R-Bat Inflight photo:Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman and Japanese Yamaha Motors have agreed to work together to develop and market ...
 |
| R-Bat Inflight photo:Northrop Grumman |
The system called the Rotary Bat (R-Bat), is based on the proven airframe of a Yamaha RMAX remotely piloted unmanned helicopter coupled with Northrop's autonomous control system and sensors for intelligence gathering.
It is designed to perform search and rescue, power line inspection, forest fire observation and agricultural missions.
Yamaha has been operating remotely piloted helicopters for commercial purposes since 1991. In Japan alone, there are over 2,400 Yamaha remotely piloted helicopters utilized in agricultural applications, carrying out pest control in more than 2.4 million acres of farmland in Japan each year.
Since being introduced in 1997, Yamaha RMax helicopters have flown more than 2 million hours.
It is powered by a 2-stroke, horizontally opposed 2-cylinder, 246 cc gasoline engine which produces a maximum output of 15.4 KW. With a total weight of 100kg, the RMAX can carry a payload of 28 kg up to 400 metres.
