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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a definition of modern configuration for a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) and its on-board systems to obtain a suitable basis for future definitions such as a possible logistic support configuration first hypothesis.Design/methodology/approach Starting from high-level requirements, both the UAV conceptual design and on-board systems preliminary design have been carried out through proprietary tools. Then, some peculiarities from previous studies, such as systems advanced UAV alternative energy, have been maintained and confirmed (diesel propulsion and energy storage system).Findings The improvement of a component of an aircraft can play a relevant role in the whole system. In the paper, it is considered how a concept of MALE UAV can evolve (this topic is considered by the authors since many years) by incorporating advanced on-board systems concepts.Practical implications The numerical results promote and support the use of advanced on-board system solutions and architectures to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and performance of MALE UAVs.Originality/value Usually, conceptual and preliminary design phases analyze in-depth the aerodynamic and structural solutions and aircraft performance. In this study, the authors aim to focus on the advanced on-board systems for MALE UAVs. This kind of aircraft is not yet a mature concept, with very few operating machines and many projects in the development phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an innovative zonal safety analysis method that can be applied to future products in conceptual design and discusses the results of the application of this technique to two different configurations of the all electric secondary power system (the conventional configuration and the hybrid fuel cells configuration) of a future medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, the system for unmanned aerial vehicle advanced alternative energy aircraft. Main advantages and criticalities of the application of the zonal safety analysis very early during the design process are addressed first, together with the description of the main characteristics of system for unmanned aerial vehicle advanced alternative energy aircraft. Then, the methodology, that has been used, is described in detail and the main results of the application of the zonal safety analysis to two significant aircraft bays are shown and discussed. Eventually, the main conclusions are drawn and the choice of the best configuration from the safety point of view is made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]