This document presents the Department of Defense’s (DoD) roadmap for developing and employing unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) over the next 25 years
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- 2.3.2 Concept Exploration UAV Systems
- 2.3.3 DARPA UAV Programs
- 2.3.4 UAV Definition Studies
2.3 Other UAV Systems2.3.1 Residual UAV SystemsT Approximately 50 hand-launched, battery powered FQM-151/Pointers have been acquired by the Marines and the Army since 1989 and were employed in the Gulf War. Most recently, Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) employed one system (3 aircraft) in Europe, and the Army acquired six systems for use at its Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility at Ft Benning, GA. Pointers have served as testbeds for numerous miniaturized sensors (e.g., uncooled IR cameras and chemical agent detectors) and have performed demonstrations with the Drug Enforcement Agency, National Guard, and special operations forces. http://uav.navair.navy.mil/smuav The Army’s Night Vision Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) operates four Sentry UAVs (acquired in 1997), four Flight Hawk mini-UAVs, three Camcopters, and a Pointer system as testbeds for evaluating various night vision sensors and employment concepts.  2.3.2 Concept Exploration UAV SystemsService laboratories have developed a number of UAVs tailored to explore specific operational concepts. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) is currently exploring three such concepts. The first, Dragon Warrior (or Cypher II) was intended to perform over-the-shore, fixed-wing flight, then land, remove its wings, and convert to a hovering design for urban operations. This effort was transferred to the auspices of the NVESD in late 2000, and the MCWL is now proposing a refined version of its Dragon Warrior concept. Neither has yet flown. w  ww.mcwl.quantico.usmc.mil/images/downloads/dragonwarrior A converted K-Max helicopter is being used to explore the Marines’ Broad-area Unmanned Responsive Resupply Operations (BURRO) concept of ship-to-shore or ship-to-ship resupply by UAV. It has been flying since early 2000. Dragon Eye is a mini-UAV (2.4 foot wingspan and 4 lbs weight) developed as one potential answer to the Navy’s Over-The-Hill Reconnaissance Initiative and the Marines’ Interim Small Unit Remote Scouting System (I-SURSS) requirement. Its design is still evolving; the first prototype flew in May 2000. Each of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces will evaluate ten Dragon Eyes (30 total) during 2002. www.mcwl. quantico.usmc.mil/images/downloads/dragoneye) The Counter Proliferation ACTD, sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), envisions deploying several mini-UAVs (Finder) from a larger Predator UAV to conduct point detection of chemical agents and relay the sensor results back through Predator. Fifty Finders are to be built as part of this ACTD. www.jhuapl.edu/colloq/foch  The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has a history of exploring new aerodynamic and propulsion concepts for maritime UAVs. Besides the Dragon Eye and Finder projects described above, the NRL has built and flown nearly 20 original small and micro UAV designs in recent years. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWC/AD) maintains a small UAV test and development team at Webster Field, Maryland, and operates a small fleet with nine types of UAVs. This team managed the evolution of the Exdrone into the Dragon Drone for use by the MCWL. Together, NRL and NAWC/AD operate nearly 30 models of UAVs, many of which are in-house designs. 2.3.3 DARPA UAV ProgramsThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is currently sponsoring five innovative UAV programs. The DARPA/Air Force X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) prototype contract was awarded to Boeing in March, 1999. Its public debut was in September 2000, and first flight is anticipated in the Summer/Fall of 2001. The goal of the UCAV is to perform the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) mission with an aircraft that costs one-third as much to acquire as a Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and is one-quarter as expensive to operate and support. www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/ucav A similar DARPA/Navy Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) is to develop UCAV-Navy (UCAV-N) prototypes and examine concepts for an eventual carrier-based UCAV for the surveillance, strike, and SEAD missions. Its goal is to cost a third as much to acquire as a JSF and one half as much to operate and support. Two definition contracts are underway, with prototype flights possibly beginning in 2002. Neither the Air Force nor the Navy UCAV ATD is expected to lead to a fielded UCAV design before 2010. www.darpa.mil/darpatech2000/speeches/ttospeeches/ttoucav-n(scheuren) 
The Advanced Air Vehicle (AAV) program is developing two rotorcraft projects, the Dragon Fly Canard Rotor Wing (CRW) and the A160 Hummingbird. The CRW will demonstrate the ability to takeoff and land from a hover, then transition to fixed wing flight for cruise. The result will be a high speed (400+ kts) rotorcraft UAV. CRW is expected to fly in late 2001. The A160 UAV uses a hingeless, rigid rotor to achieve a high endurance (24+ hrs), high altitude (30,000 ft) rotorcraft. It is to fly in late 2002. w  ww.darpa.mil/tto/programs/aav Finally, DARPA was exploring four designs for micro air vehicles (MAV) - aircraft less than 6 inches in any dimension. Two, the Lutronix Kolibri and the Microcraft Ducted Fan, rely on a shrouded rotor for vertical flight, while the Lockheed Martin Sanders MicroStar and the AeroVironment Black Widow are fixed wing, horizontal fliers. The envisioned utility of MAVs is to aid the individual soldier/Marine engaged in urban warfare. The micro air vehicle program pushed the envelope in small, lightweight propulsion, sensing, and communication technologies. As of FY01, all MAV funding was put toward defining the Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) within the DARPA/Army Future Combat Systems program. www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/mav 2.3.4 UAV Definition StudiesThe Services are currently funding efforts to define three UAV systems for possible fielding in the post 2010 timeframe. The Air Force’s involvement in DARPA’s X-45/UCAV ATD may, depending on its outcome, lead to an operational version (UCAV-AF) for the SEAD mission. The Navy is studying the feasibility of developing a naval combat UAV (UCAV-N) from its parallel ATD. The Navy is also in the process of defining the Multi-Role Endurance (MRE) UAV, whose performance would be in the realm between that of the tactical Fire Scout and the strategic Global Hawk. A fourth effort, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Sensorcraft, moved from being an unfunded concept to a funded initiative in FY01; its design is to be optimized for future sensing capabilities. http://uav.navair.navy.mil/mre  Directory: intell -> library intell -> Project Fact Sheet Sustainable marketdriven terminal solutions for efficient freight transport (smartset) Main information intell -> Intelligence monitoring drone system intell -> Productivity commission inquiry into intellectual property arrangements mr j coppel, C intell -> A developing country's perspective intell -> Part I: conceptualizing and justifying ip space 3 library -> Appendix e ipb for tactical, operational, and strategic echelons intell -> Afs/Sea Grant Best Student Presentation Summary library -> Writer’s Draft 0 – 4 February 2000 fm 34-10-6/ST library -> Counterintelligence operations Download 0.67 Mb. Share with your friends:
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he US military maintains the residual hardware of several UAV programs that are not current programs of record, but have recently deployed with operational units using trained, uniformed operators. Eighty-two BQM-147 Exdrones (an 80-lb delta wing communications jammer) remain from over 500 built, 45 of which were deployed during the Gulf War. In 1997-98, 38