Canadair CL-289

The Canadair CL-289 is an unmanned surveillance drone designed to provide corps-level intelligence for NATO armies. Development of the CL-289 began in 1974 as an enlarged successor to the CL-89 drone. In November 1987, Canada, West Germany, and France signed a production agreement for the system, which officially entered service in November 1990 under the military designation AN/USD-502.

Design

The drone features a cylindrical body with four rear-mounted stub-wings and smaller canard foreplanes for aerodynamic trim. It is launched from truck-mounted rails using a BAJ Vickers Wagtail rocket booster that produces 5,000 lbf (22 kN) of thrust. Once flight speed is attained, the booster is jettisoned, and a Williams International WR2-6 turbojet producing 125 lbf (0.56 kN) of thrust powers the drone for the rest of its programmed flight path. The system operates entirely without external control, relying on pre-programmed instructions.

For recovery, the engine cuts at a calculated position and a drogue parachute deploys. This slows the drone and allows a main parachute to release from its underside, causing the aircraft to invert. Prior to landing, a pair of pneumatic landing bags deploy from the top of the drone (which faces the ground during inversion) to cushion the impact. While the predecessor CL-89 could only carry a single camera or sensor, the CL-289 is designed to carry multiple sensor units.

Operational History

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the Yugoslav Army shot down at least nine CL-289 drones. Operators of the system have included Canada, France, and Germany, with the German Army eventually replacing its inventory with the Rheinmetall KZO.

Variants

• CL-89 (AN/USD-501): A divisional-level surveillance drone developed in the 1960s by Canada, Britain, and West Germany.
• CL-289 (AN/USD-502): An enlarged corps-level surveillance drone with increased range, payload capacity, and support for multiple sensors.