Griffon Aerospace MQM-186 RedWing

The designations MQM-186A and MQM-186B have been assigned by the U.S. Army to two different variants of the Griffon RedWing subscale aerial target. The Army has quoted a requirement of 365 MQM-186 targets in the context of its ADA-T (Air Defense Artillery Targets) project, which also covers the MQM-170 Outlaw and MQM-171 Broadsword target drones.

Photo: Griffon Aerospace

MQM-186B

Only little information is available on the MQM-186. The drone is catapult-launched, and retrieved by a belly landing. It is powered by a small model airplane piston engine driving a tractor propeller. It has an operational range (for line-of-sight control) of about 40 km (24 miles), a payload capacity between 6.8 and 8.1 kg (15 and 18 lb) and an endurance of more than 6 hours. The Army initially evaluated two variants differing in the engine. The version currently marketed by Griffon seems to represent the MQM-186B configuration.

Specifications

Data for MQM-186A/B:

	MQM-186A	MQM-186B
Length	1.86 m (6.1 ft)
Wingspan	3.08 m (10.1 ft)
Weight	max: 24.5 kg (54 lb)
Speed	119 km/h (74 mph)	140 km/h (87 mph)
Ceiling	> 3650 m (12000 ft)
Endurance	> 6 h
Propulsion	SAITO FG-30	Desert Aircraft DA-35

Main Sources

[1] SAM.gov: U.S. Army's Air Defense Artillery Targets (ADA-T) Sources Sought ...
[2] GovTribe: MQM-186 Aerial Target Demonstrated Performance.pdf
[3] Griffon Aerospace: RedWing

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Last Updated: 19 July 2024