Adopting M.A.S.

T Drone Designs
Tarrant Arms Company Technologies
Lindsey Steben
Winston Almelia

12 November 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract i
Introduction ...... 1
Proposal .......... 1
Reason of needs ...... 1
Size and Mobility ........ 1
Current Technology ... 2
RQ-4 Global Hawk ......... 2
RQ-4 Global Hawk Disadvantage 2
Shadow 200 RQ-7 Unmanned Aircraft System ... 3
Shadow 200 RQ-7 Unmanned Aircraft System Disadvantages 3
Current Projects .... 4
Advantages 5
Other Concepts . 6
Current Cost .......... 6
Intergration .... 7
Social Issues .. 7
Future Outlook ...... 7
Conclusion .... 8
Glossary .... 9
Work Cited .... 10

List of Illistrations
RQ-4 Global Hawk .. 2
Shadow 200 RQ-7 Unmanned Aircraft System .. 3
Marine holding the Cicada prototype ... 4
The Cicada Drone .5
Example of Swarm UAV abilities ... 6

Abstract
The problem facing todays military is the fact that the UAVs; they have at their disposal
right now is not giving them full reconnaissance of a location were a military operation is about
to take place, causing the loss of personnel in the field. Also the UAVs we have to date are not
easy to transport place to place, and cannot assess tight spaces for enemy threat. The solution that
we have come up with through extensive research is that the company should adopt aspects of
the M.A.S.T program to make smaller and more compact drones. To give military personnel the
reconnaissance they need to keep them safe. If we were to implement this program to be one of
our own, we would be saving countless military personnel lives by giving them more a more indepth reconnaissance in tight spaces that the UAVs we have now cant

Report
Proposal
The purpose of this report is to introduce the newest and best in the way of innovations in
the field of Autonomous UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. With these current
innovations we look to solve a numerous amount of issues that are presented during
current military operations. We hope to do this in a cost effective, efficient, and responsible
way through various studies and studies that could potentially change the entire military
strategy in whatever operations necessary.

Minimizing Loss of Personnel

The amount of both civilian and military casualties, created through war operations, has
brought on the need for innovations that are extremely small, lightweight, intelligent, easily
replaceable and monetarily feasible. At this time, military forces are using Special Forces
Teams, highly trained dogs, and large clumsy robots to perform search and rescue
operations, explosive material locators, reconnaissance missions, and targeting.

Special Forces team members are highly trained and very expensive personnel that
come with a liability if lost or compromised in battle. Their benefactors will be
compensated also, if lost or maimed. They are almost always put in harms way
while performing their missions.
The dogs take a long time to train, which can be an expense that may not be
recoverable. They also become an emotional distraction for their handlers. The dogs
still can make a choice not to perform the mission.

Size and Mobility

Current drones and mini drones being used by the military are becoming more and more
effective, but still provide a lot of issues when it comes to movements and capabilities in
various terrains throughout the world.

The large clumsy robots now being used are expensive targets on the battlefield.
One enemy round could disable the machine or some component that is needed for
the mission. They are very heavy and take a lot of space to transport them to the
mission site.
Another current problem is the movements and lack of accessibility to reach certain
terrains or environments in various geographical locations.

Current Technologies in Operation

RQ-4 Global Hawk
The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft with an
integrated sensor suite that provides global all-weather, day or night intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability. Global Hawk's mission is to provide a
broad spectrum of ISR collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide
peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. The Global Hawk provides persistent
near-real-time coverage using imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT)
and moving target indicator (MTI) sensors. (af.mil)

An RQ-4 Global Hawk soars through the sky to record intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance data. (af.mil)
Disadvantages
The primary disadvantages of the RQ-4 Global Hawk is size, autonomy, as well as cost, data
collection, and communication barriers.

With a wingspan of 130.9 feet and a length of 47.6 feet, the Global Hawk is
essentially a small plane flying about relaying information, however this becomes
impractical in close quarter operations as it would be easy to be seen overhead and
could potentially alert hostiles of military presence in the area.
Not only expensive to built and produce, the RQ-4 has an estimated price of $18,900
per hour of flight time. (reuters.com)
Data collection and communication barriers are unattainable in suburban areas
where there numerous buildings, and are incapable of surveillence or video in areas
soldiers may need such as close quarters between building and rooms.
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Shadow 200 RQ-7 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System

Shadow 200 is used to locate, recognize and identify targets up to 125km from a brigade
tactical operations center. The system recognizes tactical vehicles by day and night from an
altitude of 8,000ft and at a slant range of 3.5km. Imagery and telemetry data is transmitted
in near-real time from the Shadow ground control station to joint stars common ground
station, all-sources analysis system and to the army field artillery targeting and direction
system. (army-technology.com)

A Shadow 200 RQ-7 is launched from a hydraulic rail launcher (army-technology.com)

Disadvantages
The Shadow 200 RQ-7 produces a number of disadvantages including; transportation,
functionality, size, as well as team size required to operate.

Transporting the Shadow 200 requires vehicles, and while much smaller in size in
comparison to the Global Hawk, the need for a much smaller drone has become
apparent through operations being performed.
The functionality of the RQ-7 is not quick enough when it comes to being able to
relay information directly to troops on the ground. The information is relayed
through 4 different channels prior to troops on the ground, this does not allow for
real-time information to be relayed quickly enough.
Size is once again an issue, as well as autonomy, with a wingspan of 12-20ft, it is far
too large to provide accurate information in areas where soldiers may need to enter
such as houses and buildings.
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The Shadow 200 RQ-7 requires a team of 22 personnel to run correctly, this is
simply inefficient when it comes to the possibility of a problem occurring during an
important mission

Current Projects in Work

The Cicada Drone
Named after an insect, in an attempt to create a small, cost efficient drone that can provide
a various amount of uses, the Cicada has been developed as a means to efficiently and
accurately collect information without being detected. It is currently being used as a
mapping and GPS tool, which could potentially be used by simply dropping a large group of
them out of planes, balloons, or other, larger drones. After deploying the Cicada, the drones
will then be able to fly to within approximately 15 feet of their pre-programmed GPS
coordinates using onboard sensors, which are attached to the drone. Doing this will
provide a large amount of information when dropped within groups. Outfitted with various
tools (microphones, sensors, detectors, etc.), the capabilities of this drone have proven to
be quite cost efficient as well as accurate and remarkably effective.
"You equip these with a microphone or a seismic detector, drop them on that road, and it
will tell you 'I heard a truck or a car travel along that road.' You know how fast and which
direction they're traveling." (Kahn)

A member of United States Marines displays the size and simplicity of the Cicada. (cnbc.com)
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Advantages
The Cicada has already proven to provide numerous advantages, as well as creating new
innovations derived from the original concept to include;

Size and Detection the size of the Cicada allows for easy mobility, transportation,
and makes it practically undetectable to radar and can easily be confused for being a
bird or other flying insect.
Accurate surveillance of close quarter areas The size once again provides a distinct
advantage. By dropping numerous Cicadas equipped with various surveillance
equipment into close-quartered areas, valuable information can be relayed in
almost real time speed to soldiers on the ground.
Adaptability The Cicada can potentially be outfitted with numerous types of
surveillance equipment, which can allow for the collection of valuable information.
The equipment can include such systems as microphones, cameras, seismic
detectors, and other related equipment that could provide an advantage that could
potentially save lives.

A Cicada prototype is displayed outfitted with a GPS coordinating chip. (Cicadas)

Other Concepts
Numerous prototypes are in work that will allow for more cohesive operations between
troops on the ground and the mini drones or UAVs. The goal in mind is to create an
autonomous vehicle that will the ability to determine waypoints and move in a stable,
controlled manner between them, is critical to the operational effectiveness of the platform
ensemble. The ability to hover or perch, i.e., revert momentarily back to a fixed sensor
network, is also advantageous. Sensing is important. To be effective in operations, the map
needs to indicate the location of potential threats. The map may also be annotated by
imagery or other signature information. But the keystone to enabling this behavior is a
shared understanding of the environment by all the platforms so they can respond in
operations. (Mait)

A picture of the future outlook of autonomous drones evolved from the Cicada
(researchgate.net)

Current Costs and Budget

There is no specific price on various prototypes because they are still being created and
invented. However a large portion of the current fiscal budget of the Army has given us an
indication and idea of how much money is currently being invested into the creation of
these drones. Of the current budget of $536 billion in the defense budget, only a very small
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portion of that will be used in the development of autonomous vehicles.

According to the budget, $7.299 million will be spent on researching Micro Autonomous
Systems Technology. The goal of the project is to enhance tactical situational awareness in
urban and complex terrain by enabling the autonomous operation of a collaborative
ensemble of multifunctional mobile microsystems. Reference: H54 / Micro-Autonomous
Systems Technology (MAST) CTA Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Army, Vol.1
(Drones in the Defense Budget.)
While the $7.299 million may still be a very high number in personal terms, it is very small
when the rest of the budget is taken into account. With the cost effective capabilities of
these drones, the price in comparison to various other defense budget priorities becomes
very appealing. As seen already, the Cicada drone is projected to come in at a cost of $250
dollars, while others have the outlook of costing more, it is still a small cost in comparison.
Integration

Integration of these inventions has become a key subject of discussion. The inventions will
need time and training to be able to be incorporated into the battlefield and put into
operation. The amount of time and training required for the integration of the UAVs has
yet to be determined, and tests are still being conducted.
Social Issues

The issue of privacy and the infringement of personal rights as well as social acceptance of
the use of drones in operations is still under much scrutiny and is being accounted for.

With the technology and innovations still being extremely new, many of the laws are still
being created when it comes to the use of drones, and protecting basic rights. This however
does not necessarily apply when at war.
Future outlook

The benefits of this technology are still being established, with new creations and
inventions being created at a very fast pace, the future for these innovations is extremely
vast. Future innovations look to include fully autonomous, real-time, small drones, which
will help to ensure the safety of our soldiers. By creating smaller, more cost effective
drones in the future, it creates the potential to save the militarys most valuable asset, its
personnel, whether human or canine.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the ultimate goal for these inventions, as well as the research and
development of future inventions, is to be able to perform operations in a way that will put
our warriors in the safest possible position for their objective. With potential threats
becoming more advanced as well as dangerous, the need for this type of surveillance and
equipment has become essential to the success of missions, both today, and in the future.
With current technologies, we are not where we need to be in terms of providing the safest
possible outcomes for our soldiers. Through the collaborative research of numerous
individuals, the mini autonomous vehicles can and will provide numerous capabilities that
will help our operations. The potential impact in search and rescue operations, through the
military and other careers, are essential in creating a safer more effective solution to
potential dangers in the world. With the development of these UAVs, mini-drones, micro
autonomous vehicles, or whatever other name given, this will be possible. With these goals
being taken into account, the ultimate goal of saving lives can be achieved.

GLOSSARY

Autonomous - acting independently or having the freedom to do so

Asset - a useful or valuable thing, person, or quality

Cicada any large homopterous insect of the family Cicadidae, the male of which
produces a shrill sound by means of vibrating membranes on the underside of the
abdomen.
Combat Operations - process is undertaken by armed forces during military
campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements to facilitate the setting of
objectives, direction of combat, and assessment of the operation plan's success
Drone an unmanned aircraft or ship that can be guided remotely or
autonomously.
Fiscal - of or relating to government revenue, especially taxes
GPS Global Positioning System

M.A.S.T. Micro Autonomous Systems Technology

Mini-Drone Simply a drone of a smaller scale

Personnel People employed in an organization or engaged in an organized

undertaking such as military service.

Prototype the original or model type for which something is based or formed.

Quadcopter an unmanned helicopter consisting of 4 rotors.

Reconnaissance - military observation of a region to locate an enemy or ascertain

strategic features
UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Works Cited
De Luce, Daniel. Cicadas: US Militarys New Swarm of Mini-drones,
http://phys.org/news/2015-05-cicadas-military-swarm-mini-drones.html, Web. May
2015.
Drones in the Defense Budget, http://dronecenter.bard.edu/drones-in-the-defensebudget/, Web, Feb 2015.
Ferris, Robert. CICADA: Navy drone flies like a tiny 'paper airplane.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/19/cicada-navy-drone-flies-like-a-tiny-paperairplane.html?doc=102691056, May 19, 2015. Web. 2015.
Mait, Joseph N. The Army Research Labarotorys Program on Micro-Autonomous Systems
and Technology. U.S. Army Research Laboratory 2009. Web. 2015.
RQ-4 Global Hawk,
http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104516/rq-4-globalhawk.aspx, Oct 27, 2014, Web. 2015.
Shadow 200 RQ-7 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, United States of America,
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/shadow200uav/, Web, Dec 2015.

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