View source for BAE Systems SkyEye

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
 |name=SkyEye
 |image= File:SkyEye drone.png
 |caption=Artist impression 
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
 |type=Reconnaissance UAV
 |national origin=United States, United Kingdom
 |manufacturer=[[Developmental Sciences Inc]], [[BAE Systems]], [[McDonnell Douglas]]
 |designer=
 |first flight=1973
 |introduced=
 |retired=
 |status=
 |primary user=
 |more users=
 |produced=
 |number built=
 |variants with their own articles=
}}
|}

The '''BAE Systems SkyEye''' is a [[reconnaissance]] [[UAV]] developed in the United States in the early 1970s by Developmental Sciences Inc, later called Developmental Sciences Corporation, a division of [[Lear Astronics Corporation]] and ultimately part of [[BAE Systems]]. Developmental Sciences Inc was one of the first US companies to investigate battlefield UAVs, flying the first prototype of the SkyEye series in 1973, leading to the first flight of the improved '''R4E''' variant in 1981. The R4E has been continuously refined since then in a sequence of subvariants.

The R4E SkyEye is in service with a number of countries, including Egypt and Morocco, for battlefield surveillance, and has also been used commercially for [[crop spraying|pesticide spraying]]. Apparently a few stock R4Es were also purchased by the US Army's South Command in Latin America and used for border patrols. The [[United States Army]] had also considered a variant of it, the '''McDonnell Douglas Sky Owl''', for the short-range UAV competition. As the Sky Owl, [[McDonnell Douglas]] leveraged it into the company's proposal for the Army competition, but apparently it proved generally inferior to the [[RQ-5 Hunter]].

The SkyEye has the common pusher-propeller twin-tailboom configuration, but it has distinctive slightly swept wings and antennas on top of the tailplanes. It is powered by a [[UAV Engines Limited]] (UEL) 39&nbsp;kW (52&nbsp;hp) rotary engine. The SkyEye can carry two underwing stores along with its other payload. It lands on a retractable centerline skid or can be recovered by parachute.

The R4E-30 variant is designated '''B.W.1''' ({{langx|th|บ.ว.๑}}) by the [[Royal Thai Armed Forces]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thai Military Aircraft Designations |url=https://designation-systems.net/non-us/thailand.html |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=designation-systems.net}}</ref>
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==Specifications (R4E SkyEye) ==
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units? = imp
|crew=None
|capacity=180 lb (82 kg) payload
|length m=4.10
|length ft=13
|length in=5
|span m=7.32
|span ft=24
|span in=0
|gross weight kg=570
|gross weight lb=1,250
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[UAV Engines Limited|UEL]] <!-- what type?? -->
|eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->39
|eng1 hp=<!-- prop engines -->52
|max speed kmh=200
|max speed mph=125
|endurance=>8 hours
|ceiling m=4,600
|ceiling ft=15,000
}}
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{{aircontent
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|see also=
|related=<!-- related developments -->
|similar aircraft=<!-- similar or comparable aircraft -->
|lists=<!-- related lists -->
}}

==References==
This article contains material that originally came from the web article {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110902194407/http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav.html ''Unmanned Aerial Vehicles'']}} by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.
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==External links==
* [http://www.eis.na.baesystems.com/platform_solutions/products_and_services/platforms/unmannedsystems/skyeye.html  R4E SkyEye on manufacturer's website]

{{Lone designation
|system=[[Royal Thai Armed Forces]] UAV designations
|designation=B.W.1
}}

[[Category:1970s United States military reconnaissance aircraft]]
[[Category:Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States]]
[[Category:British Aerospace aircraft]]
[[Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft]]
[[Category:Twin-boom aircraft]]