For several years, drones have invaded the airspace of conflict zones, representing an economic and human alternative in aerial warfare. Several companies are conceptualizing the military drone of tomorrow: convertible, it would combine the characteristics of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
The use of drones has greatly changed the face of modern warfare over the past 20 years. Efficient and controllable remotely, these devices have gradually complemented and then replaced helicopters and fighter planes. Over the years, two families of drones with complementary characteristics have emerged. Fixed-wing structures allow greater distance to be covered at high speed: the Israeli IAI Heron can fly for 52 hours and reach an altitude of 10.5 km at around 200 km/h. Rotary wings allow vertical takeoff by adopting hovering flight positions. However, they cannot achieve the speeds or autonomy of fixed-wing drones.
But the number of projects tending to combine the specificities of these two types of devices is growing rapidly. Several companies are working on the development of VTOL drones (vertical take-off and landing, “vertical takeoff and landing” ADAV) with fixed wing. The opportunity to create convertible aircraft, which can be used in a variety of circumstances. With the promise of increased efficiency.
