Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila TADAR

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) [ 1982 ]

Despite it never seeing production, just under 1 billion USD was spent on developing the Lockheed Aquila UAV.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 08/01/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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The MGM-105 Aquila (Eagle) TADAR (Target Acquisition, Designation and Aerial Reconnaissance) was the first United States Army attempt at securing a reusable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of conducting a range of mission types. The Aquila was originally developed as "Little R" by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company beginning in the 1970's. Army specifications called for a cost-effective system of small size able to provide the US Army with real-time aerial reconnaissance, target acquisition, artillery observation and laser designation. Unfortunately for the Aquila - and the US Army and Lockheed itself for that matter - the MQM-105 became a bloated and expensive project that never lived up to expectations, forcing the entire development effort to be cancelled.

By 1974, Lockheed and the US Army had partnered for development of the new UAV. In December of 1975, flyable prototypes emerged as the XMQM-105A. By August of 1979, the US Army was fully onboard with the Aquila project and rewarded Lockheed with a contract based on the prototypes. The follow-up developmental model appeared in July of 1982 as the YMQM-105A.

The Aquila design fitted a swept-back wing to a flat fuselage shape housing the UAVs payload and engine. The engine was a Herbrandson Dyad 280B 2-stroke system delivering 24 horsepower to a pusher-type propeller system housed in the rear of the fuselage. On board systems included a fixed daytime TV-camera with an integrated autotracker. A laser designator was also included. A night-vision system utilizing FLIR was planned but never enacted. Communications was provided for via a datalink and video downlink. Performance from the piston engine allowed a top speed of 130 miles per hour with a service ceiling of 14,800 feet and an in-flight time of 3 hours.

Launching was accomplished via a catapult system mounted onto a truck while retreival was via an erected netting to catch the incoming Aquila upon return. Net height was adjustable to protect the vehicle's profile and the Aquila was fitted with infrared sensors that automatically brought led itself into the netting.

As may be expected in such pioneering efforts, the Aquila project met with its own inherent deficiencies. Several Aquilas were lost or damaged in crashes while the cost of the project seemingly ballooned with each passing month to go along with changing mission parameters.

The MGM-105 project was officially cancelled in 1987 despite nearly 1 billion dollars sunk into the project. Some 376 Aquila's were slated to be built. Lockheed was also considering an export version.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1982

Origin

United States

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

None

Production

1
UNITS

Lockheed Missiles and Space Company - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United States (retired)

(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.

✓ Special Forces
Serving Special Forces / Special Operations elements and missions.

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

Length

6.8 ft
(2.08 m)

Width/Span

12.7 ft
(3.88 m)

Height

3.3 ft
(1.00 m)

Empty Wgt

265 lb
(120 kg)

MTOW

441 lb
(200 kg)

Wgt Diff

+176 lb
(+80 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila TADAR production variant)

Installed: 1 x Herbrandson Dyad 280B 2-stroke piston engine developing 24 horsepower.

Max Speed

130 mph
(210 kph | 113 kts)

Ceiling

14,764 ft
(4,500 m | 3 mi)

Range

249 mi
(400 km | 741 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila TADAR production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

XMQM-105A - Prototye Designation

YMQM-105A - Developmental Model

MQM-105 "Aquila" - Proposed Production Model Designation

"Altair" - Proposed Export Sales Model

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.

40

Rating is out of a possible 100 points.

Relative Maximum Speed

Hi: 150mph

Lo: 75mph

This entry's maximum listed speed (130mph).

Graph average of 113 miles-per-hour.

City-to-City Ranges

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila TADAR 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 (1)

1

36183

44000

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

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