Iran has been known to use Wankel engines in its drones
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Iran has been known to use Wankel engines in its drones
I found this interesting so I though to share. Perhaps there are some "soup up" ideas transferable to civilian Wankels.
Iran has been known to use Wankel engines in its drones.
The Shahed 131, an Iranian-made drone, is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/7881.
This drone came to prominence during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Shahed-131 is powered by the Serat-1 Wankel engine, which is a copy of the Beijing Micropilot UAV Control System Ltd MDR-208 Wankel engine.
Additionally, Iran has also reverse-engineered a British AR-731 Wankel engine for UAVs.
Another engine, the MDR-200, is an apparent copy of the AR-741 Wankel engine manufactured by the UK-based company UAV Engines Ltd; it is used in the smaller Shahed-131 system.
It’s important to note that Iran’s use of these engines in its drones is part of a broader strategy to develop and deploy drones, dating back to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. This effort was driven partly by the country’s lack of access to high-end western technology that would enable it to purchase, develop, and maintain a sophisticated air force.
Iran has been known to use Wankel engines in its drones.
The Shahed 131, an Iranian-made drone, is powered by a Wankel engine model Shahed-783/7881.
This drone came to prominence during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Shahed-131 is powered by the Serat-1 Wankel engine, which is a copy of the Beijing Micropilot UAV Control System Ltd MDR-208 Wankel engine.
Additionally, Iran has also reverse-engineered a British AR-731 Wankel engine for UAVs.
Another engine, the MDR-200, is an apparent copy of the AR-741 Wankel engine manufactured by the UK-based company UAV Engines Ltd; it is used in the smaller Shahed-131 system.
It’s important to note that Iran’s use of these engines in its drones is part of a broader strategy to develop and deploy drones, dating back to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. This effort was driven partly by the country’s lack of access to high-end western technology that would enable it to purchase, develop, and maintain a sophisticated air force.
The following 2 users liked this post by dgd:
kevink0000 (04-21-2024),
wannawankel (04-21-2024)
#2
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Makes sense. Wankels make great UAV engines. There was a US Army study & paper I read a long time ago that goes pretty deep on pros and cons for such applications. Especially if the drone is on a one way trip and you need thousands of them in a hurry, having only 2 moving parts is never bad.
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kevink0000 (04-21-2024)
#4
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They DO!
A long *** time ago I was hunting parts from a JDM RX8 which were only accepted in local collections.
I ended up in sort of farm corner taking part out and having a conversation with the seller,
He said "l JDM market ECU don't have any immobiliser and no need for crazy hacking to make them work, as he uses the engine for making drones "
We had a kinda long conversation about the matter and even he linked me website which I am not willing to share.
long story short the Wankel engines have very sufficient fuel consumption under constant load/speed.
Hence they are used in new-gen as range extender.
A long *** time ago I was hunting parts from a JDM RX8 which were only accepted in local collections.
I ended up in sort of farm corner taking part out and having a conversation with the seller,
He said "l JDM market ECU don't have any immobiliser and no need for crazy hacking to make them work, as he uses the engine for making drones "
We had a kinda long conversation about the matter and even he linked me website which I am not willing to share.
long story short the Wankel engines have very sufficient fuel consumption under constant load/speed.
Hence they are used in new-gen as range extender.
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kevink0000 (04-21-2024)
#5
77 cylinders, 4 rotors...
I wondered about this. The one video I saw during the “attack” sounded like a rotary or a two stroke. The info I found showed a pirated German flat four, but this sounds more like what I heard. Especially since they likely put up a lot of older units for this particular sortie. Thanks for posting.
Last edited by kevink0000; 04-21-2024 at 09:36 AM.
#6
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They DO!
A long *** time ago I was hunting parts from a JDM RX8 which were only accepted in local collections.
I ended up in sort of farm corner taking part out and having a conversation with the seller,
He said "l JDM market ECU don't have any immobiliser and no need for crazy hacking to make them work, as he uses the engine for making drones "
We had a kinda long conversation about the matter and even he linked me website which I am not willing to share.
long story short the Wankel engines have very sufficient fuel consumption under constant load/speed.
Hence they are used in new-gen as range extender.
A long *** time ago I was hunting parts from a JDM RX8 which were only accepted in local collections.
I ended up in sort of farm corner taking part out and having a conversation with the seller,
He said "l JDM market ECU don't have any immobiliser and no need for crazy hacking to make them work, as he uses the engine for making drones "
We had a kinda long conversation about the matter and even he linked me website which I am not willing to share.
long story short the Wankel engines have very sufficient fuel consumption under constant load/speed.
Hence they are used in new-gen as range extender.
The following users liked this post:
kevink0000 (04-22-2024)
#7
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I wondered about this. The one video I saw during the “attack” sounded like a rotary or a two stroke. The info I found showed a pirated German flat four, but this sounds more like what I heard. Especially since they likely put up a lot of older units for this particular sortie. Thanks for posting.
Ukrainians call them "mopeds" because of the 2 stroke sound.
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kevink0000 (04-22-2024)
#8
///// Upscale Zoom-Zoom
Wow I've fallen into a rabbit hole of Wankel ideas for projects. I had no idea that the efficiency and light weight of a 1-rotor Wankel could be used for...transportation.
This is fascinating.
This is fascinating.
#9
77 cylinders, 4 rotors...
#10
No respecter of malarkey
iTrader: (25)
they’re not Mazda based
and I’ll see and raise you …
https://www.billetrotary.com.au/prod...or-short-block
.
and I’ll see and raise you …
https://www.billetrotary.com.au/prod...or-short-block
.
#13
Smoking turbo yay
That's the reason I think why they are using Wankel engines. Not because of "oh the poor reliability doesn't matter LOL" thing, but because of the ease and low cost associated with Wankel engines when you don't need the best tolerances to meet emission standards.
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