Overview of RPAS costs
| Details | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Latitude HQ-i60B aircraft | Whilst the capital cost of the exemplar RPA is not publically available, that of the Aerosonde Mk 4.7 (see Table I) was reported in 2014 to be some US$100,000 (Corcoran, 2014). This is an order of magnitude cheaper than the US$1,800,000 (Global Air, 2016) for the Hawker 800XP aircraft currently used by the RFDS in Western Australia |
| Latitude ground control system | Informal estimates indicate that this would cost some US$100,000, and it has the potential to control a number of RPAs thus achieving economies of scale |
| Operators | Whilst no clear figure has been obtained for this aspect of the costs, it is assumed that the number required (pilot, RPA camera operator and ground staff) would be broadly similar to those required by fixed wing or helicopters |
| Training | Certification of the pilots and the staff at the clinic would require some $US 10,000 |
| Fuel | The Aerosonde Mk 1 with a 4-stroke engine used 7 L of fuel to fly for 26 hours in 1998 (Barnard Microsystems, 1999). The fuel consumption of the 2-stroke latitude RPA is unlikely to be significantly greater |
| Details | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Latitude HQ-i60B aircraft | Whilst the capital cost of the exemplar RPA is not publically available, that of the Aerosonde Mk 4.7 (see |
| Latitude ground control system | Informal estimates indicate that this would cost some US$100,000, and it has the potential to control a number of RPAs thus achieving economies of scale |
| Operators | Whilst no clear figure has been obtained for this aspect of the costs, it is assumed that the number required (pilot, RPA camera operator and ground staff) would be broadly similar to those required by fixed wing or helicopters |
| Training | Certification of the pilots and the staff at the clinic would require some $US 10,000 |
| Fuel | The Aerosonde Mk 1 with a 4-stroke engine used 7 L of fuel to fly for 26 hours in 1998 ( |
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