea for the purchase of strategic reconnaissance UAVs RQ-4B "Global Hawk", concluded in the past few years. It is reported that the first 100 vehicles will be ordered for the Indian Air Force, and then, if approved by the Navy, 150 more UAVs of the Sea Avenger naval modification will be purchased. For them, a shortened modification of the catapult can be installed on the aircraft carrier pr. 71 INS "Vikrant" (before the springboard bends), but for now the question is in the air. Taking into account the characteristics of the "Avengers", 250 such drones are capable of changing the balance of power in the region, completely taking away the existing strategic parity base from the PRC.
It is no secret that the AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters purchased by India use tactical anti-tank missiles of the AGM-114 “Hellfire” family, and later they will be armed with a more advanced version of them - the JAGM with a range of 28 km. This is also one of the main arguments in favor of the purchase of "Avengers", the main weapon of which is precisely the "Halfires". JAGM will allow the Avengers to strike not only from an average altitude of 5-7 km, but also from a practical ceiling of 18.3 km. And the most important thing is the unification with the Apaches in terms of the range of weapons and the ability to install control equipment and transmit tactical information, thanks to which the attack helicopter pilot can become the Avenger operator, receiving the coordinates of targets located behind natural terrain obstacles. "Apache" will be able to fire at targets with missiles "blindly", without giving away its presence and without rising above the terrain to detect onboard AN / APG-78 overhead radar and OLPK TADS.
The prototype UAV "Avenger", which took off for the first time in 2009, is the most advanced unmanned aircraft complex, the glider of which has the most reduced radar signature with excellent aerodynamic bearing qualities for long flights in the stratosphere. Its wingspan is 20.1 m, length is 12.4 m. The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B turbojet engine with a thrust of 2200 kgf provides a cruising speed of 640 km / h and a maximum speed of 740 km / h. At cruising speed "Avenger" can be in the air for up to 20 hours, overcoming about 12,500 km, the range can reach up to 6,000 km. Unmanned aerial vehicles deployed at Indian air bases can carry out operations over most of the Indian Ocean, in Southeast Asia, as well as off the eastern shores of African states; the number of 50-100 drones is capable of keeping under observation every square kilometer of the Indian Ocean water surface, tracking any movement of the Chinese fleet, while the rest of the Avengers can monitor the Indian-Pakistani border and Chinese troops in Tibet.
The top photo shows a sectional view and sighting modular "turret" radar "Lynx SAR". The mass of the module with the radar is only 115 kg, and its capabilities are very serious: at a distance of 25 km (in the synthetic aperture mode), images of the earth's surface with a resolution of 10 cm can be obtained in any meteorological conditions, in the lower photo is an example of a radar image "Lynx SAR"
For reconnaissance, these drones can carry the widest range of optical and radio reconnaissance equipment. The basis of the foundations is a small-sized modular radar "Lynx SAR" with a reflector antenna. The maximum radiation power is 1 kW. The radar operates in the Ku-band of centimeter waves at a frequency of 16.7 GHz, which makes it possible to realize a resolution of 3 meters when mapping the earth's surface in the synthetic aperture mode. The maximum range in SAR is 80 km, and the detection range of small-sized moving and stationary targets such as "car" or "PU SAM" is from 23 to 35 km. The antenna is located in a rotary-type radio-transparent bulb turret, thanks to which the Lynx SAR installation can be installed on many manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (from light helicopters to small turboprop drones) practically on any part of the fuselage. In addition to Lynx, the Predator-C is also developing advanced synthetic aperture radars based on AFAR, they will be placed in the nose radio-transparent part of the fuselage and will be able to issue target designation at ground targets at a distance of up to 150 km. Several such devices will be able to replace the strategic air targeting aircraft "J-STARS", and 250 "Avengers" are quite equivalent to all 20 serially built E-8C. The combat load of the UAV is 1360 kg, there is a 3-meter weapons compartment, into which any range of missile and bomb weapons can be loaded (bombs with semi-active laser guidance, GPS-correction, various versions of the Halfire and Maverick missiles).
At the request of the customer, or directly by the Indian DRDO, the Avenger UAVs can receive a network-centric control system and tactical information exchange with the Su-30MKI, Rafale and HAL Tejas multipurpose fighters, which will allow each Indian fighter squadron to have its own attached unmanned strike - an intelligence apparatus capable of providing the necessary information and fire support in the most critical situation. For the deck version of the Sea Avenger, the MiG-29K multipurpose fighters can be equipped with such system linkage equipment.
The most important tool providing high-precision work on ground targets at the Avengers is an EOTS (Electro-Optical Targeting System) type optical-electronic sighting system, known as part of the weapons control complex of the 5th generation F-35A stealth fighter. This sensor operates in TV / IR ranges and is capable of passively detecting and capturing aerial and ground objects for accurate auto-tracking, and the installed laser rangefinder-target designator briefly measures the distance and illuminates the target for various WTO devices with PALGSN immediately at the moment of approach. EOTS can operate both autonomously and in conjunction with the Lynx SAR radar, if the electronic situation allows.
Unmanned aerial vehicles "Avenger" for the Indian Navy and Air Force in the amount of 250 units. - a very unexpected turn of events, indicating preparations for major regional conflicts in southern Asia. And India has absolutely no plans to "graze the back" in this confrontation.
