Flight International – 11 June 2019

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18 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com

Underwing pods can accommodate a variety of sensor payloads

Viking Air

Catapult-launched UAV can be operated from small naval vessels

Royal Australian Navy

C

anada’s Viking Air is plan-

ning to deploy a new para-

public variant of its DHC-6-

Twin Otter-derived Guardian 400

on a round-the-world tour start-

ing in September.

The Victoria, Vancouver Island-

based company is pitching the

turboprop for intelligence, surveil-

lance and reconnaissance, mari-

time surveillance, and search and

rescue, among other missions.

During a nine-month tour, the

Guardian 400 will perform dem-

onstration flights in Europe, Afri-

ca, the Middle East, India, South-

east Asia, Oceania and North

America, Viking Air says.

The demonstrator is a modified

version of the Series 400 Twin

Otter; a high-wing, short take-off

and landing utility type used in

MARKETING GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Viking to promote improved Guardian

Twin Otter-derived multirole surveillance platform will undergo nine-month global demonstration tour from September

civilian roles as a passenger air-

craft, cargo transport and medical

evacuation asset.

A variety of sensors will be in-

tegrated with the platform. A pair

of Airborne Technologies self-

contained aerial reconnaissance

pods will be carried beneath the

wing: one including a Hensoldt

Argos electro-optical/infrared

sensor, and the other a Leonardo

Osprey synthetic aperture radar

and Sentient Vision Systems

ViDAR camera.

The Guardian also has an in-

creased maximum take-off weight

and extended-range internal fuel

tank that will enable operational

sorties lasting more than 10h.

Viking Air is touting the de-

sign’s low acquisition price and

operating costs, as well as its op-

erational versatility, as main

selling points.

“The Guardian 400 provides

the flexibility to transform the air-

craft into a bespoke solution spe-

cific to the operators’ mission re-

quirements, with the ability to

add sensors to the pod or the air-

craft as fixed or removable sys-

tems,” it says.

Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer shows

that there are 12 earlier examples

of the Guardian 400 in service

with the United Arab Emirates air

force, US Army and Vietnamese

navy, plus 22 Series 400-model

Twin Otters used by Panama, Peru

and the UAE. ■

I

nsitu has been awarded contracts

worth $47.9 million to deliver a

combined 34 ScanEagle un-

manned air vehicles (UAVs) to In-

donesia, Malaysia, the Philippines

and Vietnam by March 2022.

The business is worth $9.

million with Indonesia, which

will receive eight aircraft, as will

the Philippines, which is spend-

ing $9.6 million. Vietnam is to

take six UAVs, under an alloca-

tion worth $9.8 million, while

Malaysia’s $19.3 million acquisi-

tion includes 12 of the aircraft.

The orders include spare pay-

loads, parts, support equipment

and tools, plus personnel training

UNMANNED SYSTEMS GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

ScanEagle soars with new Asia-Pacific contracts

and technical services.

The Foreign Military Sales pro-

gramme purchases are being fund-

ed under the US government’s

Maritime Security Initiative, set up

in 2015 to assist Washington’s al-

lies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Malaysia’s navy says it plans to

use its ScanEagles to patrol the

South China Sea portion of East

Malaysia and the Sulu Sea. All

four of the new customer nations

have coastlines on the South China

Sea; a body of water that is hotly

contested with Beijing. Other re-

gional operators of the type include

the Royal Australian Navy.

The ScanEagle is launched

using a catapult and recovered

with a skyhook, both of which

can be mounted on small patrol

boats. It has a flight endurance

greater than 24h and a maximum

speed of 80kt (148km/h). ■

Download the 2019

World Air Forces Report

http://www.flightglobal.com/waf

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