Air Force to drive microlite UAVs

Air Force Times:

Before the end of the next decade, unmanned aerial vehicles no bigger than a dragonfly and faster than a hummingbird will be darting in and out of buildings.

The Air Force laid out its vision for the next generation of UAVs late last month in a report that has a page-by-page breakdown of the aircraft, controls, munitions, sensors and construction materials.

The report’s release came just days before Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told defense and military leaders that the service has “turned a corner” in its pursuit of unmanned technology, describing current operations as “very Neanderthal.”

In his speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Schwartz suggested an unmanned cargo aircraft might be in the service’s future but made it clear he doesn’t support fielding an unmanned nuclear bomber. The 90-page report includes UAVs assigned to tanker and fighter as well as intelligence missions.

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Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), about the size of a sparrow, could be ready to fly by 2015. Fifteen years later, the service wants to have swarms of MAVs no larger than dragonflies up in the air.

These MAVs, to be used mostly in cities, will be designed to blend into the scenery, according to a news release.

“This is where the sensor is made to look like something that belongs in the area such as an insect or bird, so that it is ignored,” the report states. “One of the primary missions driving MAV development is the need to fill the covert close-in sensing requirement.”

The research lab wants these vehicles to mimic birds and insects in every way — perching, hovering and flying in and out of buildings. To make that happen, AFRL wants to develop flapping wings that will make it easier to fly through wind gusts and inside garages or caves.

Besides wanting to shrink its UAVs, the Air Force wants them to fly faster — much faster.

The X-51A Scramjet Engine, designed to fly six times the speed of sound, will launch into space — its first test — this fall. Air Force officials, though, think it could serve as a UAV as easily as it could a space launch vehicle.

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AFRL is also developing munitions systems for the UAVs.

One is a precision missilelike bomb for urban strikes that could be mounted on multiple platforms. Designed to cut down on collateral damage, Suburb Warrior could get a flight test as early as 2014.

An integrated submunition guidance system called Sniper will allow UAV operators to target up to four enemies simultaneously inside urban environments. Flight tests are due by 2011 and could be integrated onto UAVs and long-range cruise missiles, according to AFRL.

The Tube Launched Expendable UAS (TLEU) will be launched in-flight by another aircraft. The missilelike weapon will have a warhead as well as a sensor to send back a feed to provide situational awareness to troops. The TLEU will be launched off a gunship and scheduled to reach initial operational capability by 2014.

Finally, the AFRL outlines the steps that the service is taking toward having pilots flying multiple UAVs as well as multiple types of UAVs at a time. Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Human and Automations Lab shows pilots could fly up to 12 aircraft at the same time.

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This is not the Air Force Buck Rogers envisioned, but it is very interesting. I can think of some interesting applications for scramjet engines, but I do not understand their utility on an observation platform UAV. It reminds me of the old joke where a guy says, "My wife is trying to watch what she eats, but her eyes aren't that fast." Perhaps the idea is to get over station quickly and then loiter.

It does sound like those worried about being bugged by technology may have a plausible argument.