Dassault LOGIDUC

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Dassault LOGIDUC

General characteristics
Length	9 meters	- feet - inches
Wingspan	10 meters	- feet - inches
Loaded weight	5,000 kilograms	- pounds
Cruising speed	- km/h	- mph / - kt
Service ceiling	- meters	- feet
Endurance	- hours
Unmanned aerial vehicle

The Dassault LOGIDUC -sometimes spelled Logiduc in French and LogiDuc in English- (Logique de Développement d'UCAV, French for "Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle development solution") is an autonomous industrial program launched in 1999 by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation in view to develop its UAV design capacities. This French programme eventually led to the creation of the Dassault-Sagem Tactical UAV company and to the European "combat drone" project nEUROn.

1 LOGIDUC project
2 Dassault AVE-D Petit Duc
3 Dassault AVE-C Moyen Duc
4 Dassault AVE Grand Duc
5 Notes
6 Sources
7 Media links
8 Related content

[edit] LOGIDUC project

The LOGIDUC program consisted in a series of three stealth aerial vehicles, from scale 1/100 to 1/1, in view to collect data required by the production of a fighter-sized stealth UCLAV type supporting the Dassault Rafale in the 2010s and to design autonomous stealth fighters primary used by the French Air Force circa 2025.

The two first vehicles, AVE-C and AVE-D, are scale model 1/100 (50kg) and 1/10 (500kg) stealth "tactical drones" (UAV), while the final version is a full scale (5,000kg) prototype stealth "combat drone" (UCAV).

Each vehicle was given an owl name as "Duc" ("duke") is the French name of a nocturnal bird of prey specie known in Latin as Otus aka Scops owl. Petit Duc ("small duke") stands for Scops Owl, Moyen Duc ("medium duke") stands for Long-eared Owl and Grand Duc ("large duke") is Eagle Owl. Other Dassault aircrafts with bird names are the Dassault MD 315 Flamant (Flamingo) and the Dassault Falcon (Falcon) family.

LOGIDUC was a 3-step program with the following aims:

A.V.E, the first stealth unmanned aircraft to fly in Europe.

Petit Duc:

Mastering stealth aircraft design.

Confronting stealth aircraft to modern air-to-air combat systems.

Confronting stealth aircraft to modern ground-to-air combat systems.

Moyen Duc:

Experimenting unstable yaw aircraft control methods.

Grand Duc:

Acquiring full mission system representativity.

Acquiring composite pack airborne control.

Acquiring collaborative flight with drones and aircrafts.

Acquiring live air-to-ground weapon release.

[edit] Dassault AVE-D Petit Duc

AVE Petit Duc on an airstrip near Paris (2000).

AVE-D stands for Aéoronef de Validation Expérimentale - Discrétion, French for "Experimental Assessment Aircraft - Discretion". The Petit Duc is a 1/100 scale radio control twin-jet stealth UAV prototype. The early prototypes were manufactured by French subcontracter Aviation Design while the other units were all built by Dassault itself.

The A.V.E was developed from 1999 to 2000 by a Dassault Aviation-Aviation Design joint team. Manufacturing of the first prototype took eight months and was proceeded in Aviation Design's factory at Milly-la-Forêt, France. Aviation Design is a French design and manufacturing specialist of civil and military devices including high quality RC jet powered aircrafts, UAVs, evolved aerial targets used by the French Army for training, as well as GPS ground stations for UAVs/aerial targets. The company is led by Rantet & son, father, Jacques, is pilot veteran and son, Éric, is an aeronautics engineer.

In order to reduce the radar and infrared signatures, the vehicle was fully molded in carbon fiber and other undisclosed "special material" reducing the Petit Duc's radar cross section to the signature of a sparrow. The AVE's flight track is followed by the ground station's GPS, as well as parameters such as speed, altitude, turbines or fuel. As an autonomous aircraft, the Petit Duc is fitted with an automatic pilot consisting of a computer system and gyroscope for stabilization and guidance. Its retractable landing gear allows the French UAV to take-off and land -using a backup parachute- from a regular airstrip. In July 18, 2000, the Dassault A.V.E became the first stealth unmanned aircraft to fly in Europe.

According to prototype manufacturer Aviation Design AVE-D specs are as thus:

Length: 2.4 meters
Wingspan: 2.4 meters
Loaded weight: 60 kilograms - 140 lbs (full)
Cruising speed: Mach 0.5 (max)
Turbine: AMT Olympus (x2)
Endurance: 150 km - 93 mi
Maiden flight: July 18, 2000 (Paris)

[edit] Dassault AVE-C Moyen Duc

AVE-C Moyen Duc stealth TUAV (featured in Higher Technology promo featurette, January 2004).

AVE-C stands for Aéronef de Validation Expérimentale - Contrôle, French for "Experimental Assessment Aircraft - Control". The Moyen Duc is a 10/1 scale evolution of the Petit Duc. As the AVE-D was designed by Dassault according to a rapid prototyping to cost methodology, the AVE-C was developed and completed within a year and the first prototype was produced in July 2001.

The AVE-C is a stealth tactical UAV prototype developed according to the French Army's post-SDTI needs in reconnaissance. In 2002, Dassault planned to create an industrial partnership with French electronic company Sagem. The company was founded the following year as Dassault-Sagem Tactical UAV with the purpose to mass produce the Moyen Duc ^[1]. The 2004 tactical UAV Dassault-Sagem SlowFast is based on the Moyen Duc, with the Sagem Sperwer's ground control station, and will be used by the French Army^[2].

According to a 2006 official report from the French Senate, AVE-C specs are as thus:

Length: - meters
Wingspan: - meters
Loaded weight: 500 kilograms - lbs
Surveillance speed: 60 meters/second
Reconnaissance speed: 200 meters/second
Turbine: - (x2)
Endurance: 4 hours
Maiden flight: circa September 2004

[edit] Dassault AVE Grand Duc

nEUROn version AVE Grand Duc CG, official promo featurette by Dassault (June 11, 2005).

In 2003, the Dassault AVE Grand Duc stealth UCAV project was cancelled and replaced by the nEUROn European project. French groups EADS France and Thalès joined Dassault followed in 2005 by European industrial partners.

Originally the Grand Duc was meant as 10:1 scale version of the Moyen Duc, but in June 2005 the twin-engine original project was replaced by a single type with added dual bomb bay and laser designator system. As a result the nEUROn will be larger than the Grand Duc and its first flight will be proceeded one year earlier.

Length: 9 meters
Wingspan: 10 meters
Loaded weight: 5,000 kilograms
Cruising speed:
Turbine: (x2)
Maiden flight: 2011 (cancelled)