US 11,981,459 B2
Armed aerial platform
Arik Shitrit, Shechania (IL); Assaf Rubanenko, Atzmon (IL); and Shai Cohen, Rechasim (IL)
Assigned to RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa (IL)
Appl. No. 18/017,894
Filed by RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa (IL)
PCT Filed Aug. 11, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IB2021/057394
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 25, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/069957, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 7, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 277712 (IL), filed on Sep. 29, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0264837 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
Int. Cl. B64U 10/14 (2023.01); B64D 7/06 (2006.01); F41A 27/24 (2006.01); B64U 101/18 (2023.01); B64U 101/20 (2023.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01)
CPC B64U 10/14 (2023.01) [B64D 7/06 (2013.01); F41A 27/24 (2013.01); B64U 2101/18 (2023.01); B64U 2101/20 (2023.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An armed aerial platform comprising:
(a) a weapon for firing a projectile from a barrel, said barrel defining a weapon axis; and
(b) a UAV comprising:
(i) an airframe including a rigid body, said rigid body being formed with a central vertical slot for receiving said weapon,
(ii) a propulsion system including at least four rotary propulsion units supported by said airframe in a multirotor UAV configuration, and
(iii) a single-axis gimbal mechanism supporting said weapon within said slot and controlling an inclination angle of said weapon axis relative to said body,
wherein said rigid body defines a horizontal reference plane, and wherein said slot is an open-ended slot extending to one end of said body, said gimbal mechanism configured to control an inclination of said weapon axis through a range of angles enabled by said open-ended slot spanning a range above and below said horizontal reference plane.