The Hunter 5 prototype before its first test flight at the X Range. (Edge Group)
The United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) Edge Group has updated the product page for its Hunter 5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a video showing its first test flight.
The video said the flight took place in November 2023 at the company's X Range testing facility on Abu al Abyad island. It showed a prototype fitted with fixed undercarriage and non-folding wings, having its two-cylinder petrol engine manually started before it took off and flew around the range's runway.
The promotional image of the Hunter 5 on the Edge website shows it with folding wings, no undercarriage, and a probable rocket booster for launching it from a rail or canister.
Edge says the Hunter 5 has a 3.6 m wingspan, a take-off weight of 50 kg, a 5 kg payload, and a communication range of 100 km. The video gave a different endurance for the munition than stated in the brochure, saying it is 150 not 180 minutes. The brochure attributes that shorter endurance to the Hunter 10, which is the same except it carries a larger 10 kg payload and less fuel.
Both types are designed to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions as well as act as expendable loitering munitions. It is unclear if they will be recoverable if they are not used in an attack.
The Hunter 5 and 10 were unveiled at the Dubai Airshow in November 2021, when the company displayed models showing two different types of aircraft. The Hunter 10 had a V-tail rather than the X-tail it now has, a less cylindrical body, non-folding wings, and an electric motor. The much smaller Hunter 5 looked like a hand-launched UAV.
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