From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dutch UAV
The
SAGEM Sperwer
(Pronounced
Spehr-wuhr
, Dutch for
Sparrowhawk
) is an
unmanned aerial vehicle
manufactured by the
French
firm
SAGEM
. The aircraft is piloted remotely and can cruise at altitudes of over 16,000 feet for as long as five hours. It can send back images of targets up to 150 kilometers away from its ground control station.
Operational history
[
edit
]
The Sperwer is currently in service with the
French Army
(61
e
regiment d'artillerie), the
Royal Netherlands Air Force
,
Swedish Air Force
,
United States Air National Guard
,
Hellenic Army
(
Greece
) with the Netherlands in the process of removing them from front line use.
Canadian Armed Forces
operated the Sperwer in
Afghanistan
between 2003 and its last mission on 18 April 2009 when it was replaced with the
Israeli
built
IAI Heron
.
[1]
The
Royal Danish Army
also bought Sperwer, but a series of problems forced the Ministry of Defence to cancel the programme and sell the remainder to Canada. As well the Danish Army no longer operate any aircraft and there are no plans for UAVs by the
Royal Danish Air Force
. Canada itself removed the Sperwers from front-line use in 2009, while the Netherlands was planning to phase its Sperwer drones out of front line use in March 2009 in favor of rented UAVs from
Israel
's
Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd
.
Operators
[
edit
]
Canada
- Canadian Armed Forces
. Designated
CU-161
in service; retired.
Denmark
- Danish Army
. Programme cancelled.
France
- French Army
. In service with three more ordered and an option on another five, all with enhanced sensors.
[2]
Greece
- Hellenic Army
. In service.
Netherlands
- Royal Netherlands Air Force
. Retired.
Sweden
- Swedish Army
. Designated
UAV01 Ugglan
(the Owl) in service; retired.
United States
- Air National Guard
.
[
citation needed
]
Aircraft on display
[
edit
]
Six of the retired Sperwers can be found in Canadian museums:
[3]
Two of the retired Sperwers can be found in Dutch museums:
See also
[
edit
]
Related lists
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Aircraft
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Systems
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Related companies
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Canadian Armed Forces
post-1968 unified aircraft designations
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Numerical
Sequence
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Role
| Cargo (CC)
| |
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Fighters (CF)
| |
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Helicopter (CH)
| |
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Observation (CO)
| |
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Patrol (CP)
| |
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Search & Rescue (CSR)
| |
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Trainer (CT)
| |
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Unmanned (CU)
| |
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Experimental (CX)
| |
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|
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1
Not assigned
|