Design of a Class I Unmanned Aircraft for Maritime Surveillance

The current paper's objective is to present the methodology used in the design of a class I unmanned aircraft (UA), intended for maritime surveillance, atmospheric pollution monitoring and search and rescue (SAR) missions. Its development encompasses conceptual and preliminary design, focusing on the integration of systems, performance, aerodynamics, stability, propulsion and composite structural design. Mission requirements are set to comply with the European Maritime Safety Agency's specifications. The approach to conceptual design follows a methodology in which the airplane is conceived in a step-by-step, iterative fashion, making use of empirical data and numerical information. In preliminary design, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is employed in order to increase the level of accuracy and refine the design. Subsequently, the air frame design is performed through computed aided design (CAD) modelling, endorsed by a numerical stress analysis via a finite element analysis (FEA). As the project's output, a class I unmanned aircraft capable of not only meeting, but also surpassing the demanded mission requirements, is presented.