Unmanned Vehicles - Aug-Sept 2010

SHEPHARD
Volume 15 Number 4 August/September 2010
UNMANNED
VEHICLES
www.UVonline.com
Fuelling success
The USAF UAS strategy
Power revolution
UAV engine developments
Keeping on track
The autonomous navigation project
D E D I C A T E D
T O
T H E
U N M A N N E D
S Y S T E M S
I N D U S T R Y
Reduce the danger they face. Increase the danger they pose.
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1 CONTENTS
Editor Darren Lake. dl@shephard.co.uk +44 1753 727022 Deputy Editor Andrew White. aw@shephard.co.uk +44 1753 727023 Asia-Pacific Editor Peter La Franchi. plf@shephard.co.uk Middle East Editor William F Owen. wo@shephard.co.uk North America Editor Scott R Gourley. srg@shephard.co.uk Contributors Tom Withington, France Ian Kemp, UK Production Department Manager David Hurst. dth@shephard.co.uk Sub-Editors Michelle Stalker. mas@shephard.co.uk Nigel Whitnall. nw@shephard.co.uk Head of Advertising Sales Mike Wild. mw@shephard.co.uk +44 1753 727007 CEO Alexander Giles Chairman Nick Prest Subscriptions
Annual rate 65 Tel: +44 1858 438879, Fax: +44 1858 461739 shephardgroup@subscription.co.uk www.subscription.co.uk/shephard Unmanned Vehicles (USPS 014-131) is published six times per year in February/March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November and December/January by The Shephard Press Ltd, 268 Bath Road, Slough, Berks, SL1 4DX. The 2010 US Institutional subscription price is 65. Air freight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business, c/o Priority Airfreight NY Ltd, 147-29 182nd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413. Periodical postage paid at Jamaica, NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Air Business Ltd/Priority Airfreight NY Ltd, 147-29 182nd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413. Subscription records are maintained at CDS Global, Tower House, Lathkill Street, Sovereign Park, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9EF, UK. Air Business Ltd is acting as mailing agent. Articles contained in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers.
3 Editorial Comment
As the fallout from the much-publicised WikiLeaks on Afghanistan continues, Darren Lake considers the operational implications for the unmanned sector.
News analysis
4 Australia announces Shadow buy

A review of some of the latest developments from around the unmanned systems industry.
6 Making waves
In the wake of UDT Europe, Deputy Editor Andrew White reports on how new unmanned underwater technology could provide additional MCM capabilities for navies.
8 Seeing the bigger picture

USAF Brig Gen Robert Otto speaks to North America Editor Scott R Gourley regarding current and future demands on the services UAS capabilities.
33 Mapping the future

Scott R Gourley reports on the US Armys programme for autonomous UGV navigation as it completes a critical design review.
14 Solving the biggest problem in theatre

Andrew White looks at the potential for cargo UAVs in light of US Marine Corps operational requirements in Afghanistan.
40 Local solutions
With Africa largely unexplored territory for UAS developers, Angus Batey considers how industry is attempting to break into this market.
20 Hybrid progress
Peter Donaldson looks at light, powerful heavy-fuel engines, high-power batteries and permanent magnet motor/generators for hybrid UAVs.
44 Interview
Andrew White talks to Elbit Systems CEO Joseph Ackerman about the growing potential for unmanned systems in all environments.
Front cover: A USAF RQ-4 Global Hawk crew chief attaches an air hose to the aircraft prior to starting up for a mission launch. (Photo: USAF)
27 Sea change on the horizon

Much emphasis has been placed on the offshore patrol capabilities of USVs, but Andrew White examines how various countries are looking to utilise such systems for counter-terrorism work.
The Shephard Press Ltd, 2010. ISSN 1351-3478 DTP Vivid Associates, Sutton, Surrey, UK Print Williams Press, Maidenhead, Berks, UK Member of
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Volume 15 Number 4 | August/September 2010 | UNMANNED Vehicles
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3 EDITORIAL COMMENT
Searching for the truth

The wealth of documentation posted on the internet by WikiLeaks in July has thrown a spotlight on every corner of coalition activity in Afghanistan in recent years. Digging through the 92,000 documents is taking time, but there have already been revelations about everything from special forces operations to Pakistani involvement with the Taliban. Unmanned vehicles have not escaped this scrutiny, and a picture of everyday activity in theatre is beginning to emerge that provides real detail on how important UAS are in ongoing operations, as well as some of the pitfalls of operating such systems. The resources needed to sift through so many documents mean that a small organisation like Shephard is reliant on what the mainstream media can dig up. However, the picture that is emerging is coloured very much by what such newsgathering organisations deem to be news. The problems that can occur are clearly what the majority of these outlets have focussed on. It is undeniable that operating UAVs in such a complex environment can lead to problems and, as with any new technology, computer glitches and mechanical failures do occur. What is clear is that Raven and Predator UAVs do crash, which is not something that any of the manufacturers or operators would be proud of reporting. However, when accidents happen the likelihood that there will be a risk to human life is small not something that can be said in the case of manned helicopter or fixed-wing crashes. How UAV accidents stack up compared to manned aircraft accidents in the documents is not something that has been analysed yet. Another area that has yet to get a full hearing is the value and importance of the intelligence provided by the multitude of unmanned systems in-theatre. The fact that troops will sometimes not proceed without UAV coverage shows just how vital theyve become in daily operations. One other highlighted area that does have major implications for UAV deployment is the recovery of systems. From some of the documents analysed, it is apparent that a lot of time and effort goes in to the recovery of even the smallest aircraft. There are reports of soldiers arriving at crash sites to find UAVs picked clean of all their most valuable components. A trade in UAV technology to countries barred from access to it seems to have emerged as one way for the Taliban and other elements in Afghanistan to gain funds. This behaviour shows the value of UAVs in the region in a number of different ways. Countries continue to be very keen to develop the levels of technology now available to coalition forces, while the US and its allies benefit greatly from the intelligence that UAVs gather. There are sure to be more revelations of mishaps as journalists continue to plough through the reams of information available. Hopefully, the other picture that will emerge is of the utility of UAVs which, although falling short of the game-changer tag, have definitely had a real impact on how military operations are conducted. Darren Lake. Editor
RESPONSE
Unmanned Vehicles editorial team is always happy to receive comments on its articles and to hear readers views on the issues raised in the magazine. Contact details can be found on p1.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Emerging UAV markets Information dissemination
USVs Civil monitoring
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4 NEWS ANALYSIS
Australia announces Shadow buy

On 2 August, Australias Defence Minister, John Faulkner, announced that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would receive two AAI/Textron Shadow 200 TUAS to fulfil the long-running Joint Project 129 requirement (the deal was first revealed by uvonline.com on 21 July). In a short statement, the Department of Defence (DoD) said that the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) includes 18 Shadow 200 aircraft, ground control systems, vehicles and other support systems and training at a total cost of [A]$175 million [US$159 million]. This includes funding to enable the expedited delivery and operation of the new UAVs to the Middle East area of operations. To accelerate entry into service, the UAS will include the systems standard Humvee-mounted elements, despite the ADF not operating the ground vehicle. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on 6 May of a possible FMS to Australia of a number of Shadow 200s, and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of up to $218 million. Faulkner formally approved the acquisition in late July the deal is believed
Shadow has entered a new era of international sales. (Photo: AAI)
to have been given the nod alongside several other FMS offerings. The Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO) has opted for a nonstandard configuration for the UAS. Rather than four air vehicles, each system includes five (including a spare). Canberra also asked for a further eight spare aircraft and an additional portable GCS. However, even with these extra elements it is difficult to understand why the Australian Shadows are coming with such a hefty price tag. The four systems being ordered by Italy are priced at $64 million and a $31.4 million order from Saab in Sweden covers two systems.
A delivery schedule has yet to be announced. However, the Australian DoD originally disclosed that it expected it to take 34 months to get the UAVs in service from the initiation of the FMS process. It now seems likely that the UAS will be in theatre earlier than this the DoD says that Shadow will replace ScanEagle, and the current service contract for the latter with Boeing runs out on 30 June 2011. The Australian decision caps off an extremely successful six months for AAI, which has seen three international customers opt for its system. By Darren Lake, London
TAI details MALE UAV offering

Further details of the Anka MALE UAV being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish armed forces were revealed by the company at the Farnborough International Airshow. The UAV, which is costing over $100 million to develop and deliver, was officially rolled out in Turkey on 16 July. The company said that the aircraft is now undertaking ground tests, and a maiden flight is expected this October. The contract for Anka was signed in 2004, and a critical design review was performed in June 2009. TAI was keen to emphasise that Anka was not a prototype, but a fully fledged procurement programme. The UAV is an advanced composite design powered by a Thielert heavy-fuel engine. Ozcan Ertem, TAIs executive VP integrated aircraft, said that the aircraft had a 24-hour endurance at 9,000m and a range of 200km with its current data link. Anka has a wingspan of 17.3m and a length of 8m. The MTOW is 1,600kg and a payload of over 200kg can be carried. The system is transportable on a C-130 transport aircraft. The sensor fit for Anka is being provided by Aselsan. It includes the companys AselFlir-300T EO/IR sensor and a SAR/GMTI which is currently undergoing trials aboard a manned aircraft. Initial operational capability with the EO/IR sensor only is set for September 2011, with full operational capability on both sensors is due in December. To date, the Turkish Air Force has ordered three aircraft with an attendant GCS. However, TAI believes that further domestic orders will be forthcoming once the system is fielded. Ertem told Unmanned Vehicles that TAI is able to accommodate manufacture of up to ten air vehicles a year on its current production line. By Darren Lake, Farnborough
UNMANNED Vehicles | August/September 2010 | Volume 15 Number 4
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5 NEWS ANALYSIS
BAE Systems develops mule

BAE Systems is pitching an autonomous loadcarrying vehicle to the UK MoD through a selffunded programme called the Multi-Operated All-Terrain Vehicle (MOATV). Speaking to Unmanned Vehicles at the Farnborough International Airshow, company representatives said the proof of concept programme aimed to prove the maturity of the MOATV technology, which can be applied to any vehicle, as well as examine how such a platform might be used by dismounted troops. The MOATV is designed to reduce the burden on the dismounted soldier and can either be operated by remote control or instructed to act semi-autonomously in a number of different modes. It can also be driven like a regular vehicle. BAE has been working on the programme for some months, conducting trials with a Supacat 6x6 ATV in conjunction with the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Andy Wright, director of technology acquisition for BAE Systems Strategic Capability Solutions, said the trials covered the safety issues of using MOATV alongside dismounted troops, and how a platoon might use such a system. The safety issue is one of the key challenges in this area, he said. This is a concept vehicle to show how it could be used to support dismounted soldiers. It can be instructed to follow a platoon of soldiers, carrying the gear they need. It can be told to go from one position to another, perhaps in a fire-fight to bring supplies, and it could even be used for casualty evacuation. Wright said the system had been developed in conjunction with BAE Systems Australia. By Tony Skinner, Farnborough
On the web
Insitu Awarded STUAS/Tier II contract 30 July 2010 ROVision and Rotomotion LLC announce partnership deal 29 July 2010 Bluefin kicks off construction of new facility 28 July 2010 Boeing-iRobot team receives new SUGV task order from US Army 27 July 2010 Giving robotic flight more buzz 27 July 2010 Australian team among six to face final robot Grand Challenge 27 July 2010 Zala Aero unveils Zala 421-20 26 July 2010 QinetiQ prepares to land its Zephyr solar-powered unmanned aircraft 23 July 2010 Simlat delivers automatic UAS operator performance assessment systems to the Australian forces 23 July 2010 Cobham chosen for Global Hawk refuelling demo programme 23 July 2010 Visit
CENTCOM to receive Fire Scout by 2011

Northrop Grummans MQ-8B Fire Scout rotary UAV will make its operational debut under US Central Command (CENTCOM) in 2011, according to company officials. Speaking at Farnborough on 20 July, Northrop Grumman director for business development, tactical unmanned systems, Michael Fuqua, said the frigate USS Halyburton would be equipped with a single MQ-8 system before deploying to its area of operations (AOR). Comprising between one and three MQ-8B airframes, the system will conduct maritime operations only in the CENTCOM AOR, which includes Afghanistan and Iraq. Tasks are likely to include anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare. The system will carry EO/IR sensors, a laser pointer and rangefinder and an automatic identification system. Fire Scout begins its operational evaluation later this year, which will include ship alteration and testing. Once this is complete, Fuqua said the UAS would deploy with CENTCOM. It is envisaged that the MQ-8 will be fielded as part of the Littoral Combat Ship programme.
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The news follows the deployment of a Fire Scout on board the USS McInerney from October 2009 until March this year in the Pacific Ocean as part of a military utility assessment. The US Navys requirement requires Fire Scout to insert out to 185km, remaining on task for five hours before returning to deck. It must also be capable of carrying a 270kg payload. Beside the airframes, it is expected that Halyburton will be fitted with a landing grid, UCARS and TCDL antennas, control segment and hangar bay, according to Fuqua. The news follows a demonstration of Fire Scout in the UAE in July, designed to prove system suitability to operations in hot, sandy and dusty environments. The four-week programme proved ISR full route vehicle capability and EO/IR and data link compatibility in temperatures between 35 and 47C. Hot air modifications allowed 15-20% improvement of the system, Fuqua announced while describing how it had completed 14 flights, including one mission of over five hours in duration. By Andrew White, Farnborough
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for the full stories and latest news.
6 SHOW REPORT
he utilisation of unmanned maritime systems for mine countermeasures (MCM) was a main focus for European naval representatives at the Undersea Defence Technology conference in Hamburg on 8 June. The European Defence Agency (EDA) announced that it was to launch a major study into the future use of ROVs in this role. According to Christian Brant, EDA research and technology director, the effort is being led by Belgium, France and the Netherlands, which are all looking for follow-on capabilities to be available in the 2018 timeframe. The programme is expected to begin next year with a selection of systems made in 2010. The EDA also has an eye on less developed capabilities that will mature at a later date, with Sweden and Germany looking for next-generation technology that might become available in the 20222025 period. Brant described how the EDA envisaged a systems of systems approach that would see UUVs, USVs and standing nodes all working together in the MCM role. Industry days for all subject fields were held in late June. UK OPTIONS Meanwhile, the UK Royal Navy (RN) said it was moving tentatively into the world of UUVs to counter mine threats ahead of possible unmanned solutions for antisubmarine warfare. According to Rear Adm Mark Anderson, Commander Operations RN, the UK was planning to tackle the abundant threat [of sea mines] in the future while referring to state-of-the-art threats triggered by the sound of a passing ship. He described how the RNs Mine Countermeasures Reconnaissance Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, based on the Kongsberg/Hydroid REMUS 600, was being integrated into the navys standalone Unmanned Underwater Unit. This fully autonomous system, he said,
A BAE Systems representative briefs delegates on the Talisman system. (Photo: Clarion)
Making waves
Deputy Editor Andrew White reports from the UDT Europe 2010 event in Germany.
can scan the sea bed for up to 20 hours at a time while feeding data back to operators in a safer, remote location. It shows MCM commanders the best paths to clear, rather than sweeping an entire channel, and the SeaFox single-shot disposable mine destruction vehicle makes that process much quicker a real stepchange for mine-hunting capability, Anderson explained. The system can pave the way for yet more unmanned underwater missions in the future, taking the lessons learned in the minefields and adapting this to the ASW problem any work that is either dull, dirty or dangerous. Referring to a possible future of unmanned combat missions, Anderson told delegates that the key to this problem would be a combination of aerial, underwater and surface vessels, operating without risk in dangerous areas. TALISMAN DEVELOPMENT Finally, BAE Systems launched the latest version of its Talisman family of UUVs. The Talisman Littoral or L is man-portable, weighing a total of 500kg compared to the 1,200kg Talisman M. The company said it hoped to have a prototype in the water for tests in July. The new UUV is a company-funded project, but BAE has an eye on future UK and US requirements for littoral systems. Programme manager Andy Tonge told Unmanned Vehicles: The way the threat is evolving is towards shallow water. Weve operated Talisman M in depths of two metres. Talisman L will be capable of operating in depths of around one metre. UV
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MCMsystemscanpavethewayfor more unmanned missions, taking lessons learned and adapting them to the ASW problem.
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8 US FOCUS
Seeing the bigger picture

In the first of two briefings on US military UAS capabilities, North America Editor Scott R Gourley talks to the USAFs Brig Gen Robert Otto about current forces and future requirements.
arly in FY 2010, the USAF proposed a nomenclature shift, from UAS to remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), as part of what service leadership termed normalising this capability within the air force manpower structure and culture. While it has yet to receive full concurrence on its preferred nomenclature, the air force continues to expand the tactical applications of its own wide range of RPA/UAS platforms.
FULL RANGE At the small end of the platform spectrum, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) battlefield airmen and air force security forces operate the AeroVironment Wasp III micro-UAS and RQ-11B Raven man-portable UAS, respectively, to provide real-time direct situational awareness and target information. Moving up the size spectrum, the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle small multimission UAS provides real-time direct situational awareness and force protection information for air force security forces expeditionary teams. Both the MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper are MALE UAS, built for the USAF by General Atomics Aeronautical, with the primary missions of close air support, air interdiction and ISR. At the large end of the spectrum, the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a
HALE UAS with an integrated sensor suite that provides ISR capability worldwide. Global Hawks mission is to provide a broad spectrum of data collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. Global Hawk complements manned and space-based reconnaissance systems by providing near-real-time coverage using imagery intelligence (IMINT) sensors. Finally, another USAF RPA that has recently begun moving into the unclassified realm is the RQ-170 Sentinel. Leveraging Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (ADP) and government efforts to rapidly develop and produce a lowobservable UAS, Sentinel is being developed, tested and fielded by the air force to provide reconnaissance and surveillance in direct support of combatant commander needs. The system is currently being flown by Air Combat Commands 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nevada and the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. Given the platforms and the unique contributions that they bring to combatant commanders, it should come as no surprise that RPAs are having an increasing impact across USAF operations. Quantified evidence of that fact can be found in the services 2010 Posture Statement, which notes: Over the last two
Otto: more UAS ISR coverage requires more analysts on the ground. (Photo: USAF)
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9 US FOCUS
An MQ-1B Predator takes off for a training mission at Creech AFB, Nevada. (Photo: USAF)
years, the air force increased the number of [RPA] fielded by 330%... Elaborating on the significance of that statement, Brig Gen Robert Otto, director of ISR capabilities, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters USAF, told Unmanned Vehicles: The air force has really dedicated itself to increasing the number of full motion video [FMV] combat air patrols [CAPs] that we are offering to the fights in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you look, for example, in 2007, we had 18 [CAPS]. And right now we are at 42 [FMV CAPS] 43 if you count the one Global Hawk. So, in terms of what that means in hours of FMV, back in 2007 it was about 4,000 hours a month and now we are at 24,000 hours a month. So its just a huge increase in capability. We define a CAP as approximately 24 hours a day of coverage, he explained. Its actually a little bit less for a Predator 22 hours because of the coming and going. But thats just a tremendous growth in capability and what we are offering to the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. And of course this is full motion imagery streaming video and that means that we have also had to increase the number of analysts who are looking at this full time, he added. Asked if the increasing requirements for analysis translated to an expansion of that military specialty, Otto replied absolutely.
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Cautioning that the air force is not growing in end strength, he explained: What we have done is dedicate a couple of thousand more analysts to that problem. So we are growing that capability over the next couple of years. You know it takes some time to train them and get them fully qualified to recruit and train and get them their specialisation training but we are dedicated to doing that. And our goal is to have enough analysts to cover this tremendous growth in capability.
The air force has really dedicated itself to increasing the number of FMV CAPs that we are offering to the fights in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Right now we are at 43 [FMV] CAPs 30 MQ-1 and 13 MQ-9, he said. And we are going to shoot for 65 CAPs as our end state. We are still working the analyst part of that. We have funded enough analysts to get to 50 CAPs. We will ensure that we can analyse all the footage we need to, but it will be a problem. This movement of analysts was summarised in the Posture Statement, which outlined: Because analysis transforms
data into actionable intelligence, we are shifting approximately 3,600 of the 4,100 manpower billets recaptured from the early retirement of legacy fighters to support RPA operations, and the processing, exploitation and dissemination of intelligence collected by manned and remotely piloted aircraft. We also doubled the number of ISR liaison officers assigned to deployed ground forces to ensure the seamless integration of ISR collection and exploitation assets. In addition to the personnel actions, Otto highlighted the current status of several other ongoing USAF RPA activities. There are capabilities that we are working on in conjunction with [RPAs], he said. One of those is Wide Area Airborne Surveillance [WAAS]. This is a capability that we are initially calling Gorgon Stare. Equating todays FMV feeds to covering a single slice of pepperoni in a set target area, Otto said that Gorgon Stare will provide multiple simultaneous video streams for multiple slices of pepperoni scattered across the top of an entire pizza. We will be able to display [those streams] in the operations centre and offer that to joint and coalition forces on the ground, he said. Right now, as we talk about 43 CAPs, each of those has one FMV camera on it. Thats like one aeroplane getting you one pepperoni [slice]. Now we will have one aeroplane able to get you ten pepperonis, so that will be a tremendous growth for us.
10 US FOCUS
We are also working on for Global Hawk a Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN. And thats essentially a communications relay. So you combine the ability for communications relay with an aeroplane that flies up at 60,000ft plus, an aeroplane that can stay airborne for an entire day, and it really leverages our ability and the joint forces ability to communicate across the battlespace. And that will be a tremendous capability that we are going to be fielding this fall, he said. ROVER RECEPTION We are also working on our Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, ROVER. That gives us the capability to send video signals from the FMV down to whoever has one of these ROVER receivers. Typically we have been sending it to the air force joint terminal attack controllers that are co-located with army commanders. And it gives them the picture of what were seeing in that first tactical mile. Thats an impressive capability as well. He continued: With the Global Hawk we are developing and fielding the Multi Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), which is kind of a GMTI [ground moving target indicator] capability. Otto was asked about the significance of a recently signed memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the USAF and USN to maximise commonality between the closely related Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAS and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Signed by USAF Chief of Staff Gen Norton Schwartz and Chief of Naval Operations Adm Gary Roughead on 12 June, the MOA directs specific actions to achieve an integrated training, maintenance and operational approach based on platform similarities. The MOA also directs the establishment of a Synergies Working Group to identify synergies in basing, maintenance, aircraft
MQ-1B crewmen locate targets during a training mission conducted in the simulators at Creech AFB. (Photo: USAF)
command and control, training, logistics and data requirements commonalities. I believe there are some real long-term benefits here, Otto observed. Historically, look at the F-4 fighter. It was similar airframes that the navy operated off carriers and we operated off land. But there wasnt a whole lot of effort that went into being able to interoperate. In this case, we are actually looking at things like: Can we train the operators together? Can we base the operators together so that we learn each others language, tactics, techniques and procedures? To cross-pollinate, if you will.
We are also working on our ROVER. That gives us the capability to send video signals from the FMV down to whoever has one of these receivers.
So we are looking at not just the synergies that come from working out of Beale AFB together, but to really be able to understand each others problems and to be able to work on those problems together. Then there are clear synergies. For example, if we do phased maintenance together preventative maintenance on aeroplanes
it may help us develop a common set of technical orders and we believe that the ability to achieve cost-saving opportunities over the life of the programme will be significant. He offered: If we can agree on common maintenance practices, maybe the air force would have an aeroplane that needs to stop at a navy facility today we would have to send our own maintainers, our own crew and our own equipment to fix that aeroplane. Well, wouldnt it be neat if we could be co-certified so that the navy could do that work for us and perhaps we could do certain things for the navy out at Guam. We have already committed to basing our aeroplanes there and if the navy ended up being forward-located with the BAMS somewhere else, then perhaps we could use that to leverage location and expertise. We believe that these are overdue concepts but we need to take baby steps. We need to take one step at a time and, by working together at a common location like Beale in California, we are going to be able to discover all of the ways that we can benefit from working together, he said. In terms of other RPA directions and activities over the next few years, Otto emphasised that the commitment and growth in FMV CAPs from the current 43 to the goal of 65 would require new ways of pilot training.
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12 US FOCUS
Global Hawk intelligence feed assisted in relief operations in Haiti. The images above show (l-r): earthquake victims gathering on a football pitch; the national cathedral in Port-au-Prince; and the Haitian presidential palace. (Photos: US Southern Command)
We had what I would call a very successful beta test programme where we evaluated the feasibility of training non-undergraduate pilot training graduates to fly RPAs. And now weve just announced the creation of the 18X career field. These are people who have had a modest number of hours approximately 40 of manned flying while the bulk of their time is either in simulators or learning how to be RPA experts. In early June this year, Air Staff officials announced that the USAF would institutionalise the RPA pilot career field by establishing undergraduate RPA training (URT). According to Lt Gen Philip Breedlove, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements, the first URT class will begin this October. After successful completion of the course, RPA pilots will become part of the 18X career field, officially established in October 2009 in an effort to create a professional cadre of RPA pilots to meet joint warfighter requirements. UNMANNED BACKBONE This will be a significant step forward in the coming years, Otto continued. Right now, if you look at the backbone in terms of the number of airframes for the air force, the F-16 has kind of been the benchmark. We have more F-16 pilots than just about any other kind. But as we look to the future, in FY11 our MQ-1/MQ-9 training will be about 400% greater than the F-16. So this is the wave of the future, and we are impressed with the opportunities and flexibilities that RPAs offer us.
Asked if he would speculate about the future of air force RPAs following the eventual spin-down of ground combat in current theatres, Otto adamantly responded: We are committed to winning todays fight in a joint and coalition fashion. Right now those requirements have us focused very heavily on ISR. One of the great innovations to meet that requirement are our RPAs. I dont really know what tomorrow holds. If we draw down on ground forces, does that mean a decrease or an increase in the requirement for ISR?
provide battlefield forces with the unblinking eye and with rapid and precise strike capability, not only when its needed but also where its needed. So Im very enthusiastic about RPAs in the future. I think the future is bright for not only RPAs but also the men and women who fly them. And we are just scratching the surface of what these systems can enable us to accomplish. CAPABILITY BUCKET Summarising the USAFs message about RPAs, present and future, Otto observed: Our chief likes to say that were all-in as an air force. I dont know where that is more true than in the ISR arena, because we currently have about 90% of our ISR assets deployed forward. Thats just a tremendous commitment and it is a reflection, in part, of the philosophy of remote split operations. With traditional deployments, if you want to have one bucket of capability forward, you typically need three buckets: one forward; one bucket in training; and one bucket in reset. But with remote split operations we have got the entire bucket forward. For the most part we dont have any buckets in reserve 90% of that capability is forward. So if you look at CAPs right now we have 43 with [FMV] that are dedicated to the fight. Do you know how many CAPs we have dedicated to training? Almost none. Theres a downside to that, of course, in terms of tactics, techniques and procedures. But it is an indication that were all-in. UV
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We had a very successful beta test programme where we evaluated the feasibility of training non-undergraduate pilot training graduates to fly RPAs.
What I can tell you is that we have a very logical and methodical process by which the joint force commander articulates requirements in the theatre of operations and then we work hard to meet those requirements. So we will await direction from the joint force commander. He was equally adamant in a related message to warfighters. We are fully committed to support the joint force commander in the effort to win the current wars, he said. And I believe that our RPAs represent an unmatched capability to
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14 ROTARY RESUPPLY
Solving the biggest problem in theatre

Resupplying troops on the front line is an ongoing task for military leaders. Newly dubbed cargo UAVs could be the way forward, Deputy Editor Andrew White reports.
Boeings Hummingbird during load-carrying trials earlier this year. (Photo: Boeing)
EDs, RPGs and small-arms fire remain the most prominent dangers facing warfighters in Afghanistan and Iraq, so countering them deservedly earns the lions share of R&D expenditure. However, armed forces and industry alike are addressing what has been described by some as the most important urgent operational requirement of all resupplying forward-deployed troops. Low-level parachutes and the US Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS), not to
mention more conventional rotary and fixed-wing airframes, have been routinely used over recent years. Now, industry and militaries are gearing up to take UAVs into a fresh operational sphere with the introduction of unmanned resupply aimed at getting trucks off the road. Coalition patrols operating in Afghanistan can often find themselves operating miles from forward operating bases for weeks at a time, and even the
fittest of soldiers can struggle to carry food, water, ammunition and batteries to fulfil a mission of such duration. With UGV resupply options, such as Lockheed Martins Squad Mission Support System (SMSS), yet to be fielded in any great numbers, attention has turned to dedicated UAV resupply assets. RAPID DEPLOYMENT According to Gene Fraser, sector VP and general manager for the advanced programmes and technology division of Northrop Grummans Aerospace Systems sector, resupply is the biggest problem in theatre at the current time. Describing how ISAF convoys are often forced to re-use the limited number of routes available in Afghanistan for resupply missions, Fraser told Unmanned Vehicles that the use of UAVs for such a purpose would aid the reduction of predictable NATO patrols and perhaps help reduce the number of successful IED attacks and ambushes. To this end, the head of NATOs Naval Armaments Unit, Giovanni Romani, said the organisation was looking to deploy so-called cargo UAVs to Afghanistan by the end of the year. The USMC has taken a lead in such efforts, and in February completed tests with the K-Max helicopter from Lockheed
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Originally designed for ISR missions, the A160 is being assessed as a frontline cargo hauler. (Photo: Boeing)
16 ROTARY RESUPPLY
Martin and Kaman, and Boeings A160T Hummingbird. It met the USMCs initial requirements of delivering 1.1t in six hours, single and multiple-cargo drop capabilities, hovering out of ground effect at 3,600m, and cruise flight at 4,500m. The next phase of tests incorporated a capability to drop supplies by parachute at low altitudes. According to Lockheed Martin and Kaman, May saw the successful completion of 11 airdrop tests from altitudes of between 90 and 120m. Similarly, a capability to drop four parachutes in separate locations during a single mission was also achieved. Already in service on resupply operations from manned airframes in Afghanistan, the low-altitude parachute incorporates an aerodynamic decelerator and can carry loads from 36 to 270kg, normally dropped at altitudes between 45 and 90m. According to Terry Fogarty, general manager, UAS product group, Kaman, this enhances an unmanned aircrafts survivability while delivering critical supplies in combat environments. Similarly, Richard Benney, aerospace engineer division lead at US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (ARDEC), said expectations were exceeded, and explained how the service would be in a position to deliver supplies to our troops using unmanned helicopters, while also avoiding the threat to the delivery platform in high-threat areas. FURTHER EVALUATION Future tests are being finalised to evaluate steps to allow the UAVs to dispatch JPADS parachutes at much higher altitudes, according to Lockheed Martin. Sources said tests would be conducted at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, later in the year. But, according to Benney, VTOL cargo UAVs should consider airdrop options for a variety of reasons. First, why land if you dont need to pick anything up? And second, VTOL [UAVs] will be vulnerable during air-to-land operations in or near forward operating bases, he explained to UV.
K-Max during marine corps trials. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
With a carousel option for multiple bundles [as seen on K-Max during trials], airdrop would be much faster to resupply dispersed troops, and JPADS or dumb parachutes could be used, allowing for high- or low-altitude airdrops. We have dropped from other VTOLs and are dropping cargo off fixed-wing UAVs with JPADS also, he concluded. It is understood that ARDEC has completed test drops of parachutes from the Micro UAV TigerShark and the Boeing Maverick VTOL UAV (a US Special Operations Command system), as well as the K-Max. I do believe airdrop from UAVs small payloads in the near term and larger weights as UAV weight-carrying capacities increase will continue to grow in interest and eventually be fielded, Benney told UV. Having demonstrated its cargo lift capability in January to the USMC, K-Max could be deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 for initial operational testing. According to Dan Spoor, VP and general manager at Lockheed Martin Aviation Systems, a request for proposals is expected to be released by the USN (on behalf of the USMC) later in 2010, with a contract due to be drawn up before the end of the year. They are finalising funding and are in discussions now with regards to timelines
for deployment. We are expecting a couple of aircraft to be supplied by one or two companies each, Spoor told UV. It is understood that the USMC is currently drafting a site survey of prospective forward operating bases which it believes would benefit from the employment of cargo UAVs. There are no issues at altitude as K-Max does not include a tail rotor, and there is nothing in Afghanistan, as far as mission capability goes, to make me lose sleep, explained Fogarty, describing how cargo UAVs could provide a cheaper alternative to larger, manned aircraft. The USMC has expressed a desire to operate cargo UAV resupply missions at night, using IR. Countermeasure systems have yet to be requested, but these would be easy to integrate and would depend on the USMCs concept of operations, Fogarty concluded. HEAVY LIFT Designed to carry 2.7t underslung payloads the same weight as the airframe itself K-Max boasts a top speed of 185km/h without an external load and 80km/h when loaded. It has a three-hour endurance and can fly autonomously or by remote control at altitudes up to 5,300m. In demonstration tests, K-Max delivered four 340kg loads to separate locations in a single sortie, while also proving line-of-sight and satcom data links. As part of a wider strategy to get trucks off the road and minimise costs associated with resupply by manned air assets, K-Max would be contractor-operated with USMC integration, Spoor explained. Lockheed Martin is also developing a dedicated family of GCSs to operate K-Max, ranging from man-portable systems to larger, fixed variants for main operating bases. We will do more when we learn more about the concept of operations, as decided by the USMC. We want this [cargo UAV] to become a programme of record, said Fogarty. Boeings A160T Hummingbird also delivered the required 1.13t in less than five hours, according to the company,
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18 ROTARY RESUPPLY
including successful employment of its high-altitude hover with load capability. However, the UAV did not undertake any low-altitude cargo parachute drops, and Boeing said that Hummingbird was not slated to undergo JPADS trials. A spokesman for Boeing told UV: Pending specific requirements, we anticipate going through an exercise prior to actual deployment to test out the operations close to what would be experienced in theatre. Boeing Insitu has a lot of experience operating the ScanEagle UAV in theatre, and that knowledge and experience is being leveraged heavily. Boeings A160T programme manager, Ernie Wattam, agreed that there is an urgent need to get supply convoys off the dangerous roads in Afghanistan: IEDs are a huge threat to the convoys and we hear about the related casualties constantly. Rotary-wing UAVs will help get the trucks off the road by delivering supplies to the forward operating bases quickly without casualties. There is an aircraft availability issue where transporting troops and other manned missions are taking priority. And, from a rotary-wing perspective, there are problems with overcrowded flight ramps, and the footprint requirements for fixed-wings are compounding this issue, explained Wattam. Boeing added that its H-6U Unmanned Little Bird would be capable of cargo resupply, although mission-specific payloads have yet to be revealed. However, Boeing said the platform had an endurance of between six and ten hours. FIRE SCOUT OPTION Not included in USMC tests, despite an undisclosed number already being operational with the USN, is Northrop Grummans Fire Scout. Fraser told UV that two aircraft were demonstrated in the UAE in July. Further demonstrations are slated for 2011 with the US Coast Guard. Initially designed for maritime operations, Fire Scouts EO/IR and laser rangefinder
Schiebels S-100 Tactical Unmanned Rotorcraft, currently in service with Egyptian forces, has a six-hour endurance and is capable of carrying 34kg payloads. However, the company told UV that it was looking to extend its underslung payload capacity to 50kg and even 80kg with an endurance of two hours.
Northrop Grummans LEMV resembles the Zeppelins of the past and could open up a new long-range resupply avenue. (Image: Northrop Grumman)
payloads could be easily adapted for the land environment. It has a capability of carrying around 100kg as an underslung load. But with requirements for load carriage increasing, Northrop Grumman has developed an unmanned version of Bells 407 helicopter, capable of carrying internal loads of 1,360kg and external loads of up to 1,200kg. Dubbed the Fire-X medium-range vertical UAS, the four-blade, single-engined helicopter has the VTOL capabilities of Fire Scout and is expected to be demonstrated to the USN by the end of the year as part of the Persistent Ship-Based UAS programme. The navy is understood to be looking for an initial operating capability in 2016 with a requirement for an eight-hour endurance with a payload of up to 450kg. Northrop Grumman revealed that it expected Fire-X to conduct its first flight in October. Designed to deliver more cargo to more remote locations, Fire-X is expected to have an endurance of over 14 hours and will be operated from the navys Tactical Control Station and the armys One System GCS, manufactured by AAI. As Fraser told UV: Sling loads are good for rapid pick-ups but will reduce speed and endurance and use up more gas. They will also be more affected by the weather. Another company with a proven VTOL UAV, which it is seeking to further develop as a load-carrying resupply system, is Schiebel. According to company MD Neil Hunter, it is important to support the resupply world.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS Unmanned aerial resupply is not only restricted to rotary systems. Take Northrop Grummans Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) programme, which was awarded a $154 million development contract in June to provide US Army troops deployed in Afghanistan with a hybrid airship weapon system. Not only could it provide a persistent surveillance capability for over three weeks at a time, but Northrop Grumman has also expressed an interest in fitting it out with a capability for intercontinental and transatlantic resupply missions. Northrop Grumman and UK firm Hybrid Air Vehicles will design, develop and test a long-duration airship within an 18-month period, the company announced. It will then be transported to the Middle East for military assessment. It is designed to operate at altitudes of around 6,000m, and Northrop Grumman said it had not yet specified payload capabilities for LEMV, but that it would be a tailorable solution. However, unmanned resupply is not the sole preserve of helicopters and airships AAI has designed a system dubbed QuickMed, which allows its Shadow 200 TUAV to drop loads of up to 3.6kg, such as medical resupply equipment including blood bags. Similarly, the US Naval Postgraduate Schools Snowflake system has been dropped from the Arcturus UAV. However, only after initial operational evaluation has been completed will it be known whether there is a future for UAV cargo resupply in todays contemporary operating environment. UV
www.UVonline.com
20 UAV ENGINES
Hybrid progress
Light, powerful heavy-fuel engines, high power density batteries and permanent magnet motor/generators could soon come together in hybrid UAVs, reports Peter Donaldson.
ybrid power plants that combine engines, batteries and electric propulsion motors are common in maritime and railway applications, but their weight has long deprived aircraft of their flexibility and efficiency. This is beginning to change as operational requirements for UAVs push in the same direction as the aerospace industrys efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and the desire of armies and navies to standardise on heavy fuels for safety and logistic reasons. These forces are driving the development of small heavy-fuel engines and light, efficient batteries, generators and electric motors. All these technologies come together in the conceptual diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system for helicopters under development by EADS Innovation Works. EADSs choice of a helicopter for this shows great confidence, as rotorcraft need very high power-to-weight ratios and present complex power management tasks. UAV systems could gain much from hybrid power plants, particularly lower fuel
consumption, which translates into greater range, endurance and payload. Hybrid technologies help by allowing the prime mover to operate at its most fuel-efficient point for more of the mission, while the combination of batteries and electric motors handle varying power demands. There are other operational benefits too. Small electrically powered UAVs dont boast much range or endurance, but adding a small engine would extend both, while retaining the option of shutting it down for stealthcritical portions of the mission. Such flexibility would offer soldiers the scope to create smart mission profiles. A VW ENGINEERS DREAM The prime mover in EADS hybrid concept is an opposed-piston opposed-cylinder (OPOC) two-stroke turbodiesel from US company EcoMotors International and designed by Prof Peter Hofbauer, a former senior engineer at Volkswagen. The OPOC engine is said to be 30% more fuel efficient than turboshafts, while providing a power-to-weight ratio of up to 2kW/kg and boasting much cleaner emissions than conventional two-stroke engines. It will also run on biofuel derived from algae. In an opposed piston engine, each cylinder contains two pistons that form the combustion chamber between them, eliminating the need for a cylinder head. Previously, such designs proved heavy because of the need for a crankshaft at each end of the cylinder. The OPOC engine has a single crankshaft connected to the inner piston conventionally but to the outer piston by an external connecting rod. Two-cylinder OPOC modules can be joined by clutches, enabling them to run together
for maximum power or with one or more shut down to save fuel. The exhaust ports open before the intakes they are at opposite ends of the cylinders and the turbochargers blow air through the cylinders to push out the exhaust gas and to fill them with clean air. The turbos are assisted by integral electric motors at low engine speeds to ensure that they can always pump enough air to scavenge the cylinders properly. The EADS helicopter mock-up has two OPOC engines, each with a generator to deliver electricity to a power and electronics unit, which manages the distribution of the current to the motors driving the main and tail rotors and the helicopters other electrical systems. The batteries will enable the helicopter to take off and climb, or approach and land, on electrical power alone, with the engines idling. Two engines and two batteries would provide high levels of redundancy. The main and tail rotor drive motors would be independently controllable, their speeds optimised for fuel efficiency, performance or stealth, depending on the mission phase. The tail rotor could be switched off at higher forward speeds to save fuel. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL Getting a sufficient power-to-weight ratio from a hybrid propulsion system to make it practical in a helicopter remains a challenge, but at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow, Peter Jnker, energy and propulsion team leader at EADS Innovation Works, outlined for Unmanned Vehicles his reasons to be optimistic. We use the advantage of these piston engines consuming less fuel [than turbines] to make a significant mass saving. We found that
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An RCV engine has been selected to power AESIRs AM-300 rotary UAV. (Photo: RCV/Ultra PAS)
21 UAV ENGINES
The OPOC two-stroke engine installed on EADSs hybrid helicopter mock-up could boost range, endurance and payload when applied to UAVs. (Photos: author)
there are piston engine concepts emerging, and we are extremely interested in these developments as they reduce the gap between piston engines, as they are known now, and turbines [in terms of] weight, he told UV. Battery technology is improving a lot and there is a significant push to develop rapidly. The third element is electrical machines we consider that this is a key technology. We put high hopes in all these
three elements and we feel that there is a technology stream developing. The most promising technology in electric motors and generators is centred on permanent magnet synchronous machines. What we have is a special design of such a device with high efficiency [that is] extraordinarily lightweight, Jnker said. However, he also pointed out that the way forward is less clear for battery technologies,
a theme picked up by Johannes Stuhlberger, head of the EADS Global Innovation Networks Munich-based propulsion, energy and control division. Here we run into a little trouble, because the evolution of technology sometimes does not lead to the steps that we need, he said. Development of lithium-ion and lithiumpolymer technologies, for example, is expected to flatten out in the next few years, but the next combinations of chemistry are already in the pipeline and there are research programmes that make us pretty confident that these kinds of chemistries will be available in the kind of time frame that we are developing our entire product one example is lithium-sulphur, but there are others.
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22 UAV ENGINES
manned light helicopter and is being developed in two versions: the EM65 (from its 65mm bore diameter) and the more powerful EM100. The larger engine produces 325hp at 3,500rpm and weighs 135kg.
The AM-300 Embla UAS is easy to store and soldier-portable. (Photo: AESIR)
We could make a configuration out of existing technologies, Stuhlberger surmised, but they do not fulfil the power-to-mass ratios of our expectations. Each of these components has some roadmap within the time frame of the next five to ten years and we will follow and monitor the most promising suppliers who are developing technologies. The EcoMotors OPOC engine showcased in the EADS hybrid concept is sized for a
ROTARY SUCCESS Progress on smaller heavy-fuel power plants was also in evidence at Farnborough, where UV caught up with Craig Fletcher, founder and CEO of UK rotary engine developer Cubewano. When this magazine last wrote about the company, its efforts were focused on the Sonic 35 technology demonstrator engine, an 8.5hp air-cooled, single-rotor Wankel unit that runs on JP8 (Jet A1), successful high-altitude testing of which in the US has now led to a multi-million dollar development contract, according to Fletcher.
This bespoke engine is rated with horsepower in the mid-teens and is under development for a new UAV that is being designed around it for a large and so far undisclosed programme, he told UV. As the application is weight-critical, the company is looking at some radical applications of advanced materials, such as carbon-carbon for the rotor housing, as well as the latest high-strength steels and aluminium alloys. Other developments include a new electronic control unit (ECU) and additional members of the engine family. The Banshee 34, for example, is a 4.8hp multi-fuel (gasoline/JP8) engine weighing 2.7kg fully equipped and aimed at small UAV and portable generator applications. Another application envisaged for the Banshee connected with electric UAVs is charging
23 UAV ENGINES
batteries in the field in its portable generator guise, in which it could produce 1kW and weigh around 6.8kg. This compares with the current standard US Army portable 1kW heavy-fuel generator that weighs 43kg, says Fletcher. RCV PROGRESS While the OPOC engine is a two-stroke diesel and the Cubewano engines are rotaries, RCV Engines, together with Ultra Electronics Precision Air Systems (Ultra PAS) are focused on the development of a small four-stroke, spark-ignited, heavy-fuel engine project that has also progressed considerably in the last 12 months or so. The horizontally opposed two-cylinder engine, with innovative valves that rotate around the top portion of the cylinder to cover and uncover intake and
Cubewanos Banshee 34 could power a small airframe or be used as a frontline generator to recharge UAV batteries. (Photo: Cubewano)
exhaust ports at the appropriate times in the four-stroke cycle, is maturing rapidly. The engine has been selected to power the AM-300 Embla, a 6.5kg VTOL UAV under development by AESIR, a company based in Peterborough, UK. Embla is designed for easy stowage in a vehicle and to be soldierportable over short distances. The RCV engine has been integrated with the airframe, the flight control system talking to the ECU via CANBUS, and test flown in the USA.
Keith Scivier, sales and marketing manager for Ultra PAS, told UV that the thermal characterisation work, the beginning of which we reported in the August/September 2009 issue, cut the engines operating temperature by almost 70C: It was about 190C, but it is now down to around 130C. That has a great effect on the durability of the engine. The second task that Ultra undertook was to address the customers concerns over the belt-driven valve gear. Belt drives are a really lightweight method of [driving] the valves, but they were perceived by an army/ military user as a very weak point. So we have put on a mass-neutral gear drive and shaft. That has been perceived by customers as an excellent move. It is resilient to sand, resilient to dust. Its not going to break and its all sealed.
24 UAV ENGINES
After this work, the company looked at the fuel system. Because it was a carburettor-fed engine, we looked at installing fuel injection and also an ECU to control it more effectively and have a really good feedback loop, and then we focused on a really lightweight fuel management system. The next step sought to improve the exhaust system to make it quieter, lighter and more rigid. The next iteration of the exhaust is going to be even lighter. We are looking at a ceramic fibre [baffling material], which we think will be extremely lightweight, but we might move to an even lighter [structural] material than aluminium. We did think about carbon fibre, but the 600C outlet temperature is just too high, we think.
Because it was a carburettor-fed engine, we looked at installing fuel injection and also an ECU to control it more effectively.
Carbon fibre could be used in structural components such as the crankcases, and the company even has a design for a carbon-fibre crankshaft, but Scivier believes that could be a step too far: I see that as high-risk, high-cost, but there is a real benefit there in terms of mass. Testing at low temperatures has begun and the company has plans to take it much further. In terms of cold start we have tested it down to around -15C. We have a test plan going on over the next year that will take it down to
around -40C. The plan is to run it on a fixedwing aircraft in Canada. And we also have a test plan that takes on the durability. We have done tests that demonstrate a durability of around 100 hours and weve had no infantile failures and no carbon deposition problems. We are now going to extend that durability and we suspect that it will go in excess of 300 hours. In the early days of small heavy-fuel engine development at the beginning of the century, seed funding was plentiful and there were many projects, a high proportion of which have fallen by the wayside. The engines discussed above, plus Cosworths extremely frugal two-stroke diesel, seem to have the legs to go the distance and could even play key roles in a hybrid future. UV
www.UVonline.com
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Every day, military personnel worldwide count on Rockwell Collins to provide the technology UAVs require to effectively operate in manned and unmanned airspace. From advanced flight control, navigation, communication, and sensor systems to a worldwide support network, we provide the critical solutions the military needs to successfully complete its missions. To learn more, visit rockwellcollins.com/rely.
Unmanned UnderwaTer Vehicle ShowcaSe 2010

2122 SepTember 2010 naTional oceanography cenTre SoUThampTon
Technologies for the new era of Underwater Vehicles

UUVS is the UK's only dedicated Conference and free Exhibition for unmanned underwater vehicles, bringing together professionals from industries such as the military, oil & gas, marine and academia to focus on the cutting edge technologies and developments in this field. Themes for 2010: n The UUV markets and technology implementation n The work class ROV and its place within UUV n Integration issues
n The military and their take on UUV
technology
n The AUV and its place within UUV n Academia research with the UUV
book your place: Visit www.uuvs.com to secure your place and view the full conference programme and list of exhibiting companies.
Organised by: In association with:
www.UUVS.com
27 USV FOCUS
USVs are being touted for an increased presence on counter-terror and anti-piracy ops, as seen here off the East African coast. (Photo: US DoD)
After years of trailing behind their unmanned aerial, ground and underwater counterparts, surface vehicles are coming to the fore of development, led by a US Navy master plan, Deputy Editor Andrew White reports.
Sea change on the horizon

T
he Israeli Navys recent boarding of the Mavi Marmara aid ship bound for Gaza, which resulted in the loss of nine lives, has thrown the spotlight on the use of USVs for counter-terrorism (CT) operations on the high seas and in the littoral environment. With a recently published Israel Defense Forces (IDF) report on the incident conceding that mistakes in planning and intelligence prior to the boarding had been made, neither the navy nor defence companies have commented on the presence of USVs some 110km off the Gaza coast on 31 May. What is certain among the military and industry alike is that such a capability could provide levels of assistance for future CT operations. Irrespective of the rights of the naval commandoes to defend themselves in accordance with the most basic rules of engagement the right to use lethal force in response to life-threatening situations militaries around the world continue to develop unmanned capabilities to reduce the risk of casualties and fatalities. Widely regarded as the final unmanned arena to be fully nurtured behind aerial, ground and underwater systems USVs are starting to receive more attention, especially with regard to CT. Counter-piracyoperationsoffthe West African coast, not to mention maritime CT operations such as hostage rescue, surveillance andreconnaissance andoffensive action tasks, are very difficult to complete in a covert manner in the maritime environment. They are normally carried out by special operations forces(SOF)asthevastopenspaces of the high seas render incoming helicopters or boats easily detectable by enemy forces. This is one area on which the USNs current USV Master Plan has focussed strongly. FUTURE STRATEGY Published in 2007 and still being developed ahead of two prototypes due to be deployed as part of the US Navys Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme later in the year, the Master Plan acknowledges how USVs must be used to support SOF missions, especially in the CT environment. According to Capt Paul Siegrist, programme manager, unmanned maritime vehicle systems (PMS 403), Program Executive Office Littoral and Mine Warfare, primary emphasis to date has focussed on USVs as a component of the LCSs mission packages: The navy currently has two engineering development models [EDMs], each contributing to the mine countermeasure [MCM] and anti-submarine warfare [ASW] missions from LCS. Once the utility of the systems has been evaluated, follow-on development of USVs will be pursued as acquisition programmes, if deemed appropriate.
AAIs control station can operate the companys CUSV platform and other vehicles. (Photo: AAI)
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28 USV FOCUS
Such follow-on USVs will incorporate lessons learned from the fleet operating the USV EDMs. Additionally, operation of these vehicles from shore-based sites has been assessed and may lead to future applications of the capability independent of LCS, he told Unmanned Vehicles. According to Siegrist, the navy has also explored the use of USVs in CT and force protection mission areas using an incremental user operational evaluation system: This was done leveraging a vehicle called Seafox. These vehicles were provided to various fleet units tasked with evaluating their utility in a variety of applications, allowing our operators to gain familiarity with this new capability while providing feedback on how tactics, training and procedures might be matured for future systems. DULL, DIRTY, DANGEROUS The navy has investigated a number of mission applications for USVs through various projects, he continued. Although some, such as Spartan Scout, have been evaluated in the fleet as technology demonstrators, none of the USVs have matured to a formal acquisition programme. As the maturity of USV-associated capability increases, USVs have the potential to augment our manned platforms to perform the dull, dirty and dangerous tasks, which will allow our manned systems to execute those missions requiring human judgement and decision-making. The unmanned systems will not replace the manned platforms, they will augment them in the near term, he concluded.
The Master Plan states: SOF units require support for conducting missions involving unconventional warfare, CT, reconnaissance, direct (offensive) action and foreign internal defence. Other significant roles lie in providing essential intelligence from close to or among the enemy and increasing roles in combating terrorists, their infrastructure and activities, it read. Similarly, USVs could be used as decoys for CT operations, a tactic frequently used by SOF operators in other environments. The Master Plan goes on to specify other uses: In the ISR role, USVs can provide persistent coverage and effective support for SOF mission areas that would preclude conventional platforms, providing early warning and maintaining a perimeter in areas of high risk to personnel. Many mission scenarios using small arms as well as other lethal and non-lethal weapons could be effectively performed by USVs, it continues, describing how USVs could be launched from stand-off positions, transferred to an area of interest and be returned with or be transferred in subsets of the data collected. Other options include planting standalone sensor packages, dropping off advance or real-time resupply packages (ammunition, food, water, batteries), and providing maritime diversion, distraction or deception in support of the SOF mission. Also, the plan outlines possible requirements for more discreet USVs featuring lower profiles for riverine ISR operations. There are technologies and techniques available to minimise vehicle
The Aeronautics Seastar USV. (Photo: Aeronautics Defense Systems)
observables, and SOF personnel aboard a larger manned riverine craft [could] launch a man-portable USV when entering an area of contention for a round the bend ISR platform, it says in the Master Plan. One company that has been developing an unmanned solution since 2008 is AAITextron. According to director of advanced systems Ryan Hazlett, it has discussed the CT potential of its Common USV (CUSV). We met with the US Navy CT group [a division of NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command)] to see how their concept of operations was translatable onto the CUSV. We think its very possible, he told UV. MISSION-SPECIFIC He said potential missions had progressed from an original focus on MCM and ASW to include surface warfare, ISR, directed energy, C4ISR and launch/recovery UUVs. Although no tests had yet taken place, Hazlett said the latter could include the infiltration and exfiltration of SOF operators, possibly with the use of swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs). Larger USVs could provide SOF with an alternative to using manned platforms for these purposes [infiltration/exfiltration], and USVs could be pre-positioned and lie in wait for the appropriate time to provide support, explained Hazlett. First designed in 2008 as a multiple-use platform, the CUSV comprises a 12m-long hull with a 1.8m profile above water level. Hazlett quoted the chief of the USN as saying unmanned vehicles were set to become a priority. He believes the original focus on MCM and ASW missions will be intensified. We are now in the realm of the possible with surface warfare, ISR, directed energy and C4ISR capabilities, he added.
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An undisclosed number of Protector USVs is already in use with the Israeli Navy. (Photo: Rafael)
29 USV FOCUS
The CUSV boasts a duration of up to 500 hours, and Hazlett revealed that AAI was in negotiations with several companies to integrate sense and avoid capabilities. It can also tow an 1,800kg payload at 37km/h, although tests so far have only comprised sonar and simulated loads. Later in the year, we are going to be looking at networking [CUSV] and controlling both a UAV and USV from a single terminal.
We have plans and are working on designs. USVs shouldnt require an operator all the time, especially in open seas, he said. Elsewhere, LCS prime contractor Lockheed MartinhashighlightedrequirementsfromSOF for a USV. Although it can also be configured for manned operations,theSmallTacticalCraft (STC) is now in the water and undergoing demonstrations to potential customers, according to a company spokesman. NAVAL EVALUATION The STC is designed to meet the objective of SOF missions, such as insertion and extraction missions and visit, board, search and seizure [VBSS] operations, said the spokesman. The LCSs shallow draft and high speed offer SOF the ability to quickly move
into an area of operations and launch the STC for either over-the-horizon insertion or VBSS operations. The system is designed to operate in 2m waves at speeds greater than 65km/h, while a modular multiple mission bay can seat up to nine operators plus mission-specific equipment. Lockheed Martin has dubbed it the maritime pick-up truck. The STC also offers a networked, SOF-focussed C2 integration capability, tied into Lockheed Martins LCS COMBATSS-21 management system and Desert Hawk UAV. There has also been speculation that Elbits Silver Marlin USV is to undergo an evaluation with the Israeli Navy, especially for CT and force protection roles. With a 2,500kg payload and operational
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30 USV FOCUS
Lockheed Martins STC has been specifically designed for SOF missions. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
duration of 24-48 hours, the Silver Marlin can travel up to 500km and remain operational up to Sea State 3, with a reduced role up to Sea State 5. Capable of carrying payloads including Elbits CoMPASS EO/IR system, Raymarine navigation radar, automatic identification system receiver and 360 video camera, Silver Marlin can also be fitted with weapons. These include Elbits Overhead Remote Control Weapon System, which incorporates a .50-cal or 7.62mm machine gun as well as two line-of-sight (LoS) data links and a beyond-LoS satellite communications link.
SOF SPECULATION Elbit is also developing an obstacle avoidance system for the 10m-long boat, which has a maximum speed of 83km/h. It is capable of detecting small boats at 6km and aircraft at up to 15km. There has also been speculation that UK and US special forces have been involved in evaluation tests of the USV in the Middle East, again for CT operations. Such tasks could include an intercept capability to deal with speedboats used by drug smugglers, especially in the Caribbean, and in hostage rescue situations. An Silver Marlin is expected to undergo evaluation by the Israeli Navy. alternative could be to (Photo: Elbit) use Silver Marlin to 7.62mm up to 25mm calibre. Other options clear water passages of of mine threats include torpedoes, missiles (including ahead of an amphibious force, alongside Hellfire), the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch provision of real-time ISR. System (NLOS-LS) and Brimstone. However, a spokesperson for the Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy is already UK MoD told UV that this was inaccurate operating an undisclosed number of Rafaels speculation. We do not comment on Protector USVs. These have been in operation special forces. There are no current since 2005, and up to 18 have been supplied plans to assess or procure USVs. However, to Israel and various countries in the Far East. the MoD continues to explore a range Operated in Israel with either 7.62mm or of options to meet our future .50-cal machine guns, Protector also carries capability requirements.
Speaking at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) conference in Hamburg, Germany, on 8 June, the Commander Operations, Royal Navy, R/Adm Mark Anderson, said the key to a possible future of unmanned combat missions would be a combination of aerial, underwater and unmanned surface vessels operating without risk in dangerous areas. Will they be able to detect, pacify, localise, track and ultimately engage submarines in that littoral environment? he asked. However, Anderson conceded that remote, unmanned weapon release from anything other than a sea mine seemed unlikely in the near future. All this is still a huge leap for us to take and, over the next decade at least, I would suggest the future will be a combination of assets. Under the USNs USV Master Plan, weapon payloads under consideration for surface warfare include systems of
an EO director and a 360 search radar for detection, identification and targeting. These enable both manual and automatic day/night target observation and tracking, according to Rafael. Subsystems include a third-generation FLIR sensor, colour CCD camera and laser rangefinder. With a maximum communications range of up to 55km and top speed of 55km/h for the 9m version (74km/h for the 11m version), Protector can also be fitted with a variety of mission modules including force protection, CT, littoral and harbour patrol, as well as electronic warfare, ASW and MCM. Protector does not include a satellite communications capability at the moment, but a Rafael spokesman told UV that this was not a requirement for the IDFs force protection role. However, he said such a capability could be fitted for surveillance and reconnaissance taskings. The [Protector] payload can be loaded onto RIBs [rigid inflatable boats] or other platforms. You just need a digital output on the existing boat, and we are in talks with three or four European navies to upgrade their RIBs and aluminium boats, said the spokesman. MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS Very few navies have a USV requirement, especially in the CT role. Where the air force was 30 years ago with UAVs, navies are at now with USVs. It will happen in the near future for dull, dangerous, dirty and duration missions, he concluded. He went on to highlight potential CT utilities for USVs, including less-than-lethal weapons, diver and SDV detection, and reconnaissance duties. Other solutions include an offering from Rheinmetall. The company has supplied the German Navy with a prototype USV based on a Watercat M8 fast landing craft, manufactured by Marine Alutech. Trials were due to start last year, with a variety of mission payloads highlighted to include surveillance and reconnaissance, force protection and CT operations.
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31 USV FOCUS
Understood to have a top speed of 55km/h and capable of carrying up to ten fully equipped operators, such a vessel could be used for interdiction operations, as well as insertion for maritime CT taskings. Having dropped off a team, the vessel would then be able to provide overwatch around the area of operation, armed with an EO payload and as yet undisclosed weaponry. Elsewhere, Italian company SIEL told UV that its UAPS 20 system is now fully qualified and already in operation with undisclosed units. We sold 22 units based on 750 RHIBs [rigid-hull inflatable boats], said a spokesman. Kockums Piraya USV is designed for surveillance and security roles, and the company has already developed four
demonstrators for the Royal Swedish Navy. A single control station is capable of operating up to three USVs concurrently. Outside the CT role, the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has completed source selection for its Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) programme. Notification letters have been issued to as yet undisclosed companies. We cant talk about details of the specific approaches selected until the contracts are awarded a couple of months from now. We expect all awards to be completed by some time in September, said a DARPA spokesman. The ACTUV programme has been designed on the premise that a human is never intended to step aboard at any point
in the operations cycle. It is envisaged that it will be an independently deployed USV capable of tracking quiet, modern, dieselelectric submarines a game-changing ASW operational capability, according to DARPA. The organisation would not comment on the vessels suitability for CT operations. CONCLUSION As the desire to keep operators out of harms way as much as possible and the development of USVs gather pace, much like their aerial and ground-based predecessors, counter-piracy and CT operations may well be set for a sea change in tactics, techniques and procedures. Much will depend on the funding available, taking into account the current economic climate. UV
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33 UGV NAVIGATION
Stryker ICVs have conducted trials at Fort Gordon, Georgia, with ANS technology. (Photo: US Army)
North America Editor Scott R Gourley explores a navigation system that is leading UGVs in the right direction.
Mapping the future

A
s Unmanned Vehicles went to press, participants were closing out the last few critical design review (CDR) items on the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) programme. As the only US Army programme of record of autonomous navigation, ANS is helping to open up new possibilities for future UGV applications. The [ANS] is a component that is going to be used on one of our unmanned systems: the Armed Robotic Vehicle-Assault-Light [ARV-A-L], explained Lt Col Jay Ferreira, product manager for the UGV Product Office, under the US Armys Program Executive Office (PEO) Integration. The ANS provides navigation and perception for the ARV-A-L, which enables autonomous mobility and remote operations of the platform, while providing situational awareness for the platform. The ARV-A-L has different roles from navigation, to move-on-route, to following other vehicles. It essentially becomes the ears and eyes sometimes I like to say the conscience of the vehicle, meaning that it allows the vehicle to know where to go and safely navigate on different types of terrain, through different types of situations. SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS Spotlighting ANS status following completion of the recent CDR, Ferreira characterised it as a holistic system. The [ANS] is a collection of sensors, as well as software. You dont just have a single sensor and single piece of software, but you have multiple sensors and multiple software. All
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have to come together. The ANS takes the data that the sensors receive, processes them with the software, then provides a solution of where to send the vehicle in order to keep it safe. Thats why I like to say one plus one equals three, because theres an actual thought process that the system goes through in order to direct the vehicle. Weve just recently gone through a CDR, which is a major milestone in the programme, he continued. This is the only programme of record in the army right now that is working on autonomous navigation, and the team has done a phenomenal job. This is a hard problem its at a PhD level of effort. Boeing and SAIC are the industry prime contractors for the modernisation increment
that includes ANS, with General Dynamics Robotics Systems (GDRS) serving as the main developer for the system. Larry Hennebeck, assistant product manager for ANS on the government side, told UV: ANS provides a number of things for the ARV-A-L. It provides core navigation, targeting support and revising alternate routes to determine the easiest path for it to take to the planned mission points. It incorporates several sensors for both day and night capability, as well as all-weather operations. It provides vehicle position data to the system for manoeuvrability, and it provides movement commands for the vehicle when in autonomous mode. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS The ANS detects negative and positive obstacles. It detects and avoids humans. It tracks humans. It tracks vehicles. It provides a situational awareness/virtual presence to the soldier for survivability of the system. It provides precision-point location and timing for lethality systems aboard the ARV-A-L. ANS hardware elements include: two image perception modules (three-camera units with visual, IR and low-light cameras), one on each side of the vehicle; front and rear LADAR (laser detection and ranging) image perception modules (LIPMs), which include the same three-camera modules together with LADAR to map the earth forward and to the rear; a millimetre-wave radar on the front to track higher-speed motion, particularly moving vehicles
ANS-equipped Strykers are required to navigate across challenging terrain. (Photo: US Army)
34 UGV NAVIGATION
approaching the system; a Northrop Grumman INS/GPS; and a computer system that performs sensor processing, path planning, video processing, object processing and speed and curvature commands for the system. BEST PATH Noting that current software includes about 865,000 SLOCs (source lines of code), Hennebeck said: The software basically takes external commands from the operator for a planned mission. Then, using geo-spatial data provided, it will initially compute a best path through the waypoints selected by the operator. Also, it will do perceptive economy in other words, avoid obstacles and take the lowest-cost/best
ANS enables a follow-on capability for unmanned trucks. (Photo: US Army)
route to those waypoints. Again, it also provides the commands to the vehicle. ANS has accomplished a lot in the past few years, he went on. We have completed our [CDR], which included 93 artefacts and 30 data items. Our current compliance is 95% of the 811 requirements now placed on ANS. We have completed 80 of the mechanical analysis tasks and 40 fabrication
procedures. We have already fabricated four engineering development unit LIPMs. We have defined all the use cases. There has been a significant amount of testing: functional, mine blast and shock, temperature and E3 [electromagnetic environmental effects]. We have conducted more than 2,000 field system tests at the current point up to 50km/h.
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35 UGV NAVIGATION
The armys designation of a successfully completed CDR authorises the ANS programme to proceed to the prototype fabrication phase. As outlined by Dan Folk, US Army deputy product manager for UGVs, the path ahead will feature expanded co-ordination between ANS and ARV-A-L efforts. TEST BED The ARV-A-L is the platform that the ANS will be integrated on, he said. It has its CDR in October. So you have the platform and the ANS, which is the sensors, hardware and software that makes that ARV an unmanned vehicle. For the next six months, we will be working carefully with the ARV team to bring the two together
Following Stryker trials and the CDR, the army expects to field an ARV-A-L demonstrator. (Photo: US Army)
and mesh out requirements in the design so that were in sync. After the ARV-A-L CDR in October, we will get permission to build a platform, and also ANS systems. Thats where it all comes
together where the rubber hits the road roughly the end of 2011, when we start integrating this ANS onto the ARV-A-L platform. Then we will enter testing early in 2012. Thats the path ahead, so we will be very busy here for the next two years. Testing to date has also included limited integration onto other tactical vehicle platforms. One benefit of this technology is that it can be integrated onto other platforms, said Ferreira. We have demonstrated that already, because part of the process of not only designing and developing the [ANS] is proofing it out and evaluating all the algorithms. So we have taken some surrogate vehicles, which include a Stryker ICV, an FMTV [Family of Medium
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36 UGV NAVIGATION
Tactical Vehicles] and an LMTV [Light Medium Tactical Vehicle], and integrated some ANS breadboards [engineering development units] on those. Then we took them out and did robotics convoy exercises at various locations. FUTURE CONCEPTS Test sites included White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, as well as the test track at the Maryland State Police Training Academy in Sykesville. This isnt a strap-on system, cautioned Ferreira, but it can be integrated, with work that has to be done to actually make the vehicle fully autonomous steering, braking and things like that. This system could be put on various platforms, as we have done in three cases. Beyond those platforms already tested, the system is a candidate for providing remote driving capability to the emerging Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) programme. The GCV is still going through the proposal process and we expect that the requirement will come out, acknowledged Folk. We are not sure yet if they will pick up the ANS. That will have to be determined in the future. Although the CDR was completed on 31 March, remaining activities are still being conducted to close out a few remaining items, with that process expected to be completed by 27 August.
The MULE vehicle is a candidate for ANS technology. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
With any [CDR], you go through several technical close-outs that normally take place several months after, regardless of what the piece of technology is, explained Paul Mehney, communications chief for PEO Integration. You can get approval for CDR, which gets you to the prototype fabrication phase, while still holding some of the small technical items that need to be closed out, and thats what were in the process of doing now. That does not mean that the CDR is not approved. It just means that we have got some technical due-outs to come back with. TIDYING UP Hennebeck echoed this view. None of the remaining issues are what we had listed as critical action items. None of them are listed as high-risk. Primarily, they are simply test items, some assessments in the case of safety, we have a little bit of design left to do on the screen wiper assemblies all low-risk items that just hadnt quite got completed, or some requirement changes that hadnt been tweaked enough so that we didnt get them signed off prior to CDR. Ferreira concluded: Work is still continuing and ongoing. We have a clear path ahead as far as what we need to do. There will be a lot of testing and integration in the near future, but the team is doing a good job, and were all excited about marrying this system up with the ARV-A-L and getting out there and demonstrating the future of autonomous vehicles. UV
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Beyond Stryker tests, ANS may feature on the emergent GCV programme. (Photo: US Army)
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For over 30 years Meggitt aerial targets have provided reliable and effective air defence training to the defence forces and weapon manufacturers of more than 40 countries. Banshee, which has been in full scale production for 25 years, has become the workhorse in many of these countries where it is regularly used to determine the effectiveness of air defence weapons and their operating crews together including surface or air launched systems. During this time many weapon specific augmentation devices have been developed to ensure reliable acquisition, tracking and fusing by the weapons being used whether they be manual, RF or IR based. These same, proven devices are now available for Voodoo which provides the same capability as Banshee but at a higher speed. The technology that allows the reliable operation of Banshee and Voodoo to ranges of over 100 Km has also been applied to Meggitts own range of Unmanned Vehicle Systems such as the Spectre and Phantom Unmanned Air Vehicles, The Tiger Shark Agile surface vessel and converted land vehicles which use the MDS Ranger system.
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40 AFRICAN MARKET
Local solutions
Angus Batey looks at the small African UAV market and finds that there is movement despite all the challenges inherent in working on the Dark Continent.
t was once called the Dark Continent, and when it comes to UAS, Africa remains something of a mystery. Its not that theres a lack of demand for the utilities that UAVs can bring but Africa is still a largely unexplored market for an industry grappling with the limiting implications of its technological successes. Airspace regulations are every bit as much a barrier to UAS deployment in Africa as they remain elsewhere around the globe, but the continents relative poverty means that an already challenging legal environment is less attractive to outside investment as the potential returns are lower than elsewhere. Theres less money to spend, and thus the appetite for the kind of big-ticket, large-scale UAS buys that make up the bulk of the global market is dramatically reduced. But this leaves plenty of room for enterprising players to join the game at the other end of the size and sophistication scale and it may yet be that Africa becomes crucial to determining a galvanising purpose for UAS technology that sees unmanned aircraft move beyond the realms of military and civilian reconnaissance.
CASH CRISIS There is, of course, one overriding consideration that plays a part in any discussion of African UAS. A representative of one Israeli UAS manufacturer, when asked by Unmanned Vehicles what they considered to be the main factors limiting the African UAS market, replied with one word, money. There is no getting away from the fact that African nations arent competing with the rest of the world on a level economic playing field. Around three quarters of Africas
nations lie outside the top 100 countries in a global ranking by gross national product, and only three South Africa, Egypt and Algeria make the top 50. So the almost complete lack of both indigenous development or bought-in operation of UAS in Africa might not seem too surprising. African nations known to have bought and/or used UAVs are few in number. Egypt has a fleet of 1980s-vintage Scarab UAVs, built by Teledyne Ryan and Scaled Composites. Also known as Model 324s, a total of 56 of these aircraft were delivered, of which around 50 are believed to still be operable. The jet-powered UAV has a cruising speed of around Mach 0.8, is designed for photo-reconnaissance, and is recovered by parachute. In 2003, Israel threatened to shoot down unmanned Egyptian aircraft after reports claimed sightings of them over nuclear and ballistic missile research facilities in Israel. In 2008, the Pakistani firm Integrated Dynamics confirmed that it had supplied unmanned aircraft to Libya the type was confirmed as being its Border Eagle Mk II but the company declined to give details on whether the purchase was of airframes only, or complete systems. However, it is South Africa that remains out in front. The country built its first UAV over 20 years ago, and has two companies Denel Dynamics and the Paris-headquartered Advanced Technology and Engineering (ATE) that have experience in the design and production of tactical UAV systems. However, limited uptake by the countrys armed forces has kept development in check: Denels Bateleur, a Predator-class MALE UAV, was
Somniis medical test UAV is operated from a truck-based GCS. (Photos: Somnii)
proposed in 2003 and displayed in mock-up the following year, but still hasnt flown. Denels first UAV, the Seeker, was bought by the South African Defence Force, and its successor, the Seeker II, was successfully exported, but a 2008 update, the Seeker 400, has yet to secure any publicly confirmed orders. MARKET SHARE Denel and ATE have partnered in an initiative called the UAS Forum, along with manufacturers of UAV payloads and subsystems, in an attempt to work coherently in pursuit of available business rather than compete with one another for the same contracts, and thus help build a South African UAS business, but they may have to look to market technologies smaller and less expensive than tactical UAVs. In 2009, Denel estimated the worth of a notional market for UAVs among developing nations at $273 million per annum, and set its sights on claiming 20% of that business. But with proven if expensive UAV systems already available, it is going to be difficult to gain a footing. The time has come for the sector to look beyond what other nations are doing, and to try to provide products
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that cater to needs only now beginning to be identified but that route is fraught with difficulties too. Innovation is perhaps not Africas strongest suit, said Andrew Black, the head of research at British defence industry analysts Hawk Associates. The costs of developing your own [systems] might be greater and less certain than buying something off the shelf from an already established producer. A rich individual or company might want to use [UAVs] in their own airspace for reconnaissance purposes. Two applications spring to mind here: the protection of property, possibly minerals or mines; and to police farmland against incursions. And yet it is the needs of developing nations, and the very limitations their economies place on their willingness to experiment with UAV systems, that may provide the key to unlocking this as-yet untapped market. MEDICAL ROLE Barry Mendelow works for South Africas National Health Laboratories Service (NHLS), and for the last four years has been involved in a series of trials designed to solve a problem that is acute in developing nations the timely identification of killer diseases, so that their spread can be minimised. NHLS is involved in trials of three UAV systems which will help connect some of the most remote clinics in its network of over 6,000 facilities with central laboratory hubs, enabling fast assessment of medical samples where conventional alternatives motorbike couriers or 4WD vehicles may be prevented easy access by landslips, flooding or other infrastructure problems. We only need the tiniest quantities of DNA to diagnose tuberculosis, and to establish the antibiotic follow-up, Mendelow explained. The amount of DNA we need from each patient weighs less than the ink you need to write down the patients name. We think its rather a unique application,
because the aircraft dont have to be very large to carry such a tiny payload. The NHLSs first trial was with a Denel-built UAV called e-Juba, a corruption of Zulu and techno-speak meaning electronic carrier pigeon. The flight trials, which took place in 2008, successfully proved the concept, but e-Jubas 500g payload capacity designed with the ferrying of blood and other fluid samples in mind was scaled down after a panoply of legal issues was considered. Not only would the 3.5kg aircraft require certification from South Africas Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to operate in unrestricted airspace, but carrying blood samples would have meant introducing a biohazard threat into an already complex regulatory picture. You can disinfect the DNA before you send it away for diagnostic purposes, so the biohazard is not a risk, said Mendelow. If one wants other diagnostic tests, then the procedures for disinfection are altogether more complex, though theyre by no means impossible [to overcome]. A parallel set of investigations is looking at other ways of eliminating or containing the biohazard threat, which we hope will allow us to transport samples other than those comprised of DNA. With those issues still to be resolved, and the basic diagnosis need still urgent, a revised NHLS requirement was produced, and bids were invited for prototypes capable of ferrying the ultra-lightweight DNA samples. The requirement called for flying distances of around 30-35km, with simplicity of operation absolutely key for the system to work, it needs to be usable by people with minimal training, so routes are pre-programmed and the aircraft can be launched by hand. Results can then be reported back to the remote facilities using SMS services even in locations lacking a reliable electrical supply, mobile phone reception is possible. Three systems were submitted: from ATE, the University of Stellenbosch-affiliated SPlane Automation, and Somnii Unmanned Systems, a small private company based in Strand, near Cape Town. To date, 196 test
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43 AFRICAN MARKET
Denels Seeker 2 has been successfully exported. (Photo: Denel)
flights have taken place using the ATE and Somnii aircraft, and weve had 99% success overall, according to Mendelow. Somniis aircraft has a wingspan of under 35cm and weighs less than 700g. Its ground station is software-based, running on any conventional off-the-shelf laptop computer, and the aircrafts fuselage is made of styrofoam. For such a small operation we have two staff and two contractors the less expensive, smaller-type aircraft which is easy to operate is the only market we can realistically target, explained Somniis founder, Jaco Davel. If youve got huge, very expensive aircraft, then the African market is way too small. But the numbers for the NHLS project are quite staggering. If there are orders for over a thousand, the foam company can produce them in huge numbers very quickly and easily. Despite the success of the trials, and the very real need for the job the aircraft can
do the problem is with us right now, Mendelow emphasised the DNA test programme cant proceed until South Africa resolves its airspace regulatory issues. These were behind the abandonment of published plans for the South African Police Service to use UAVs during policing of the recent football World Cup, and although South Africas CAA is ahead of many other nations in having made a commitment to work toward regulations covering UAS by 2015, for the present, the country has no legal means of integrating unmanned aircraft into civilian airspace. ROAD AHEAD We want to try to do it earlier than [2015], said Mendelow, so the route we have gone down has been to ensure that the aircraft will present the least possible threat. So our strategy has been to go very, very tiny. This, of course, brings other practical problems, particularly in trying to operate the aircraft in anything greater than a 30km/h wind. Somniis aircraft is capable of speeds up to 65km/h in still air, but its performance is compromised, or operation entirely prevented, by high wind. While the search for technical solutions is ongoing, and
has already met with some successes, there are other practical steps that can be taken which also have a positive impact on the regulatory situation. One possibility that were exploring, though weve not yet tested it, is to fly at night, said Mendelow. At night, the wind gusts tend to be lower, and also theres less air traffic, particularly of the sort that worries us, like microlights, crop sprayers and the kind that fly close to the ground and without necessarily following regulations. We can eliminate all those, virtually, by flying at night, so thats one of the possible avenues were exploring at the moment. The challenges are daunting. At present, South Africas regulations require UASs to be under the command of a qualified airman even test flights of Somniis automated system had to take place under the watchful eye of an airline pilot and a big part of the utility of a system such as that envisioned by NHLS requires the aircraft to be operated by non-pilots, indeed, by people with minimal, if any, training. But as Black noted, if there is a will, there is usually a way. Dont bet against an African solution to an African problem helping point the way forward for the development of UAS. UV
www.UVonline.com
44 INTERVIEW
UAVs: the skys the limit

Andrew White talks to Elbit Systems president and CEO Joseph Ackerman about the ever-expanding possibilities presented by aerial prototypes.
ver a third of all air missions will be conducted by UAVs within the next couple of years as they reach almost limitless potential, according to president and CEO of Elbit Systems Joseph Ackerman. Now in Israel and the USA, we are close to this number. The only problem is to build up the confidence of the user [community] to use more and more unmanned vehicles, Ackerman explained to Unmanned Vehicles. But he went on to warn that various other countries outside Israel and the USA still needed to build up their own confidence in this arena. We can put everything on an unmanned system now there is no limitation any more. They are a very robust solution, so why not use UAVs with communications, electronic intelligence, electro-optical and radar sensors? Together this will give you the same answer as a manned aircraft, but at 20% of the cost and with longer duration, he added. According to Ackerman, an unmanned flying platform comprising 10,000 hours means: time between loss; up to 25 hours duration; 100kg of payload; communications between UAVs; good uplinks and downlinks; and is preferable to manned airframes, which can provide only a couple of hours flight time.
flying UV, there is no reason why you wont be able to do all kinds of applications. Ackermans comments come at a time when BAE Systems has unveiled its Taranis UCAV, and Northrop Grumman and Dassault Aviation are continuing development of their X47-B and nEUROn models respectively. Israel was the first country to come up with a good solution, which was similar to UAVs produced over the past 20 years, but we still had to build the same trust that the customer has with the [old] UAVs, he said. HERMES RISING Elbit is also pitching its latest incarnation within the Hermes UAV family, the mediumaltitude long-endurance (MALE) 900, to the export market, and more specifically a French requirement for a higher-altitude solution. Meanwhile, Ackerman has expressed an interest in offering up the Watchkeeper tactical UAV to the wider European market. It has been designed and manufactured in conjunction with Thales UK under the U-Tacs joint venture. The UKs Ministry of Defence is also stepping up plans to weaponise Watchkeeper, based on Elbits Hermes 450 airframe, which could challenge sales of General Atomics MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper systems. Ackerman elaborated on Elbits vision. Our goal is to expand U-Tacs to whoever is willing to use the [Hermes 450] product. We are talking to several countries and are certainly keen to promote Watchkeeper to other European countries, he said. Unmanned ground systems will get similar treatment. We have to prove to the customers that they can use it. They are
in use In Israel, but not as much as air vehicles. In five to eight years, we shall see the same levels of use as with UAVs today, he added. Its more difficult with ground vehicles. In the air, there are fewer obstacles, and the technological challenges are very much harder on the ground, he explained, referring to the fully autonomous G-NIUS UGV, which is operational with the Israel Defense Forces. You can tell a UAV what to do, but sometimes you want a soldier in the loop, to avoid mistakes, he admitted. MARITIME FUTURE Unmanned surface vehicles [USVs] are at the same stage, but again, more difficult. Why use manned vessels to get close to the enemy when you can have the same technology, the same observation system, either fully autonomous or with a soldier in the loop? Ackerman said that Elbit was considering future development of an unmanned underwater vehicle. UV
www.UVonline.com
UCAV POSSIBILITY Ackerman refused to be drawn on whether the company was involved in the development of a dedicated unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). But he did say: There is no reason why you wont be able to do something you can do with manned aircraft with unmanned. Once you have a
WASP VEN UAS: RA AE PUMA
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SHEPHARD

Volume 15 Number 4 August/September 2010

4 Australia announces Shadow buy

8 Seeing the bigger picture

33 Mapping the future

14 Solving the biggest problem in theatre

27 Sea change on the horizon

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Seeing the bigger picture

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