UNMANNED PLANE LAUNCHED BY ARMY

By Aris Ilagan nad Mario B. Casayuran
As reprinted from Manila Bulletin
and Philippine Star dtd 01 Feb 2002

SPY PLANE -An unmanned aerial vehicle prepares for take off, guided by a radio control operator at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, 01 Feb 02. The Army unveiled the first locally assembled aerial spy drones for use in short-range, real time imagery surveillance against the Abu Sayyaf fighters in Basilan and Sulu.

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija - the Philippine Army (PA) launched yesterday its first locally assembled unmanned surveillance aerial vehicle which will be eventually be used in tracking rebel movements in remote and mountainous areas in various parts of the country.

Lt. Gen Jaime de los Santos, Philippine Army chief, and Sen Ramon magsaysay Jr. led the launching ceremonies for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) at the runway of Fort Magsaysay.

"It will be a big advantage for the Philippine Army in identifying rebel lairs and even hide-outs of bandits like the Abu Sayyaf since it can give a comprehensive detail on the terrain over which it passes," he said.

Equipped with a high-resolution camera, the UAV can provide real time images of the terrain conditions as well as enemy positions while flying beyond sniper fire.

"It is less expensive and definitely less risky," De los Santos said.

With a wingspan of 120 inches and overall length of 50 inches, the UAV can fly for two hours using a 40-cc two stroke gasoline engine.

SURVEILLANCE PLANE - Philippine Army spokesman Lt. Col Jose Mabanta points to a hole in the belly of a remote-controlled surveillance plane which houses a camera lens.

It has a maximum speed of 80 knots. It is also equipped with the sophisticated Global Positioning System Based Pre-Set Waypoints. The first Army UAV was named Assunta after the movie star. Three more UAVs are still undergoing completion, Cpt Greg Almerol said.

According to Oscar Mapua of OB Mapua and Partners, the UAV was assembled jointly by their group and the Philippine Army under the Self-Reliance Development Program (SRDP).

Each basic UAV costs some P250,000.00 while the units complete with avionics communication and autopilot system with ground control station would be more than P1 million.

Mapua said the development of the first Philippine Army UAV took more than one year.