Vietnam's groundbreaking UAV engine revealed to be a surprising innovation.

Vietnam has just unveiled a prototype of the HS-6L unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – a type of aircraft equipped with the same engine as UAVs from the US, Israel, and Russia.

According to initial information, the HS-6L UAV is a product of a collaboration between the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Public Security. Designed for long-range missions, the HS-6L UAV is quite large.

HS-6L UAV prototype.

Specifically, the HS-6L has a wingspan of 22m, is equipped with Rotax 914 engines giving it a cruising range of up to 4,000km, a continuous operating time of 35 hours, and uses satellite navigation. The HS-6L is capable of carrying reconnaissance cameras and radar.

Equipped with a Rotax 914 engine, Vietnam's HS-6L rivals some of the world's most powerful UAVs, such as the US MQ-1 Predator, Israel's Hermes 900 Kochav and Heron, and Russia's Lutch UAV.

The Rotax 914 is known to be a four-stroke, water- or air-cooled, turbocharged engine manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain.

Equipped with Rotax 914 engines, the MQ-1 Predator UAV can fly at a maximum speed of 217 km/h and has a continuous flight time of 24 hours. The MQ-1 Predator has been used very successfully by the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

MQ-1 Predator UAV.

The MQ-1 Predator UAV is capable of carrying air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, the AN/ZPQ-1 synthetic aperture radar, and the AN/AAS-52 multispectral targeting system.

In addition to the MQ-1 Predator, the Rotax 914 engine is also used by Israel on the Hermes 900 Kochav medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and information relay missions.

The Hermes 900 has a wingspan of 15m, a total weight of 1.1 tons, a payload capacity of 350kg, a top speed of 220km/h, and a continuous flight time of 36 hours.

Additionally, another long-range Israeli UAV, the IAI Heron, is also equipped with a Rotax 914 engine. This UAV can fly continuously for 52 hours and has a maximum speed of 207 km/h.

With the top-notch features of UAVs equipped with Rotax 914 engines, we have reason to expect perfect power and versatility in the missions that the Vietnamese-made HS-6L UAV can accomplish.

According to Datbin