France’s FLY-R secures DGA contract to develop advanced rhomboid-wing UAV

FLY-R, the French company specialising in the design and construction of rhomboid-wing UAVs, has been notified of a contract within the framework of a request for offer launched by DGA to develop the largest model of the FLY-R range, the R2-600.

Thanks to its specific aerodynamics, the rhomboid wing, a type of shape similar to a lozenge, with no vertical surface, allows speed ranges and manoeuvrability far superior to other sail shapes. For a similar wingspan, a rhomboid-wing aircraft can double the performance in terms of speed, flight time and payload carried. Nevertheless, no system based on a rhomboid wing could be operationally developed because of its complexity. But progress recently realised in the fields of aerodynamics, computational code, new materials, equipment and propulsion has allowed the success of FLY-R's innovative approach.

FLY-R is developing a complete range of UAVs with wingspans of 1.20 m, 1.50 m, 2.40 m and 6.00 m. The R2-600, the object of DGA’s request for offer, is a hybrid-powered medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 1,700 kg, capable of flying up to 45,000 feet (around 15,000 meters) for missions of more than 20 hours.

The R2-600 is particularly well-suited to military missions: surveillance of vast areas, operations in hostile territory, offensive missions thanks to its weapons-carrying capacity, and the possibility of remote launch from a deployable infrastructure, while maintaining a very moderate cost to facilitate mass deployment.