Aviation / Aerospace

Raytheon Coyote

Small, Expendable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) [ 2014 ]

The Raytheon Coyote has been designed with low-cost and expendability in mind, having achieved operational service in 2014.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 10/30/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image from Raytheon marketing materials.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

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As the proliferation of drones over the modern battlefield continues, so do efforts to counter threats of "swarms" being made up of dozens or more of such air vehicles (particularly the more agile quad-rotors). The Raytheon "Coyote" has been developed for that very purpose as an expendable, portable anti-drone system and the series is being acquired by the United States Army for service entry before the end of 2018. Beyond its stated over-battlefield value, the Coyote system is touted with traditional UAS qualities such as threat assessment, damage assessment, targeting, and surveillance - all offered in real-time.

The swarm concept is dubbed "LOCUST" standing for "LOw-Cost Uav Swarm Technology".

Tests conducted in 2016 revealed the Coyote's ability to reach a target area, in formation, through autonomous networking after being launched as a swarm (from MLRS-style launcher packs). In 2017, six vehicles were successfully used to collect data on Hurricane Maria by the National Oceanographic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA). This "mini-swarm" entered the hurricane and faced wind speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. So beyond its military value, the Coyote certainly has scientific and humanitarian capabilities for those interested customers.

Much like an Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM), the Coyote is tube-launched and carries an integral seeker and warhead. It has a mission endurance window of about one hour and its mission payload is variable to meet the threat and battlefield need. The fuselage is slab-sided with a rounded frontal section. The wing mainplanes are straight appendages mounted over the frontal section while the horizontal tailplanes are fitted low and well-aft along the fuselage. A pair of vertical tail fins are used for the needed control. All of the wing planes are spring-loaded and come into action post-launch - allowing the air vehicle to remain in a compact form during transport. At the extreme rear of the vehicle is a two-bladed propeller unit offering the needed propulsion.

The Coyote makes up just one portion of the anti-drone defense system. It is coupled with the KFRS Ku-band Electronically-Scanned Array (ESA) radar which handles the acquisition and tracking focus of the complete system - this radar has already been uses in conjunction with artillery, rocket, and mortar teams.

July 2018 - The United States Army has committed to the purchase of an undisclosed number of Coyote air systems for use in the counter-drone defense role.

Specifications

Service Year

2014

Origin

United States

Status

ACTIVE
In Active Service.

Crew

0
UNMANNED

Production

50
UNITS

Raytheon - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United States

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.

✓ Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.

Length

3.0 ft
(0.91 m)

Width/Span

4.9 ft
(1.50 m)

Empty Wgt

11 lb
(5 kg)

MTOW

13 lb
(6 kg)

Wgt Diff

+2 lb
(+1 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Raytheon Coyote production variant)

Installed: 1 x Electric motor driving power to a two-bladed propeller unit arranged at the back of the fuselage in "pusher" configuration.

Max Speed

63 mph
(102 kph | 55 kts)

Ceiling

29,856 ft
(9,100 m | 6 mi)

Range

124 mi
(200 km | 370 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Raytheon Coyote production variant. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None.

Coyote - Base Series Name.

General Assessment

Firepower

Performance

Survivability

Versatility

Impact

Values are derrived from a variety of categories related to the design, overall function, and historical influence of this aircraft in aviation history.

Overall Rating

The overall rating takes into account over 60 individual factors related to this aircraft entry.

28

Rating is out of a possible 100 points.

Relative Maximum Speed

Hi: 100mph

Lo: 50mph

This entry's maximum listed speed (63mph).

Graph average of 75 miles-per-hour.

City-to-City Ranges

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Raytheon Coyote operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

Max Altitude Visualization

Design Balance

The three qualities reflected above are altitude, speed, and range.

Aviation Era Span

Showcasing era cross-over of this aircraft design.

Unit Production (50)

50

36183

44000

Compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian).

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Image from Raytheon marketing materials.