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The BTT3 Banshee, formerly the Target Technology Banshee & Meggitt Banshee, is a British target drone developed in the 1980s for air defence systems training.

BTT3 Banshee
A team of Royal Brunei Armed Forces military and civilian contractors prepare "Banshee" unmanned drones for launch from the U.S. Navy's dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43).
Role	Target Drone Type of aircraft
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Meggitt Defence Systems
First flight	1983
Introduction	1984
Status	In service
Primary user	Worldwide
Number built	Over 8000[1]
Developed into	SAGEM Crecerelle

Design and development

The Banshee was developed by Target Technology Ltd.[2] The company had been specialising in lightweight engines for drones and had developed its own design in 1983.[3]

Banshee is a built mostly out of composite material (Kevlar and glass-reinforced plastic) with a tailless delta wing planform. The first models used a 26 hp 342 cc Normalair-Garrett two-cylinder two-stroke driving a pusher propeller. Performance was 35-185 kt with an endurance from 1–3 hours. Flight control is by two elevons. 185kt. Later models used Norton P73 rotary engines[4][5]

Operational history

Banshee entered service with the British Army in the mid-1980s as an aerial target for the Short Blowpipe and Javelin shoulder-launched missiles.[6]

Banshee has been deployed in over 40 Countries.[7] It has been tested against Blowpipe, Chaparral, Crotale, Javelin, Phalanx, Rapier, Sea Sparrow, QRSAM, Akash SAM and Barak 8 SAM systems.[8]

Operators

•  Brunei Darussalam
•  Brazil
•  Denmark Operated by the Inter Service Drone Section
•  Egypt
•  Finland
•  France
•  Germany
•  Hungary
•  Italy
•  India
•  Norway
•  Oman
•  Turkey
•  United Kingdom

Variants

• Banshee 300 - (1988)
• Banshee 400 - Reconnaissance (2001)
• Banshee 500 - First model to include all epoxy based composite construction
• Banshee 600 - Evolution of the 500 variant
• Banshee Jet 40 - Single turbine
• Banshee Jet 80 - Twin turbine

Specifications Meggitt BTT-3 Banshee

Data from Meggitt

General characteristics

• Crew: None
• Length: 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 2.49 m (8 ft 2 in)
• Height: 0.86 m (2 ft 10 in)
• Empty weight: 39 kg (85 lb)
• Gross weight: 73 kg (160 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Norton P73 Wankel rotary engine, 28 kW (38 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 200 km/h (120 mph, 110 kn)
• Endurance: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Service ceiling: 7,000 m (23,000 ft)

On Display

• Serial 1364 - Science Museum, London[9]
• Serial 3088 - City of Norwich Aviation Museum[10]

See also

Related development

• SAGEM Crecerelle

References

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