The Future of Unmanned Air Systems (F-UAS)

Mark TempestilliCaptain, US Navy (Retired)

IF@AACC Brown Bag Seminar2 May 2011

Top Left: Boeing Phantom Eye. Top Right: Northrop Grumman-Navy X-47B

What is an Unmanned System good for?

Jobs that are:• Dull

– When attention and fatigue are issues• e.g. long term/broad pattern monitoring

• Dirty– Environments where humans can’t or won’t go

• e.g. Arctic & Desert zones, complex terrain/environment, sensitive ecosystems

• Dangerous– Threatening to life or serious injury

• e.g. under military attack, near dangerous wildlife, radiation/chem/bio hazards

A Little History

• Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs)– Firebee Series Target & Photorecon– QF-4 Target

• Tactical Decoys– Quail– TALD/ITALD

• The first UAV– Pioneer

TALDs being loaded on A-7 Corsair II, Firebee recon drones in Vietnam, Pioneer 2 detachment aboard USS Missouri in Desert Storm and on shipboard rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) launcher

Navy RQ-2 Pioneer UAV Battleship gunfire support - original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE42jDFBlWE

State of the Art• Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk• AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven• General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper• Northrop Grumman MQ-4 Fire Scout

Global Hawk Survey of Haiti earthquake damage, Raven UAV hand-launched, Reaper launching Hellfire, Fire Scout loads onto C-17 to Afghanistan in actual war-on-terror operations

Raven UAV at Forward Operating Base (FOB) ‘Gabe,’ Iraq - "home" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElLzZg157_oReaper GMTI & Hellfire shot - General Atomics video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_cohZLn9joFire Scout Scores First-Ever Drug Bust with McInerney: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcvprb_fire-scout-scores-first-ever-drug-b_news

Applications - Military• Precision Airstrike; Mobile Target Hunter-Killer• Remote Sensing; Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR)• WMD Search & Tracking; WMD Hazard Detection• SIGINT; Active Electronic Warfare (jamming); Cyberwarfare (data disruption)• Airborne Early Warning; Defensive perimeter watch• Persistent Long-Range/Wide-Area Search• Submarine multi-purpose force multiplier• Special Operations Forces direct support• Communications and data relay• Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR)

Pioneer UAV being recovered by barrier on deck of an amphibious ship, MQ-9 Reaper with 4 Hellfire missiles and 2 JDAM bombs, HALE UAS Wide Area Surveillance CONCPS

Navy RQ-2 Pioneer UAV* BB gunfire support - original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE42jDFBlWERaven UAV at FOB Gabe, Iraq - "home" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElLzZg157_oReaper GMTI & Hellfire shot - General Atomics video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_cohZLn9joLockheed Martin Hellfire Missile Test video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGMBrCuyXI*Pioneer UAV initially designed & produced by Pioneer UAV, Inc., Hunt Valley, MD

Applications - Civil

• Counterterror; Counterdrug• Law Enforcement• Customs & Border Patrol (CBP)• WMD Hazard Detection• Search and Rescue (SAR)• Scientific Environmental Research• Wildfire monitoring and management support• Planetary Exploration: Survey & Scientific Research

CBP UAS Predator, NASA ARES demonstrator, ARES Mars concept, NASA Global Hawk, NASA Global Hawk in-flight refuelling concept, NASA Predator “Ikhana”, Ikhana thermal image of Lake Arrowhead wildfire

Applications - Commercial• Aerial Survey• Environmental & Natural resources exploration• Agriculture & Aquaculture monitoring• Population pattern monitoring• Telecommunications relay• Infrastructure monitoring:

– roads, railways, pipelines, power grids, etc

• ATC support– wide area monitoring, high-density stationing, signals relay

• Freight/Cargo movement: hauling and monitoring• Solar power collection• Personal wayfinding and situation knowledge

iPhone-controlled Parrot AR Drone, Wildlife migration routes, North American air traffic over 24 hours, Sooty Shearwater seabird migration pattern

Flight Tracking Statistics & Analysis - All Flights 'Movie': http://flightaware.com/analysis/allflights_movie.rvtAlternative (unofficial) airways view by YouTube user Aaron Koblin:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ystkKXzt9WkParrot AR Drone Flight Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ejh--_56ic

Near FutureBroad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) ●

Avenger UCAV ●Low-Manning Semi-autonomous Hybrids ●

More VTUAVs ●More large-scale & micro-scale Unmanned Air Systems ●

More unmanned air transports ● More ultra-high endurance systems ●

Integrated, Multiple Ground Control System (GCS) ●Lighter/smaller weapons, greater weapon effects ●

●

Small Diameter Bombs, Current UAV Ground Control Station, Future Ground Control System, K-Max semiautonomous single-piloted helicopter UAS, Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAS (Marinized Global Hawk)

Next Future• Northrop Grumman-Navy UCAS (X-47B)REF

• Lockheed Martin Cormorant MPUAVREF

• Combined manned/unmanned task elements• Micro- & Nano-UAVsREF1, REF2

– e.g. AeroVironment Nano Hummingbird– Swarming, insect-biomimetic UAS

• Lighter than Air (LTA) UAS– e.g. Sanswire SkySat , Millennium SkyFreighter

• Higher Altitude/Longer Endurance (HALE+)– e.g. Boeing-DARPA Vulture/Solar Observer PDF

– AeroVironment Global Observer

• Hydrogen & Alternative Power PropulsionREF

– e.g. NRL Ion Tiger – Boeing Phantom EyeREF

• Dassault nEUROn UCAVREF

• Increased UAS global proliferationREF

• More fully networked in for large scale usesNorthrop Grumman X-47B First Flight video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSHgu_WeBHoAutonomous Solar SAS-51 Airship - Sanswire-TAO video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md7w84yqB9IAeroVironment/DARPA Nano Hummingbird UAV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ZbtZqH6Io Boeing unveils Phantom Eye UAV video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97lvvSrgkiYnEUROn - Dassault Aviation video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl_GSprlz_0

Enabling Factors & Issues• Information Technology advances• Artificial Intelligence• Sensor fusion: onboard & offboard• Autonomous complex mission execution• Aerodynamic design advances• Defensive Measures• Airspace/Air Traffic Management integration• Ethics (e.g., ref-1, ref-2)

• Training• Manning• Long range, flexible plans

Honeywell T-Hawk Small UAS in Army use, T-Hawk configuration, Image inside Fukushima plant taken by T-Hawk

T-Hawk UAV enters Fukushima danger zone, returns with video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpN8VQ_UL4c

Best References (1)

News SourcesAssociation for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) http://www.auvsi.org/sUAS (small UAS) News on all UAS http://www.suasnews.com/unmanned-aerial-systems-directory/ Aviation Week Unmanned Horizons http://www.aviationweek.com/unmanned WIRED Danger Room blog on all UAS (All posts tagged “Drones“) http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/tag/drones/ Flightglobal.com UAV/UAS News http://www.flightglobal.com/sectionhome/sectiondefault.aspx?NavigationID=196&CategoryID=10318&SlotID=22UAV's, UCAV's & such - 5th Column forum thread http://www.w54.biz/showthread.php?16-UAV-s-UCAV-s-and-other-such-matters UAV blog – Australia Living Room blogs http://www.livingroom.org.au/uavblog/ UAV Forum http://www.uavforum.org/index.asp UVOnline, from The Shephard Group http://www.shephard.co.uk/news/uvonline-com/c1/ TheUAV.com http://www.theuav.com/UAVpilot.org http://uavpilot.org/ AirDroid News (UAVs, RPVs, UASs & Drones) http://airdroids.blogspot.com/ How the MQ-9 Reaper Works - How-Stuff-Works http://science.howstuffworks.com/reaper.htm "The Year of the Drone" interactive map, from NewAmerica.net http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones “Why UAVs Have Become the Anti-Terror Weapon of Choice in the Afghan-Pak Border” http://www.sldinfo.com/?p=12889 “The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” UK MoD Joint Doctrine Note 2-11 (PDF format)

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DCDC/OurPublications/JDNP/Jdn211TheUkApproachToUnmannedAircraftSystems.htm China Defense Mashup news http://www.china-defense-mashup.com/ Russian Aviation news http://www.ruaviation.com/ Asian Defence News http://asian-defence.blogspot.com/

NASA-Langley Mars UAS ARES concept

Best References (2)

Major UAS ProvidersFlightglobal UAV Directoryhttp://www.flightglobal.com/directory/search.aspx?navigationid=372&aircraftcategory=uav&manufacturertype=uav Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems http://www.as.northropgrumman.com/by_capability/unmannedsystems/index.html General Atomics Aeronautical Systems - Products & Services http://www.ga-asi.com/products/index.php Boeing Missiles and Unmanned Airborne Systemshttp://www.boeing.com/defense-space/unmanned/index.html Lockheed Martin Products A-Z List http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/A-Z/index.html AeroVironment Inc. UAS http://www.avinc.com/uas/ Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) UAS http://www.iai.co.il/18892-en/BusinessAreas_UnmannedAirSystems.aspx Elbit Systems UAS http://www.elbitsystems.com/elbitmain/ Tupolev (RU) Unmanned aerial vehicles http://www.tupolev.ru/english/Show.asp?SectionID=66 Raytheon UAS Common Ground Control System http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/cgcs/index.html BAE Unmanned and Autonomous Systems/Air Productshttp://www.baesystems.com/ProductsServices/ss_atc_autonomy.html http://www.baesystems.com/ProductsServices/index.htm#index-Air

Parrot SA’s AR.Drone controlled via iPhone app

Best References (3)Top Level U.S. Armed Service/ Federal Plans & Programs DOD/DARPA UAS Roadmap 2005-2030 (PDF download) http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/uav_roadmap2005.pdf Air Force UAS Flight Plan 2009-2047 (PDF)http://www.defense.gov/dodcmsshare/briefingslide/339/090723-D-6570C-001.pdf NAVAIRSYSCOM Unmanned Air Systems http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.uasFAA Unmanned Aircraft (UAS) Program http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/

Major Reference ResourcesGreg Goebel's "Public Domain" on UAVs http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav.html Air University Unmanned Systems Bibliography http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/unmannedsys.htm Air-Attack.com UAVs http://www.air-attack.com/aircraft/military-aircraft.html Popular Science Gallery: The Complete UAV Field Guide http://www.popsci.com/technology/gallery/2010-02/gallery-future-drones Wikipedia: List of unmanned aerial vehicles (sub-linked to most)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unmanned_aerial_vehicles UAV MarketSpace http://www.uavm.com/ Joint Publication 1-02, “DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,” 15 April 2011 (PDF)http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf World Defence Network http://www.worlddefencenetwork.com/?p=10

AeroVironment-DARPA Nano Hummingbird Micro-UAS

UAS Abbreviated GlossaryAcronyms & Terms (1) [Red is very common usage.]

• Drone – an early term for RPVs and UAVs which still has frequent and expansive use; first adopted from other lexicons to represent the steady, low frequency hum of its engines and/or the stingless trait of a male honeybee.

• RPV – Remotely Piloted Vehicle; typically used for low capability or early UAVs , as in Firebees, but implying there is a human operator in remote control.• UAV – Unmanned Air (or Aerial) Vehicle; typically replaces “Drone” or “RPV” as primary terminology for somewhat more advanced unmanned, but otherwise

guided, aircraft; not to include cruise missiles, as in Global Hawk • UCAV – Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle; an armed combat-capable UAV; E.g. Reaper (a.k.a. Predator B) , which is typically armed with Hellfire Air-to-Surface missiles

. • UAS – Unmanned Air System: an umbrella term encompassing all the above, plus taking a systems view, including offboard systems such as command & control,

communications via relay(s), and fused sensing with other systems. Also happens to be the single term adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).• F-UAS – my own acronym for Future UAS.• UCAS – Unmanned Combat Air System; a specific type of UAS, so labeled to distinguish it as armed and combat-capable; as UCAV is to UAV.• TALD – Tactical Air-Launched Decoy, developed to fly a pre-programmed flight profile and designed specifically to confuse enemy air defenses.• STUAS – Small Tactical UAS, e.g. Raven• MPUAV – Multi-Purpose UAV., e.g. Cormorant (in concept & development phase) • VTUAS – VTOL (Vertical Takeoff & Landing) Tactical UASREF

• HALE UAS – High Altitude, Long Endurance UAS; also HAE UAS – High Altitude Endurance UAS. e.g. Global Hawk or Solar Eagle/Vulture II PDF

• Micro-UAS – very small UAS, as in AeroVironment’s Nano Hummingbird, which is not a true Nano-UAV. • Nano-UAS – extremely small UAS, e.g. insect-sized or smaller, frequently bearing micro-electromechanical machines (MEMS) or mini remote and/or recording

sensorsREF. Examples include the Smart Dust project . Micro-UAS and Nano-UAS can be confusing terms, frequently indistinguishable in actual use, especially in marketing-driven business use where crossover of vehicles is attempted for adapting existing applications & platforms to emerging needs.

• Military UAS “Tier system “ – an older, but still frequently referenced convention of typing UAV/UAS.– Tier I: Low altitude, long endurance. – Tier II: Medium altitude, long endurance (MALE).– Tier II+ : High altitude, long endurance conventional UAS (or HALE UAS).– Tier III- : High altitude, long endurance low-observable UAS.– Tier III: Medium Range Tactical UAS.

• Aerospace terminology, refer to NASA’s Dictionary of Technical Aerospace Terms.2 For Meteorological Terms, refer to: the Northwest Weathernet Glossary.• Nautical and/or Maritime terminology, refer to Termisti Institut online nautical dictionaries in English.• Naming conventions (military vehicles), refer to the Wikipedia category, and/or specific to air vehicles, refer to Aerospaceweb.org ’s Designation System guide

for Rocket s & Missiles and for Aircraft , and/or Designation-Systems.net for U.S. Military Aviation Designation Systems1 , Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles , and Non-U.S. Military Aircraft and Missile Designation Systems.

• General military terminology, refer to the free Google eBook: DoD Dictionary of Military Terms ,

the Joint DoD Dictionary of Military Terms and Associated Terms (PDF)3, the Wikipedia entry, and/or this MSNBC article.

Join us: IF@AACC, FIG@AACC, The Journal of Futures StudiesShown: covers of Refs 1, 2 and 3

UAS Abbreviated GlossaryAcronyms & Terms (2)

• GCS – Ground Control System, various types and configurations. • JDAM – Joint Direct Attack Munition: a bomb modified with a precision guidance system, e.g. a Global Positioning System link (GPS). • Hellfire missile (AGM-114) – a family of air-to-ground missiles manufactured & licensed by Raytheon, carried and fired by many air platforms, including helicopters, attack

& patrol aircraft, and MQ-1 Predator & MQ-9 Reaper; soon to be replaced by the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)• C4ISR – Command, Control, Communications, and Computers & Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Includes functions, and/or systems; may be characterized

and planned by use of an “architecture.”• Command & Control (C2) – the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the

mission. • WMD – Weapon(s) of Mass Destruction: typically chemical, biological, radiological (non-fissile), and/or nuclear with the potential to harm thousands or millions of people. • SIGINT – Signals Intelligence, anything exploited across the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum for intelligence purposes; Includes a wide variety of subfunctions, e.g. IMINT,

ELINT, COMINT, MASINT (see linked reference); Does not include exploitation of the EM spectrum for other purposes like a targeting radar or jamming. • Data link - the means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information, usually digital• “Offboard” – existing off of the vehicle itself; can be based in any dimension (ground, sea, other aircraft, space, or cyberspace); opposite of “onboard.” Rooted in nautical

terminology, literally, for “off the ship.” Also , in a broader sense ( as rooted in bioscience) “non-organic,” meaning not belonging to the unit or organization.• “On station” – on patrol; in assigned position; or similar. Opposite of “off station.“• “Strike” – a powerful attack on surface targets; can be delivered by air, a.k.a “air strike” or “airstrike”, or any other surface target weapon. Also “Strike warfare.”• Network Centric Warfare (NCW) and Network Centric Operations (NCO) – the most current concept and doctrine for joint warfighting, adopted by DoD circa year 2000• NAVAIR (or NAVAIRSYSCOM) – Naval Air Systems Command; the US Navy organization in charge of the development, test, and delivery of all aircraft including UAS. Other

services have similar organizations. In addition, though the US Coast Guard is within the Department of Homeland Security, it frequently works with US Navy and other DoD elements in law enforcement-type operations. USCG operates current and future UAS, and there is a lot of cross-adoption of systems & technologies.

• PEO – Program Executive Office/Officer, in charge of a mission-type sector or sectors of NAVAIR systems. Named for the mission-type, e.g. PEO Unmanned Aviation & Strike Weapons

• PMA – Program Management Agent,/Office, in charge of a specific air vehicle or set of vehicles (aircraft, helicopters, UAS, and airborne weapons); works for the PEO, e.g., the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program (PMA-262).

• DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; reports directly to the Secretary of Defense; defines, solicits and selects the Defense Department’s advanced research to exploit for the armed services. All the individual services have similar organizations that report to their respective Secretaries (Army, Navy, Air Force). Also, IARPA – the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency; reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence; defines, solicits and selects advanced research to exploit for all the US intelligence service. Both are focused on higher risk, high payoff investments, with a somewhat longer or unknown time horizon.

• “System” - a set of interacting or interdependent system components forming an integrated whole; esp. a way of thinking or conceptualizing.• Deployment – an overseas temporary tour of duty, most frequently associated with real operations or major exercises and involving an entire military unit, usually of 6-9

months• Detachment – (a.k.a. “det”) similar to a deployment, but usually for specific specialized support using only a portion of a larger unit, and often of shorter duration• Operations - defined both as major military functioning in pursuit of task force mission assignments, and the level of warfare associated with large, heavy logistics-

supported maneuvers. The U.S. has developed this level of warfare, first based on Napoleonic approaches, to its epitome, from World War II through its triumphant use in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm and after.

• “Ops“– abbreviated term for operations, usually at a task-force level, but used somewhat loosely. As in “The task force was conducting ops in the mission area.”

Raytheon-Boeing JAGM entry first firing testLockheed Martin Hellfire II laser-guided missile

The Future of Unmanned Air Systems (F-UAS)

Mark TempestilliCaptain, US Navy (Retired)marktempestilli@aol.com

NRL’s FINDER SUAS as parasites on MQ-1 Predator; USAF F-15E Strike Eagles with UCAS cohort on combined mission; MQ-9 Reaper loads Hellfire & JDAM, taxis with full load, and fires a Hellfire

Predator Strike raw video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjOUA6YxvpU

The Future of Unmanned Air Systems (F-UAS)IF@AACC Brown Bag Seminar

2 May 2011

Mark TempestilliCaptain, US Navy (Retired)marktempestilli@aol.com

Questions ?