GEORGIAN

Aviation University LTD

UNMANNED
AIRCRAFT
SYSTEMS (UAS)
Classes and Missions
of UAVs

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UAS sizes general overview

Ø The range of UAS sizes and types runs from air vehicles (AVs) small enough
to land on the palm of your hand to large lighter-than-air vehicles.
Ø The initial efforts on UAVs in the 1980s concentrated on AVs that had typical
dimensions of 2 or 3 m, were partly driven by the need to carry sensors and
electronics that at that time had not reached the advanced state of
miniaturization that has since become possible.

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Motivation of sizes

Ø Motivation for smaller UAVs is to make them man portable so that a soldier
or a border guard can carry, launch, and control a model-airplane-sized UAV
that allows him or her to take a look over the next hill or behind the building.
Ø The motivation for larger UAVs is to provide:
§ long endurance at high altitudes with the ability to fly long distances
from a base and then loiter over an area for many hours using a larger
array of sensors to search for something or keep watch over some area.
Ø Larger UAVs also provide a capability to carry a large weapons payload a
long distance and then deliver it to the destination area.

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Classification of UAVs sizes (Book Version)

Ø In the book, size classes are not in any sense standardized but are classified for
convenient discussion purposes.
Ø According to the book there are following classes of UAVs:
§ Very Small UAVs
§ Small UAVs
§ Medium UAVs
§ Large UAVs
§ Expendable UAVs (Used for one mission only)

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Very Small UAVs

Ø “Very small UAVs” range from “micro” sized, which are about the size of a large
insect up to an AV with dimensions of the order of a 30–50 cm.
Ø Two major types of small UAVs are distinguished:
§ 1st uses flapping wings to fly like an insect or a bird and the other uses a
more or less conventional aircraft configuration, usually rotary wing for the
micro size range.
§ Benefits of flapping wings or rotary wings are possibility to land and perch
on small surfaces to allow surveillance to continue without having to
expend the energy to hover.

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Very Small UAVs

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Very Small UAVs

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Small UAVs

Ø “Small UAVs” have at least one dimension of greater than 50 cm and go up to

dimensions of a 1 or 2 meter.
Ø Small UAVs have configuration of a fixed-wing model airplane and are hand-
launched by their operator.
Ø Examples of small UAVs include the US AeroVironment Raven and the Turkish
Byraktar Mini, both conventional fixed-wing vehicles.

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Small UAVs

Turkish Byraktar Mini

US AeroVironment Raven 10
Medium UAVs

Ø UAV is a “medium” size if it is too large to be carried around by one person

and still smaller than a light aircraft.
Ø Pioneer and Sky eye, are within the medium class UAVs. They have typical
wingspans of the order of 5–10 m and carry payloads of from 100 to more than
200 kg.
Ø The Israeli–US Hunter and the UK Watchkeeper are more recent examples of
medium-sized, fixed-wing UAVs.
Ø There are also a large number of rotary-wing UAVs in this size class.
Ø Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout is an example of a conventionally
configured VTOL UAV. It looks much like a typical light helicopter.

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Medium UAVs

Thales UK Watchkeeper
Israeli–US Hunter

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Medium UAVs

Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout

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Large UAVs

Ø UAVs that are larger than a typical light manned aircraft are classified in the
group called “large.”
Ø This includes a group of UAVs that:
§ Can fly long distances from their bases;
§ Loiter for extended periods to perform surveillance functions;
§ Can carry weapons in significant quantities.

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Large UAVs

Cassidian Harfang

US General Atomics Predator A

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Expendable UAVs

Ø Expendable UAVs are not designed to return after accomplishing their mission.
Ø In the military world, this often means that they contain an internal warhead
and are intended to be crashed into a target destroying it and themselves.

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Other Methods of Classification

Ø There are different classification methods for UAVs, such as classification by

range and endurance and depending on the purpose, include:
§ Very Low Cost Close Range;
§ Close Range;
§ Short Range;
§ Mid Range;
§ Endurance;

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Missions

Ø Missions for the UAVs can be different depending the area they serve and
defining the exact missions for UAVs is a difficult task.
Ø Two major divisions of missions for UAVs are civilian and military, but there is
significant overlap between these two in the area of reconnaissance and
surveillance.
Ø An area of interest to both the military and civilian worlds is to provide a high-
altitude platform capable of lingering indefinitely over some point on the earth
that can perform many of the functions of a satellite at lower cost and with the
capability of landing for maintenance or upgrade and of being re-deployed to
serve a different part of the world and etc.
Ø Within the military arena, another division of missions has become prominent
during the last decade. An increasing mission for military UAVs is the delivery of
lethal weapons.
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Reconnaissance and Surveillance Missions

Ø Among the core missions of UAVs for both military and civilian use are
reconnaissance (search) and surveillance, which often are combined, but are
different by definitions:
§ Reconnaissance: The activity to obtain by visual or other detection methods
information about what is present or happening at some point or in some area.
§ Surveillance: The systematic observation of aerospace, surface or subsurface
areas, places persons or things by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or
other means.
Ø Because of the interrelationship between surveillance and reconnaissance, the
same assets (UAVs) are usually used to accomplish both missions.

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Reconnaissance and Surveillance Missions

Surveillance

Reconnaissance

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Reconnaissance and Surveillance Missions

Ø An important mission in the military and intelligence area is Electronic Warfare

(EW).
Ø Listening to an enemy transmission (communication or radar) and then either
jamming it or analyzing its transmission characteristics falls under the category of
EW.

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Civilian UAS
Classification

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UAS Classification (Civil)

Ø According to the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 of 12 March

2019 unmanned aircraft systems are classified within following classes:
Ø C0
Ø C1
Ø C2
Ø C3
Ø C4

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UAS Classification (C0)

Ø A class C0 UAS bears the following class identification label on the UA:
Ø A class C0 UAS shall comply with the following:
(1) have an MTOM of less than 250 g, including payload;
(2) have a maximum speed in level flight of 19 m/s (68.4 km/h);
(3) have a maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to
120 m;
(4) be safely controllable with regards to stability, manoeuvrability and the
command and control link performance;
(5) be designed and constructed in such a way as to minimise injury to
people during operation, sharp edges shall be avoided;
(6) be exclusively powered by electricity; etc.

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UAS Classification (C1)

Ø A class C1 UAS bears the following class identification label on the UA:

Ø A class C1 UAS shall comply with the following:

(1) be made of materials and have performance and physical characteristics such as to
ensure that in the event of an impact at terminal velocity with a human head, the
energy transmitted to the human head is less than 80 J, or, as an alternative, shall
have an MTOM of less than 900 g, including payload;
(2) have a maximum speed in level flight of 19 m/s;
(3) have a maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to 120 m or be
equipped with a system that limits the height above the surface or above the take-off
point to 120 m or to a value selectable by the remote pilot;
(4) etc.

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UAS Classification (C2)

Ø A class C2 UAS bears the following class identification label on the UA:

Ø A class C2 UAS shall comply with the following:

(1) have an MTOM of less than 4 kg, including payload;
(2) have a maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to 120 m or be
equipped with a system that limits the height above the surface or above the take-off
point to 120 m or to a value selectable by the remote pilot.
(3) be safely controllable with regard to stability, manoeuvrability and the command and
control link performance;
(4) have the requisite mechanical strength for the UA, including any necessary safety
factor, and, where appropriate, stability to withstand any stress to which it is subjected to
during use without any breakage or deformation that might interfere with its safe flight;
(5) etc.

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UAS Classification (C3)

Ø A class C3 UAS bears the following class identification label on the UA:

Ø A class C3 UAS shall comply with the following:

(1) have an MTOM of less than 25 kg, including payload, and have a maximum
characteristic dimension of less than 3 m;
(2) have a maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to 120 m or be
equipped with a system that limits the height above the surface or above the take-off
point to 120 m or to a value selectable by the remote pilot;
(3) be safely controllable with regard to stability, manoeuvrability and the command and
control link performance;
(13) provide the remote pilot with clear warning when the battery of the UA or its
command unit reaches a low level such that the remote pilot has sufficient time to safely
land the UA;
Etc.
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UAS Classification (C4)

Ø A class C4 UAS bears the following class identification label on the UA:

Ø A class C4 UAS shall comply with the following:

(1) have an MTOM of less than 25 kg, including payload;
(2) be safely controllable and manoeuvrable by a remote pilot following the manufacturer’s
instructions;
(3) not be capable of automatic control modes except for flight stabilisation assistance with no
direct effect on the trajectory and lost link assistance provided that a pre-determined fixed
position of the flight controls in case of lost link is available;
(4) Etc.

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UAS List with CE Class Marking

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