Alenia Aeronautica ITV
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Italy |
| Products | Aircraft, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) |
The Alenia ITV represents an Italian technology demonstrator aircraft conceived in the early 2000s. In spring 2003, Italy's Alenia Aeronautica introduced a ground-based prototype of a half-scale unmanned combat aerial vehicle demonstrator, termed the "Integration Technology Vehicle (ITV)," with plans for a flying prototype to follow. This demonstrator features a high wing set with a 35-degree sweep angle; a vee-shaped tail; a Microturbo TRI60-5 turbojet engine delivering 4.4 kN (450 kgp / 990 lbf) of thrust, positioned aft above the wing; retractable tricycle landing gear; and is constructed primarily from metal.
As implied by its designation, the ITV serves exclusively for technology validation and mitigation of developmental risks. A fully operational Alenia Aeronautica UCAV will be at least double the size, adopt a tailless delta wing design, and predominantly utilize composite materials. It will incorporate a modular payload bay capable of carrying precision munitions, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), or electro-optical (EO) sensors suitable for both day and night operations. Alenia Spazio, an affiliated entity within the Finnmeccia Group, is responsible for providing satellite communication links. Additionally, Meteor, also part of Finnmeccia, is likely collaborating with Alenia Aeronautica on UAV design efforts.
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References
The content in this article includes information originally sourced from the web article Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Greg Goebel, which is available in the Public Domain.