Will the European multinational medium-altitude UAV project finally be implemented this time? This was confirmed by the German Chancellor and the French President in April 2015. Let's see … In any case, this is what the Male 2020 partners, Dassault, Alenia and Airbus are hoping for.
Expeditionary operations in Iraq and Afghanistan raised the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to a new level, although these conditions were unique of their kind (as was the case with previous air operations in Korea and Vietnam). The withdrawal of most of the coalition forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 provided an opportunity to reflect on the present and future use of unmanned aviation
The military, among other things, may be interested in the following aspects: what duties could best be performed by UAVs in a conflict scenario of a more general plan, how much it really costs to acquire and operate them, how UAVs can survive in the presence of enemy aircraft of modern air defense systems, and, finally, how they can be integrated into peacetime operations in home theaters.
The military action in Afghanistan undoubtedly served as a powerful impetus for the development of the UAV market. Based on the experience gained, no one wants to go to war without (at least) unmanned aerial reconnaissance and surveillance systems, just as no one wants to go to war without precision ammunition.
However, UAV sales still represent only a small share of the military aviation market. In the Pentagon's 2016 request, drone sales account for just 4.94% of the cost of "aviation and related systems." One of the factors limiting UAV sales is the belief that since most recent UAV operations took place in relatively free airspace, it is not at all necessary to meticulously fulfill future needs.
But the facts speak for themselves, during the 78-day operation of the allied forces in Kosovo in 1999, about 47 NATO UAVs were lost, of which 35 were destroyed by the Serbian air defense. If the UAV is large enough to be seen from some distance, then it is an easy daytime target. Three Georgian UAVs (including at least one Elbit Hermes 450) were shot down over Abkhazia by Russian fighters ahead of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war.
In the short term, larger UAVs need defensive systems to spread heat reflectors or jam attacking missile guidance systems.
If cost is not an issue, then it is necessary to move quickly or become invisible to overcome modern anti-aircraft systems. Hypersonic missiles are being developed, so one can expect the appearance of hypersonic reconnaissance UAVs, although the jet-propelled vehicles, most likely, will be either too large or very limited in range.
To intercept hypersonic UAVs, a very short reaction time of air defense systems is required. An example is Lockheed Martin's SR-72 project, a breakout vehicle that can reach speeds of up to Mach 6.
A definite indicator of the complexity of development problems in this area is the fact that although Lockheed Martin discussed its SR-72 Mach 6.0 project with engine experts from Aerojet Rocketdyne for several years, but according to the company, the final product in the form of a reconnaissance drone for breakthrough air defense will be ready no earlier than 2030. We only know that commercial turbine engines will first be able to accelerate the SR-72 to about Mach 3 (the speed achieved by the previous SR-7I Blackbird project), and that hypersonic jet engines will then double this speed.
To operate within the atmosphere, hypersonic reconnaissance assets may emerge as a byproduct of the XS-1 experimental spacecraft project, which Darpa (Defense Advanced Research and Development Administration) and Boeing and Northrop Grumman are working on. The XS-1 aircraft is designed to deliver a payload weighing 1360-2270 kg to low-earth orbit. In addition, Boeing is responsible for the much larger X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) prototype, which has been in orbit for up to 674 days.
As for small signs of signature (stealth), the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV was undoubtedly designed with two aspects in mind: it must have a sufficient level of survivability to fly over countries such as Iran, but at the same time its loss should not have great consequences. This makes it the first low-cost, low-signature UAV. It is believed to have entered service with the US Air Force in 2007 and was deployed to bases in Afghanistan and South Korea, possibly to monitor nuclear developments in neighboring countries. One such UAV was lost over Iran in December 2011.
According to the US Air Force, the RQ-170 is in service with the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at the Tonopah Range and the 432nd Air Wing based at the Nevada Air Base.
Give credit to Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine; only thanks to his materials, the public became aware of rather scant information about the advanced RQ-180 reconnaissance UAV with guided signatures, created by Northrop Grumman (it seems another subsonic flying wing in the style of the B-2 traditions). It is assumed that the contract for the development of the RQ-180 was obtained in 2008, the first deliveries took place in 2013, and the device could be put into service in 2015.
It has been speculated that the April 2014 explosion over the Kola Peninsula was nothing more than the destruction of a Russian air defense missile RQ-180 that took off from Stavanger in southern Norway (which seems unlikely) to photograph Russian naval bases.
Hypersonic reconnaissance UAVs may be variants of the Darpa and Boeing programs on the XS-1 experimental space plane. An alternative to the Boeing XS-1 project (below) is the Northrop Grumman concept, which was based on a similar configuration (above)
Experienced orbiter Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle has flown for 674 days, but its purpose has not been revealed
High price
Even relatively low-tech UAVs cost a lot and offer little flexibility compared to manned aircraft. Eight unarmed Predator XP UAVs manufactured by General Atomics with optoelectronic stations and maritime radars were sold to the United Arab Emirates for a total of $ 220 million. At first glance, it seems that this is a bit expensive for a relatively simple combination of an aircraft body and engine with advanced communications, surveillance and target designation. It should be noted that although these UAVs are not armed, the US State Department separately gave permission to sell laser designators for marking targets for attack by other means (for example, aircraft). The US government has banned the sale of the armed Predator XP to Jordan, but has recently opened up the market to India. The relatively high cost of systems for the UAE is partly due to the fact that this was the first order for the new Predator XP UAV model, which first took off only in June 2014. For comparison, the American army provided $ 357.9 million for 15 armed MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs from General Atomics in the budget request for 2016, which, according to simple calculations, is about $ 23.9 million per device.
One of the last known UAV deals was the sale of four MQ-9 Reaper General Atomics UAVs to the Netherlands. According to the Office of Defense Cooperation of the US Department of Defense, four MQ-9 Block 5 UAVs, six Honeywell TPE331-10T turboprop engines, four General Atomics Lynx radars, standard additional equipment and spare parts to provide 3400 flight hours for a period of three years were estimated at 339 million dollars, or 84, 75 million for one device.
As for the general situation in the field of export sales of unarmed UAVs, although the MQ-9 Reaper UAV was bought by France (16), Italy (6), the Netherlands (4) and Great Britain (10), today only the British version has the ability to install weapons … Italy requested this modernization, Turkey also did not lag behind and asked the United States for the supply of armed UAVs. Spain (where General Atomics and Sener have teamed up) and Germany have shown interest in purchasing the MQ-9 and may request an armed version. Australia also requested pricing and delivery information; on the eve of the order, the personnel of the Australian Air Force is being trained in America on the MQ-9.
In February 2015, the US administration announced that it had eased the restrictions somewhat, allowing the sale of lethal UAVs under intergovernmental agreements with approved (but not named) countries, subject to guarantees of targeted use. The point is that the previous policy (undeclared) did not provide for the sale of American armed UAVs at all, with the only (no explanation) exception, Great Britain.
However, the well-understood plan of the Americans - to slow down the spread of armed UAVs - stimulates other countries to develop aircraft with the capabilities they need.
Photos of the crash of CH-3 CASC Caihong in Nigeria with two air-to-ground missiles released in early 2015 indicate that China is one such country. Reports indicated that the 630 kg CH-3 was sold to at least four countries, including Pakistan. A larger UAV (1150 kg) Chengdu Wing Loong (Pterodactyl), also armed, was delivered to three countries, most likely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
Loitering UAV Harpy of the Israeli company IAI was exported in 1994 to China (and subsequently to Chile, India, South Korea and Turkey), but further sales of Israeli armed UAVs may be subject to pressure from the United States (as well as the modernization of Harpy).
However, countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa (add China as a member of the BRICS) can develop UAVs and light guided missiles. In order to learn how to make more complex devices, the simplest solution is licensed production. As an example, we can cite Brazil, which recently began production of IAI Heron MALE UAVs (Medium Altitude Long Endurance - medium altitude and long flight duration) in its country. The device was named Cacador (hunter).
Japan, South Korea and many European countries with their technological capabilities can and would like to respect the US International Arms Trade Regulations (Itar), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Agreement (to control the sale of weapons and dual-use technologies), but do they want to do this in times of relatively high unemployment?
Various additional systems installed on this 1:10 scale Male 2020 model, shown by Dassault at Eurosatory, clearly indicate that the tasks of this UAV also include ground or marine monitoring (radar in the lower fuselage), electronic countermeasures and radio engineering intelligence service
In 2012, tests of the LaWS (Laser Weapon System) laser weapons system began on board the destroyer Dewey (DDG-105)
The MQ-9 UAV is still known as Predator-B at General Atomics. This prototype, named Ikhana, will be used to test General Atomics' Due Regard Radar (DDR) air traffic radar.
New developments?
In Western countries, the UAV industry may already have reached its limit in terms of sales and will probably find itself in the same situation as the armored vehicle industry. This situation was very clearly illustrated by the Idex 2015 exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where there was simply an abundance of ideally suited devices manufactured by the countries that previously imported them. These countries not only manufacture such devices, but as evidenced by their presence at defense exhibitions, they are currently also exporting them. Earlier, several examples of such UAVs have already been mentioned, although, as for the real capabilities of China, they become known only when an aviation accident occurs. Like everything that is being developed in the country in the defense sphere, China keeps secret.
For a while, we will put aside lighter UAVs, since very often their development boils down to altering relatively advanced radio-controlled devices (or part of them) for military use and issuing a type certificate to them by their own certification offices for a relatively high price - indeed a very profitable activity for the participants in this process the so-called consulting agencies.
Let's pay attention to UAVs of the MALE type (Medium Altitude Long Endurance - medium-altitude with a long flight duration) and possibly their closest subcategory. When it comes to export sales in this area, the Israelis are undoubtedly the champions here (if we combine the models offered by Israel Aircraft Industries and Elbit). However, countries appearing on this market are trying to find ways to escape dependence, especially when it comes to aviation weapons.
In Europe, the development of a multinational UAV has become a comedy or a drama, depending on how you look at it. At the moment, this situation is very beneficial to the American company General Atomics, since the customers of its UAV Reaper are France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In particular, three countries on this list were unable to agree on a single basic European project, but all eventually agreed to go out and buy the same thing abroad, showing a great sense of "togetherness."
So, what will happen now with the next European project, "confirmed" by the statements of Angela Merkel and François Hollande in April last year, in reality, one can only guess, since the German Chancellor actually mentioned the possibility of an armed option, which is quite surprising given the current German rejection of weapons. The project is currently suspended in the air, and time will tell when the real device will be able to take off. In fact, this particular (and newest) project has its roots in industry, as is often the case. It is the result of a bid made in June 2013 by Dassault, Alenia and Cassidian (now Airbus), but which has so far gone unnoticed - the norm for politicians to be involved. Now, more than two years later, it has become their own idea. The first photo of the article shows a photograph of a model presented by Dassault at Eurosatory 2014. The project was named Male 2020.
And here is the absolutely opposite situation. Europe has become the birthplace of several military rotorcraft UAVs, but none of them is a multinational product. But, as they say to Caesar, Caesar's, because almost all European developments lead to the Swedish company Cyb-Aero, whose Apid models often became the starting point for a number of projects. Rotary-wing UAVs will be discussed further in the following parts of this review.
Future battlefields will see mobile laser weapons used against targets such as UAVs, mortar rounds and tactical missiles. This 10 kW pilot plant was developed by Boeing with funding from the US Army.
During a demonstration by Rheinmetall in 2013, a high-energy laser successfully shot down three jet UAVs within seconds. Hel laser was installed on the roof of an anti-aircraft gun turret with a revolving cannon.
People and failures
As for the cost of UAVs, there are a number of points of concern. The first is that "uninhabited" aviation in reality requires significant human resources. For example, according to available data, the US Air Force plans to assign ten pilots to each MQ-l / MQ-9 Cap (combat air patrol) UAV during routine operations. The Pentagon requires the army to provide 65 Cap patrols, each with four UAVs. Add in various equipment operators, maintenance technicians and intelligence analysts, and each unmanned flight hour requires hundreds of man-hours.
Another concern of the US Air Force is that at the moment there is a weak system of rewarding personnel for training for flights only on UAVs, which there (as in NATO) are called RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) (in contrast to the American army and navy where they are called UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] and the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration, who call them UAS [unmanned aircraft system]). One new avenue for incentives for US Air Force drone pilots is to increase "flight" fees from $ 650 to $ 1,500 per month for the entire six-year active life.
One of the good news about the cost of UAVs is that the number of accidents of the more expensive types is dropping to acceptable levels. This is important because the US Air Force has more than 300 large UAVs on its balance sheet; There are currently 164 MQ-ls, 194 MQ-9s and 33 RQ-4s from Northrop Grumman on this list.
Class A accidents are defined as those that result in damage of $ 2 million or more and are calculated per 100,000 flight hours. Due to the professional development of pilots and the modification and improvement of these drones, the A-class accident rates for the MQ-1 and MQ-9 are currently approaching that of the manned Lockheed Martin F-16, and the rates for RQ-4 (redundantly redundant systems) are actually lower than that of the F-16 fighter.
Similar conclusions are drawn based on data from the US Air Force over the past five years (2010-2014). During this time, F-16 fighters flew an average of 195623 hours / year, had a class A accident rate of 1.79. Meanwhile, the piston-powered MQ-1 flew 209,233 hours / year and had an accident rate of 4.30. The MQ-9 UAV with a turboprop engine flew 119205 h / year and had a coefficient of 2.35. The largest US Air Force RQ-4 drones flew only 15356 hours / year, but had an accident rate of only 1.30.
Compare apples to apples, not peaches
The price battle between remote controlled vehicles and conventional aviation is virtually absurd. A UAV, devoid of all the systems necessary for the pilot on board (avionics, ejection seat, cockpit canopy, onboard oxygen generation system, pressure maintenance, air conditioning, etc.) is inevitably cheaper, not to mention gain in mass and volume, which ultimately results in a decline in value again. And there is one more significant point in such calculations. A fighter, for example, just like a UAV, is a system and needs its own complex infrastructure. Very often this cost factor is not taken into account. UAVs, on the other hand, are sold as systems, and after purchasing at least one device, ideal (or close to them) flight conditions must be provided.
In addition, efficiency is a key metric that cannot be measured like operating costs per hour. Whatever people say, the Global Hawk UAV can stay in the air much longer than the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft; its crew can work in shifts, and the U-2 pilot works as long as he can.
In the U-2 versus Global Hawk dispute, the real question is, "Is it necessary for the Global Hawk to do U-2's time-limited work?" In other words, “is it advisable to use a Rolls-Royce to plow the field?” On the other hand, take the risk of Gary Powers' U-2 adventure, or rather send a Global Hawk if the environment is known to be unsafe, but the task is necessary? Some things cannot be measured and for this there is the word "incomparable".
In principle, the cost of some military UAVs (especially small devices used by advanced forces) based on civilian developments should be significantly lower. If the armed forces buy about 1,000 UAVs a year, then according to some estimates, air amateurs bought about 500,000 units in 2014, and this figure in 2015 may well reach one million. In addition to the advantages of large-scale civilian production, the military could use some inexpensive civilian developments. Examples include an obstacle avoidance locator, video tracking of maneuvering targets, and waterproof four-rotor vehicles that can float and monitor underwater.
The leader in the civilian sector is the Chinese company Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) with 2,800 employees, which sold $ 130 million in 2013 and about $ 400 million in 2014. The cost of her products ranges from $ 500 to $ 3,000. They are followed by the American company 3D Robotics and the French company Parrot. In 2012 alone, Parrot sold 218,000 UAVs.
To demonstrate the value for money of consumer UAVs, DJI released in April 2014 a GPS-controlled Phantom 2 Vision + drone with a stabilized camera that captures 30 frames / 1080p HD video and 14 megapixel photos. The device costs only $ 1299.
The commercial UAV sector is relatively small, but, for example, over 2,300 systems are already in use in agriculture in Asia. The American market should explode after the Federal Aviation Administration finally finally determines its rules for operating small-sized UAVs.
In 2014, Darpa issued a request for information regarding transport aircraft and bombers acting as "aircraft carriers in the skies" that could launch and receive small universal UAVs to penetrate hostile airspace and attack well-defended targets.
Currently, it is expected that UAVs weighing less than 25 kg (but more than 2 kg) will be allowed to perform aerial survey and mapping, crop monitoring, inspection of oil and gas pipelines, cell towers, bridges and high-rise buildings. The agency predicts that by 2020 there will be 7,500 commercial UAVs in operation in the United States.
However, it is assumed that commercial UAVs ("small UAVs") will be prohibited from operating during the day when visibility is less than 4.8 km, at a maximum height of about 150 meters (it is clear that it does not correspond to some of their tasks) and only in line of sight with the operator. which must have a UAV operator certificate. The apparatus shall bear the identification mark of the largest practical size. The Federal Aviation Administration does not intend to issue permits for the use of UAVs for such mundane tasks as pizza delivery.
The return of military UAVs to the continental United States has highlighted the need to take measures to ensure that they do not collide with other flying objects using the national airspace management system. Until now, this has been accomplished through the use of a manned escort aircraft or ground observer, which limits operations to daytime.
The U. S. Army has now begun installing SRC's ground-based sense-and-avoid (Gbsaa) airborne collision detection and avoidance systems at its key mainland air bases, starting with Fort Hood in December 2014. This will be followed by the Fort Drum airbases, Hunter Army, Fort Campbell and Fort Riley.
The Gbsaa system receives data over fiber optic cables or shortwave communication channels from several airborne sensors (three three-dimensional radars with electronic scanning SRC Lstar in the first case) and calculates the risk of a UAV collision, compared with the routes of other aircraft. The Gbsaa operator transmits this information to the UAV operator for taking appropriate action to avoid a collision.
Meanwhile, General Atomics has developed a DRR (Due Regard Radar) air traffic radar installed on UAVs, which is proposed as a component of the collision avoidance system for unmanned aircraft ACAS-Xu (Airborne Collision-Avoidance System for Unmanned aircraft). DRR was tested as part of General Atomics' SAA (Airborne Collision Avoidance) system, which includes automatic collision avoidance and sensor fusion to provide the UAV pilot with a picture of the air traffic around his vehicle. The company is working with NASA to integrate its SAA system into the prototype Predator-B UAV, designated Ikhana.
A joint program between Darpa and the Naval Research Directorate, designated Tern, will allow small forward-based ships to serve as bases for male reconnaissance UAVs.
Drone fighting
There is a growing awareness that in future conflicts, UAVs can pose a threat to any ground and surface forces. The obvious way to deal with a Predator-sized UAV is with a portable anti-aircraft missile system with an infrared-guided missile.
In order to protect UAVs from threats of this type, Elbit Systems has developed a system of controlled countermeasures to infrared devices mini-Music. The attacking missile is first detected by the missile attack warning system, then captured by the thermal imaging automatic tracking device, which allows you to direct the laser beam precisely at the attacking missile and thereby confuse its guidance system.
It is possible that large UAVs may in the future have some kind of defensive micro-missile or interceptor system, similar to the active defense complex for helicopters Helicopter Active Protective System (Haps), recently developed by Orbital ATK to protect against RPGs.
Advanced ground units are likely to have anti-aircraft weapons to defeat manned aircraft and medium / large UAVs, but they currently do not have the means to deal with small UAVs, which, moreover, can be used simultaneously in large numbers ("flocks") … Thus, research on the fight against unmanned aerial vehicles focuses on the detection of numerous small air targets and the development of inexpensive means of destruction.
Radar detection is effective, but not feasible at the level of a small unit, so the possibility of using passive infrared and other wavelengths is being studied. As for the mechanisms of destruction of UAVs, mini-missiles (for example, the Spike with a mass of 2.5 kg, in service with the US Navy), being mass-produced, have a cost per unit of tens of thousands of dollars, which makes them too expensive to deal with a "flock" of micro- UAV.
However, land-based and ship-based directed energy weapons using lasers or microwave waves offer the advantages of low cost per hit and less indirect loss and damage compared to, for example, fragmentation munitions. The exposed UAV does not have to be destroyed. Damage to its antenna or sensor will likely make it aerodynamically unstable, which will negatively affect the performance of the task.
Laser weapons not only provide a lower cost (less than a dollar) per kill, quick target acquisition and the ability to deal with maneuvering targets, but also have virtually unlimited magazine capacity. On the other hand, it is susceptible to atmospheric phenomena (especially water vapor and smoke) and can only hit one target at a time. It is clear that this weapon cannot attack over-the-horizon targets.
Boeing demonstrated a 190 kW laser system installed on a truck chassis, which was developed under the US Army's HEL-MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator) program. UAVs and mortar ammunition were successfully hit at ranges of up to 5 km and 2 km, respectively.
In recent field trials, Lockheed Martin's 30kW Athena (Advanced Test High Energy Asset) fiberglass laser knocked out the engine of a small truck over 1.6 km.
Boeing has been awarded a contract to develop a prototype for the High Power Beam-Control Subsystem (HP-BCSS). It should provide extreme precision laser weapons developed by BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon for use on US Navy ships under the Office of Naval Research's SSL-TM semiconductor laser program.
Sea trials began in 2012 with the installation of a LaWS (Laser Weapon System) laser weapon system on board the destroyer Dewey (DDG-105). The 30 kW LaWS unit was designated AN / SEQ-3 (XN-1). In 2014, the SSL-Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) system was installed aboard the USS Ponce, a member of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.
The goal of the SSL-QRC and SSL-TM programs is to create an advanced 100-150 kW experimental model in 2016, and ultimately to install a high-energy laser on ships such as the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) and LCS frigates. … The US Navy plans to carry out a shipborne laser program until 2018 with initial readiness in 2020-2021. These more powerful lasers are expected to be effective against various surface and air targets at ranges up to 15-20 km.
In 2014, the Navy's R&D Department awarded Raytheon a $ 11 million contract to install a short-range laser system on a Hummer armored vehicle. It is expected that this development will lead to the creation of a laser weapon with a power of 30 kW and a compact radar with a phased antenna array, which will be installed on the promising light tactical armored vehicle Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).
The German company Rheinmetall has recently gained comprehensive experience in the use of commercially available high-energy lasers and their adaptation as weapons systems, including in the field of air defense. In 2013, it successfully demonstrated a 50 kW laser, as well as a 30 kW version with an optical tracking system installed on an Oerlikon Revolver Gun anti-aircraft gun and connected to an Oerlikon Skyguard fire control radar. A 30 kW laser shot down three jet UAVs flying at a speed of 20 m / s at a distance of about two kilometers.
The demo of the five-ton Boeing Swift Phantom will be powered by two CT-7 turboshaft engines. Darpa claims a speed of 400 knots at 40% load and a wingspan with annular propellers of 15 meters. It has not yet been decided whether the vehicle will be manned or not.
Following Northrop Crumman's closure of the Lemv long-duration drone program in 2013, Hybrid Air Vehicles purchased the HAV304 prototype, which will serve as the basis for the manned Airlander (pictured). Subsequently, an unmanned version is also possible.
