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ISSUE
47 - December 2008
Over 7,000 Total Ads Listed
1,000 NEW Ads Per Week
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| PILOTLESS AIRPLANES?
REALLY? |
Pilotless airplanes? Really? “You’ll
never catch ME getting on an airliner that goes without
a pilot!
So one of my good friends blurting that out almost
forty years ago, responding to my comment that we’d
be seeing pilotless airplanes within fifty years.
Maybe
I missed that mark some, just as I have with my belief
that space colonization would be so much further along
than it is now, 40 years after Stanly Kubrick’s ‘2001:
A Space Odyssey’ premièred in 1968.
But ‘unmanned
air vehicles’ (UAV’s) are another story. We’ve
all seen the news reports of unmanned aircraft flying missions
over Iraq and Afghanistan; about actual air strikes carried
out autonomously by drones; about subminiature ‘air
vehicles’ operated by spies, flying around like bugs,
gathering information.
What we haven’t heard much
about are the countless Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) ‘Unmanned Air Vehicle’ programs
pursued since DARPA was established in1958.
Let’s
look at a few; you’ve heard all about Predator, Global
Hawk and maybe DarkStar, but have you ever heard of Hunter,
Pioneer, Outrider, Brave 200, Sky Owl, Semos, Dash, Copperhead,
or the most notorious of them all, The Aquila?
Aquila started in the ‘70’s
and was originally estimated to cost $123 million followed
by $440 million for procurement of 780 ‘air vehicles’.
The Army abandoned the program in 1987 after spending more
than $1 billion. Aquila was really only a little propeller-driven
aircraft which flew by autopilot, day or night, and used
a laser to designate targets for conventional artillery
adjustment. |
| Compass Dawn (Firebee) |
This reconnaissance drone was developed
from a target drone first produced in 1960. It is one of
a series used for combat reconnaissance during the Vietnam
War. Ryan modified the basic Firebee target to fly autonomous,
pre-programmed, long-range reconnaissance missions, gather
photographic, infrared and electronic intelligence information,
carry out electronic countermeasures, and act as decoys probing
enemy defenses.
During the Vietnam conflict,
over a thousand unmanned Ryan 'Lightning Bug' RPVs carried
out 3,435 sorties round-trip missions of up to 1,400 nautical
miles. These flights were supported by a cadre of on-site
civilian Ryan technicians and specialists.
More than 20 different variations of the Firebee became
operational with Strategic Air Command reconnaissance units
in the late 1960s. One with a wingspan three times that
of the original Firebee could operate above 60,000 ft.
with a range in of 2,400 miles. Much further information
regarding an amazing array of Firebees and their missions
can be found beginning with the site http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-34.html.
Over
6500 Firebee drones of all versions
have been built for the U.S. armed services. Current prime
contractor for the Firebee is Northrop Grumman,
after the acquisition of Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical in July
1999. |
BQM-145A Medium Range UAV |
The primary mission of the BQM-145A
is to obtain high quality images of enemy territory and transmit
them back for reconnaissance analysis in real-time or near-real-time.
The MR UAV's payload bay can carry state of the art reconnaissance
equipment, including electro-optical, infrared and synthetic
aperture radar sensors as well as recorders and data transmitters
to accomplish the mission. MR UAV used the Advanced Tactical
Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) to complement manned
reconnaissance capability . The designated payload of the
MR UAV can capture, record and then transmit electronic images
to a shipboard or ground based control station for digital
analysis.
|
| The Exdrone, Dragon Drone and Dragon Warriors |
The Exdrone and Dragon Series reconnaissance
unmanned aerial vehicles support regiment and brigade size
commands. It has a (GPS) based autopilot and is capable of
programmed autonomous flight. In operation today, an Exdrone
unit consists of ten air vehicles, two ground control stations,
a pneumatic launcher, associated ground support equipment,
and crew of six people. The 101st Airborne and 1st Cavalry
Divisions currently operate the system.
The Dragon Drone
originated as the Exdrone and provides near-real-time video
surveillance of the battlefield. Dragon Drone is capable
of day and night color image transmission with a laser rangefinder,
target identification and location, weapons delivery, and
surveillance for search and rescue.
Dragon Drones have been
assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton,
Calif.; II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC;
Marine Expeditionary Force replacements; and the Marine Corps
Warfighting Lab for further technology development.
The Marine
Corps Dragon Warrior is a Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL)
with cameras coupled with laser range finders and Forward
Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras coupled with laser range
finders. The Exdrone and Dragon series UAV’s have an
8 foot wing span and a max speed of 100 mph.
| Marine Corps Dragon Warrior |
|
| Sentinel and Guardian |
These are Bombardier built Navy VTOL
air vehicles operated from the deck of a small combatant
ship and have the capability of making automatic departures
and approaches . The CL-327 (Guardian), one of the most advanced
vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) surveillance system for
intelligence gathering today, has a 200 km range, a turboshaft
Williams International heavy fuel engine, a digital data-link,
compatibility with the CARS automatic recovery system, and
utilizes the US sponsored Tactical Control Station. Bombardier
also offers the Guardian VTOL system in a land configuration.
The system stores two air vehicles in a trailer, a downsized
UAV control station, and enough fuel and payloads for a 72
hour operation and only requires two personnel to operate.
No pilot skills are required and the crew can be trained
in just four weeks.
|
| Boeings' Condor |
This remotely piloted twin engine
aircraft had a wider wingspan (200 feet) than a Boeing 747
and could operate above 65,000 feet for several davs. Condor
reached a maximum altitude of 67,028 feet in a 1988 flight.
This altitude record for propeller-driven aircraft set by
the Condor was unsurpassed until June 1997, when NASA's Pathfinder
UAV reached a record altitude of 67,350. Condor cost about
$20 million without payload. But with its high altitude and
long endurance, it had global reach, capable of conducting
missions ranging from military surveillance to drug enforcement.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) supported
the flight-testing of the Condor in a military configuration.
Potential users looked at the Condor as a cheap satellite
with a long dwell time. At $20 million (without payload),
Condor would be a cheap supplement to the amount of money
now being spent on state-of-the-art satellite systems.
|
| Senior Bowl D-21 |
The Lockheed D-21 (Project Tagboard)
was an unmanned aircraft designed to carry out high-speed,
high-altitude strategic reconnaissance missions over hostile
territory. It is a product of the Lockheed "Skunk Works" program
that developed the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 "Blackbird" in
the 1960's. The D-21, ramjet-powered and cruising at Mach
3.3 at 90,000 feet, had a range of over 3400 nautical miles.
The D-21 was guided by an inertial navigation system on a
pre-programmed flight profile.
Although originally designed
to be launched from the back of a modified A-12 (redesignated
M-12) a new launch system was developed using modified B-52H
aircraft as carriers. The new D-21 configuration (designated
D-21B) had dorsal mounting hooks for carriage under the B-52's
wing, and a solid rocket booster for the initial acceleration
required to start the ramjet engine. A limited number successful
operational missions were flown, but the D-21 program was
highly classified and details have not been released.
Not every UAV in Iraq is a Predator. The 332nd Expeditionary
Security Forces Squadron uses the “Desert Hawk” UAV. This
small, 7-pound remote control is battery-powered with a wingspan
of 4 feet and flies for about an hour. It is a remarkably
simple, durable, all composite little aircraft. Hand launched
with a bungee cord, and controlled with a portable computer
system, the system offers small front line units enormous
flexibility in gathering local intelligence. The operator
can change its route while airborne by changing the waypoints
in the computer’s software program, and as the plane
carries color cameras as well as thermal imagers for
either day or night operations, it greatly extending the
vision of security forces.
|
| Dragonfly Canard-Rotor-Wing UAV |
A high-speed, ship-based vertical take
off and landing (VTOL) Canard-Rotor-Wing (CRW) is a stoppable-rotor
design which can hover and fly at low-speeds like a conventional
helicopter, and in its stopped-rotor mode it can fly at speeds
in excess of 375 knots. The CRW uses a conventional turbofan
engine. A diverter valve directs the engine exhaust gas either
to the rotor or aft to the jet thrust nozzle. A two-bladed
teetering rotor is used for hover and low-speed forward flight.
The CRW spins a center wing to take off like a helicopter.
Once at a sufficient forward speed, the spinning center wing,
stops rotation and is locked into a position across the fuselage.
Using a reaction-drive rotor system, the CRW eliminates the
need for a mechanical drive train and transmission.
| Dragonfly Canard-Rotor-Wing UAV |
|
| Eagle Eye UAV |
Bell Helicopter Textron Incorporation
(BHTI) took the wind tunnel V-22 model, used off the shelf
helicopter parts, such as the engine, drive shafts, gear
boxes, etc. and built the Eagle Eye tilt rotor UAV. The U.S.
Coast Guard ordered the UAV as part of the service's broad
Deepwater re-equipment effort and a slightly scaled up vertion
with a maximum speed of 200 kts is extended to our European
partners who provide their own payloads.
|
| Lofty View |
The General Atomic GNAT-750 is a long-endurance
tactical surveillance and support system that has been flying
since 1989. Predator is a growth version of the GNAT-750.
The GNAT System offers the combination of long endurance,
large payload capacity and ease of use. GNAT-750 can fly
up to 48 hours without landing for fuel GNAT-750 UAVs were
deployed to Bosnia, Croatia, and Albania to monitor air bases,
entrenchments, supply caches and troop movements. The CIA-operated
Gnat 750-45 Lofty View carries a synthetic aperture radar
with one foot resolution. The EO or IR sensors are in a chin
turret with a wideband satellite data-link antenna. While
the Department of Defense continues to run tests, the Central
Intelligence Agency has fielded a working system that provides
near-real-time information to the field Commander at what
appears to be a very low cost. The I-GNAT has been reconfigured
with a turbo-charged engine to increase its operating altitude
to 30,500 ft with an endurance of up to 48 hours. I-GNAT's
turbo-charged variants are in production and have been delivered
to both US and overseas customers.
|
| Hunter Short Range(SR) UAV |
Hunter is an Israeli ‘Line Of
Sight’ UAV system also in service with the French and
the Belgium Army. Some of it’s payloads are a laser
designator, VHF/UHF radio relay and several payloads for
the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center. Little more
than an Radio controlled model airplane, single units were
originally purchased for $12,000., yet the program was originally
estimated to cost about $1.2 billion for development and
procurement of 50 systems with 400 Hunter air vehicles and
other associated equipment. By the end of the program, the
cost was expected to be $2.1 billion and Hunter was cancelled
after some 20 air vehicle crashes, with only seven of the
planned 50 production systems delivered.
| Hunter Short Range (SR) UAV |
|
| Pioneer Short Range (SR) UAV |
After having been impressed by stories
of early Israeli successes with UAVs, the Navy initiated
an expedited procurement of UAV systems. Pioneer was procured
as an interim UAV capability to provide imagery intelligence
(IMINT) for spotters for naval gunfire as well as provide
a UAV capability for the Marine Corps. Similar to Aquila,
Pioneer is a small, propeller-driven aircraft. Pioneer is
currently assigned to support USN detachments, both East
and West coast, and two USMC companies. Pioneer has flown
in contingency operations over Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia;
most recently it flew in Task Force Eagle and IFOR operations
again over Bosnia. It flew 300+ combat reconnaissance missions
during Persian Gulf operations in 1990-91. The system received
extensive acclaim for outstanding performance in Operation
Desert Shield and Desert Storm. A number of Iraqi units,
recognizing that with the "vulture" overhead, there
would soon be 2000 pound naval gunfire rounds landing on
their positions, the Iraqis made the right choice and, using
handkerchiefs, undershirts, and bedsheets, they signaled
the Pioneer their desire to surrender.
| Pioneer Short Range (SR) UAV |
|
Next week, the future of Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles. Just what IS DarkStar? And when do we fly
on a commercial airliner which has NO PILOT?
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