Textron Unveils X5-55 Experimental Platform At AUVSI

Textron Systems unveiled its new X5-55 engineering test bed at AUVSI earlier this month. Textron’s senior vice president and general manager for unmanned systems, Bill Irby, told ANN at the show that the X5-55 aircraft is a blended-wing design that is powered by four independently-controlled rotors. There are no traditional control surfaces on the aircraft, giving it better maneuverability and greater resilience in windy conditions.

The aircraft is an electric-powered aircraft, a departure from the company's Aerosonde UAV. It was designed as a VTOL aircraft, using vectored flight control and distributed electric propulsion for both horizontal and vertical flight.

The X5-55 has a wingspan of 12 feet, weights 55 pounds, and has a flight time of two hours.

Irby said that the company has been flying the aircraft for more than a year. The technology developed using the X5-55 will be incorporated into future aircraft, he said.

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