»www.bellhelicopter.textron.com
~ Eagle Eye cost about 500 000 $US
»U.S Air Force buyes seven more Global Hawks at $35 million each over the next two years, then start buying six a year
»Bell helicopter Eagle Eye
~ cost is $500,000
»Eagle Eye Pocket Guide
Yamaha's RMAX UAV
Basic RMAX:
~ The absolute base-model airframe suitable for agriculture, with a single GPS and the ability to fly only within sight,
~ and no more than five metres above the ground costs US$86,000
Aerial RMAX:
~ The Aerial Photography version can fly up to 100 metres above the ground and costs between US$150,000 and US$230,000
Research RMAX:
~ There's a flight research model specced for universities with manual only flight mode, which sells for US$120,000
~ and none of the base stations and other niceties
De Luxe RMAX:
~ the fully autonomous R-Max package includes:
~ the ground station,
~ antennas,
~ computers,
~ monitors and
~ two complete autonomous airframes and a four camera system
~ The price tag is US$1,000,000.00
~ The completely autonomous version enables the 'pilot' to watch what's happening from all four cameras
~ at once while the RMAX goes about the flight plan it has been programmed with from the controlling computer
~ If the operator sees something they want to look at closely,
~ they can override the plan to get closer and then resume the original flight plan or program a new one
Operating at 10% the hourly rate of a manned helicopter means a whole range of new applications can be found!