GDR 99 - Airborne Systems

Eagle on Patrol


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Top: The pilot of the PC-12 Eagle enjoys exceptional lateral visibility that is particularly beneficial in maritime surveillance

Hans Brunner, product manager of surveillance aircraft at Pilatus Aircraft, profiles the company's PC-12 Eagle surveillance and patrol aircraft.

The Pilatus PC-12 Eagle is a missionised version of the company's proven PC-12M aircraft. This large single-engine turboprop utility aircraft was designed to perform a wide range of special missions, including the transport of passengers, cargo or a combination of both.

The single-engined aircraft incorporates the latest technologies and utilises a well-proven turboprop engine in an aerodynamically advanced airframe. This concept combines high performance with outstanding cost-efficiency. The aircraft offers unique multi-mission capabilities. The large cabin provides an optimum platform for a variety of missions, navigation and systems training, calibration of ground- based navigation systems (Navaid flight inspection), aerial reconnaissance, environmental conservation and air-ambulance transport. With a large modular payload capacity from an onboard workstation and optimised belly- pod configuration, the PC-12 can accommodate a wide range of sensor combinations.

The PC-12 Eagle comprises a high-performance surveillance system capable of monitoring efficiently large areas of land or sea, and for military, police, border-security use and for environmental purposes. It is an excellent and cost-efficient airborne sensor platform for a variety of special missions. Its wide speed range, high-speed climbs and its endurance of over five hours are ideal for special missions.

Concept


The cockpit of the Pilatus PC-12

The PC-12 Eagle with its proposed sensors is built for stand-off missions. The fully-stabilised infrared (IR)/electro-optical (EO) systems allow brilliant video identification recordings from a stand-off distance of more than three kilometres. The zoom capabilities of the system allow easy identification of small targets such as ship names or even personnel identification on deck. Because of the high quality IR/EO cameras and recording systems, hand-held video, still cameras and bubble windows are no longer required in the PC-12 Eagle.

The benefits of the stand-off system are:
Less salt pollution on the aircraft and therefore less maintenance.
Less risky low-level flight and mission profiles for the crew.
Less crew workload and crew fatigue.
Extremely good lateral vision, that most twin-engine aircraft pilots do not enjoy because of engine nacelles on the wings, is a further benefit in maritime surveillance.

Tactical features


The on-board workstation offers a large modular payload capacity

The extremely low noise and acoustic signature are important factors when involved in clandestine intelligence gathering. Compared to a jet or twin turbine-engined aircraft, the infrared signature geometry is drastically reduced. Because of the high-quality sensors, flights into areas of short-range guns from any pirate activity is obsolete.

The onboard chaff and flare systems can be used for self-protection against low, mid and long-range missiles. Radar-guided missiles will be auto-detected by the electronic intelligence (ELINT) system and countermeasures by deployment of chaff, are initiated automatically.

The radar cross-section of the PC-12 Eagle is very low, just two square metres. The aircraft is approved for take-off and landing on semi-prepared airfields.

Mission systems
The main mission systems on the PC-12 are:
Radar systems - 360-degree search, inverse synthetic aperture radar, synthetic aperture radar, moving-target indicator.
EO/IR sensors combines both the colour television and forward-looking infrared.
ELINT system.
Chaff and flare dispensers.
Ultra high frequency (UHF) and/or C band.
IR for multi-spectral systems.

Ground-receiving and analysis workstations are available according to customer requirements. These systems can receive near real and real-time information from the PC-12 Eagle that can be used for post-flight analysis of recorded information and to provide and prepare colour printouts for various requirements.

The world's leading single-engined turboprop manufacturer.
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd was founded in 1939 and is now one of Europe's leading aircraft manufacturers. Its modern factory in Lucerne, in central Switzerland, produces a range of aircraft that include the PC-6 Turbo Porter, PC-7 and PC-7 Mk II Turbo Trainers, the PC-9M Advanced Turbo Trainers and the PC-12 Corporate Aircraft.

Since 1994 Pilatus has been delivering the PC-12 Corporate/Utility Aircraft to operators worldwide. Pilatus was among the first to recognise the safety, reliability, efficiency, economy and high-performance potential of single-engined turboprop aircraft.

To date Pilatus has designed, built and delivered more single-engined turboprop aircraft than any other manufacturer in the world. Pilatus provides unsurpassed customer- support services worldwide that have been honed to perfection to support customers in 70 countries over the past 60 years.