GoldenEye 80
In March 2009, Aurora Flight Sciences successfully demonstrated the GoldenEye 80 for several
potential customers at a remote landing zone. During the fully autonomous operations, the GoldenEye 80
demonstrated its operational suitability and ability to detect targets of opportunity surrounding the
landing zone while remaining undetected at cruise altitudes.
System Description
The GoldenEye 80 is one of the most advanced VTOL unmanned systems available and ready to meet near
term user requirements. The GoldenEye 80 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is a light tactical system
designed to operate in urban, complex battle spaces and from air capable ships at sea.
The VTOL UAS consists of the Golden Eye 80 aircraft, a portable ground station that is compliant with
STANAG 4586, and day/night imaging systems that include electro-optical/infrared sensors with laser
designator and laser rangefinder capabilities. The aircraft features several acoustic dampening
techniques that enable quiet hover and stare operations from altitude and an advanced flight control
computer to rapidly transition from hover to forward flight dash speeds in seconds. The UAV is
capable of persistent hover and stare operations over choke points on main supply routes.
The entire system can be transported in theater on HMMVWs and existing military trailers.
The VTOL aircraft can be set-up and ready for flight operations with a four-man team in minutes.
The highly integrated man-machine interface enables a single operator to control the air vehicle
and payload during the flight.
The GoldenEye 80 air vehicle features a heavy fuel engine capable of operating on Jet-A, JP-8 and/or aviation gasoline.
The engine is a derivative of the U.S. Army’s Shadow engine.
Pre-planned improvements to the current configuration will include:
The addition of high performance winglets to increase range and endurance
Conformal antennae mounted in the duct structure to enable sophisticated
COMINT/ELINT sensors