NCSIST Cardinal

The Cardinal, is a family of small unmanned aerial vehicles made by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

NCSIST Cardinal UAV 20150815a

Variants

Cardinal I

The Cardinal I was the initial prototype of the Cardinal.[1]

Cardinal II

The Cardinal II began development in 2009 and is based on the Cardinal I but has a better payload design, digital data link, and automatic tracking antenna system. It was exhibited at the 2015 Paris Air Show. In service with Republic of China Marine Corps[2] and Republic of China Army.[3] Other than military missions the Cardinal II can be used for civil remote sensing and disaster relief missions.[4]

The components of a Cardinal II system are the aircraft, an antenna, and a ground control box. The Cardinal II is hand launched and recovered by parachute. The aircraft is equipped with an autopilot and can transmit data and imagery in real time.[4] The remote control flight range is 8km.[5]

Fire Cardinal

In 2019 NCSIST exhibited the Fire Cardinal for the first time at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition. It was referred to by NCSIST as a “air-to-ground assault” UAV, what is more commonly known as a loitering munition.[6] The Fire Cardinal is a twin-propeller drone about four feet long with a six-foot wingspan. It weighs around 15 pounds and includes an electro-optical and infrared sensor as well as advanced target discrimination systems.[7]

Specifications (Cardinal II)

General characteristics

  • Length: 1.9[2] m (6 ft 3 in)
  • Wingspan: 1.3[2] m (4 ft 3 in)
  • Gross weight: 5.5[2] kg (12 lb)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 55 km/h (34 mph, 30 kn)
  • Range: 50 km (31 mi, 27 nmi)

See also

References
  1. "Cardinal Mini Unmanned Aircraft Systems". www.ncsist.org.tw. NCSIST. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. "Cardinal Ⅱ Unmanned Aircraft System". www.ncsist.org.tw. NCSIST. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  3. Ng, JR (August 2019). "Asia-Pacific Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Directory 2018". Asia Military Review: 14–27. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. "Cardinal II" (PDF). www.ncsist.org.tw. NCSIST. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  5. Elaine Hou and Kuo Chung-han, Rita Cheng. "New U.S. drone sale policy could be good for Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. Wong, Kelvin. "TADTE 2019: NCSIST unveils Fire Cardinal mini-UAV". www.janes.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. MAKICHUK. "Taiwan builds lethal fleet of kamikaze drones". www.asiatimes.com. Asia Times. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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