Meggitt Launches Voodoo Fast Target Drone

Meggitt Defense Systems has unveiled Voodoo, a new high-speed target drone, at Le Bourget. Unlike similar jet-powered targets, which are expensive to buy and complex to operate, Voodoo is powered by a 145-hp, three-cylinder piston engine designed for a sustained speed of 350 to 400 knots.

Voodoo has an all-carbon fiber airframe and is equipped with signature enhancement for passive and active IR (flares and body-heat generation), laser reflectivity, radar cross-section enhancement and ECM. The target is recovered by means of a parachute and airbag system. Voodoo is currently in flight test. It will sell for $80,000 to $100,000-some 40% of a cost of comparable jet targets, according to Chris Hilder, product support manager at Meggitt.