BQM-145 Peregrine

The Teledyne Ryan BQM-145 Peregrine (manufacturer designation Model 350) is a reconnaissance UAV developed in the United States in the 1990s as a joint US Navy/Marine Corps and Air Force "Medium Range UAV" program, with the Navy developing the airframe and the Air Force providing the payload. The BQM-145A was designed to precede airstrike packages into a target area and relay reconnaissance information in real time.

Production BQM-145As were to have a metal airframes, but the initial two prototypes were built with plastic composites, with initial flight in May 1992. The program then collapsed in 1993 due to technical difficulties and funding cutbacks. However, six BQM-145As with plastic-composite airframes then under construction were completed, with first flight of a composite BQM-145A in 1997.

Apparently Northrop Grumman has continued to use them for other experiments. Some sources claim they have been evaluated for unmanned strike missions, and paintings have been circulated showing a BQM-145A fitted with an "high-power microwave (HPM)" generator in the nose to fry adversary electronic equipment. It has been confirmed that BQM-145As have been flown in the US on test flights carrying HPM payloads.

The BQM-145A has some broad similarities to the Scarab, with a similar configuration except that it has twin air intakes on either side of the fuselage, just forward of the wing roots. Like the Scarab, it has no landing gear. It is powered by a Teledyne CAE F408-CA-400 (Model 382-10C) turbofan engine, with 4.4 kN (455 kgp / 1000 lbf) thrust. It can be air-launched from a standard fighter such as the F-16 Falcon or the F/A-18 Hornet.