Canadair CL-227 Sentinel

The Canadair CL-227 Sentinel is a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle built by Canadair and nicknamed the flying peanut for its bulbous, peanut-shaped profile. Lift comes from a set of coaxial rotors emerging from the waist of the vehicle, the engine exhaust is turned upward to reduce its infrared signature, and composite blades, skin and legs help lower its radar signature around a mostly aluminium main structure. The type was designed in 1977, the phase one prototype made its first flight on 25 August 1978, and the larger phase two production vehicle first flew untethered on 14 December 1981. NATO evaluated it in March 1982 and it was made available to allied clients in the early 1980s. The phase two vehicle has a single Williams International WTS34-16 turboshaft of 37.3 kilowatts, a maximum takeoff weight of 190 kilograms and a top speed of 130 kilometres per hour. It was replaced in the late 1990s by the CL-327, whose production line began in 1996 under Bombardier Aerospace, which had acquired the assets of Canadair.