Technologies are getting smaller and the demand for them is increasing. A phenomenon that can be observed in almost all manifestations of our life. This trend is especially noticeable in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles
The term "micro-UAV" is still awaiting its precise definition. Compared to the larger drones ubiquitous in reconnaissance and combat operations, the much smaller models, ranging from palm-sized systems to shoulder-launched systems, are usually electrically powered and can last an hour or two in the air at best. There are several different terms for small UAVs ranging from nano, micro to mini, but in general they belong to the family of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles that can be quickly deployed for short-term surveillance.
The smallest system used by the US military in day-to-day operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is AeroVironment's Wasp-III. Experts attribute it to a mini-UAV, because the first version of the system had a weight of less than half a kilogram without a payload and a length of 380 mm. The Wasp-III UAV took part in the operations of the Air Force and the Marine Corps, but later, in 2012, it was modernized and received the designation Wasp-AE (All Environment). According to the manufacturer, the flight duration of the device is only 50 minutes, the weight is 1.3 kg, the length is 760 mm and the wingspan is one meter. The company says that the manual launch of the Wasp-AE drone "is virtually undetectable, and its stabilized optoelectronic station can transmit images even in strong winds." The device sits on water and land in deep stall mode; it can be manually operated or programmed to operate autonomously using GPS coordinates. One of the tasks of the Wasp-AE mini-UAV is to work in support of micro-UAV operations.
The Wasp-AE / III emerged from a joint project between AeroVironment and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a portable front-end system that would complement the larger RQ-11A / B Raven drone developed by the same company. DARPA and AeroVironment, as part of the Nano Air Vehicle project, analyzed the possibility of using ultra-small UAVs, after which the Office instructed the company to develop a remotely controlled version of the size of a hummingbird. The UAV, introduced in 2011, was supposed to copy the hummingbird, reproducing the physical parameters of this bird, capable of flying in any direction, so that it would be extremely difficult for an opponent to detect it. The project received an innovation prize, but since 2011, very little information has been received regarding the development and applicability of such a system, and AeroVironment, in turn, could not comment on the presence of work in this area. According to the author of the project, the micro-UAV, filmed in the thriller "Eye in the Sky" 2015, is a copy of the hummingbird drone developed by DARPA and AeroVironment.
As seen in the Wasp-AE / III example, military drones are getting smaller. In line with this trend, the US Army and Marine Corps conducted evaluation tests and adopted the palm-sized Black Hornet system developed by Prox Dynamics and FLIR Systems. Most of all, the UAV is associated with the British army, which adopted this system in 2015. The Black Hornet single rotor nano-UAV is highly regarded by the British military for its ability to provide short-term covert surveillance in populated areas. FLIR Systems, which supplied the device with the Lepton optoelectronics, flatly refuses to disclose sales information and how it will market it in new markets, although Vice President Kevin Tucker made some comments on the matter in November 2016. “All generations of the Black Hornet carry our Lepton reconnaissance station, which combines thermal imaging and optoelectronic sensors to enable soldiers to see in complete darkness, through smoke or aerosols,” said Tucker. "This capability is critical for many customers, and in response, Prox Dynamics and FLIR Systems are looking to expand this highly effective collaboration."
He added that the Black Hornet is revolutionary in many ways, primarily due to the fact that this smallest and lightest UAV is capable of lifting the weight of three sheets of paper. The Black Hornet is equipped with one main propeller, the flight duration is about 25 minutes, the maximum speed is 40 km / h, it can fly one mile from the base station without losing communication with it. One complex consists of two devices, that is, while one is charging, the second is in flight. "The Black Hornet is more of a flying sensor than a drone, as it is a highly efficient aircraft designed to move optoelectronic sensors … This is a typical personal sensor system, as the entire set is easily carried by one person, and its deployment is a matter of a matter of seconds." FLIR Systems said the Black Hornet is operated by more than 12 military customers, including the US Army and Marine Corps and the British Department of Defense, but little technical information is available on this topic. Presumably Norway and Australia are also operating the system, or at least evaluating it.
Drones such as the Black Hornet have traditionally attracted the interest of special forces, but more and more such devices are now being delivered to conventional units and border control agencies. Mr Tucker of FLIR Systems noted that this type of UAV is actually replacing other options for unmanned aircraft. UAVs flying overhead to gather reconnaissance information may simply attract the attention of a nearby enemy, but with a micro UAV such as the Black Hornet, the data needed to enter a dangerous area can be collected unnoticed as it is difficult to visually detect. … “Instead of entering a village with minimal information, a soldier equipped with a Black Hornet can deploy it at a safe distance, fly it over buildings and obstacles using daytime and / or thermal imaging cameras,” added Tucker. - They can control its flight without revealing its location, collect important video information in real time and then, having much better command of the situation, perform the task of infiltrating a given area … Black Hornet is an integral tool of the modern battlefield and various covert operations, and customers, those who use it today understand how important it is to individual soldiers and small groups."
Another area that the US military is exploring is the massive deployment of micro-UAVs from a manned aircraft. In October 2016, the Agency for Strategic Opportunities, traditionally engaged in defense research, disclosed information about the deployment of 103 Perdix drones developed by the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from three US Navy F / A-18E / F Super Hornet fighters (video below). In collaboration with the Naval Aviation Systems Command, the Agency has demonstrated "one of the largest flocks of microdrones." As stated in a press release from the Ministry of Defense, "a concept that will ultimately be used to break through enemy air defenses." This is due to the fact that a large number of such UAVs are excellent for breaking through complex air defense systems, they fill the zone, thereby disrupting the operation of radars and helping to hide the attacking aircraft. As stated in the press release, "Microdrones have demonstrated advanced flock behavior such as collective decision making, adaptive group flight and self-healing." UAVs Perdix are pre-programmed not for individual, but for collective flight, adapting to each other "like a swarm of bees in nature." Due to the complex nature of warfare, Perdix drones are not programmed to fly individual vehicles synchronously; they are a collective organism that shares a distributed brain to make decisions and adapt to each other. "Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix drone, the flock has no leader and can independently adapt to drones entering or leaving the group."
Bird eye
However, some manufacturers see little need to develop very small UAVs and instead focus on minisystems. Israel Aerospace Industries, whose Malat division develops well-known UAVs such as the Heron family of the MALE category (Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance - medium altitude and long flight duration), does not focus on systems less than the "mini" category. The director of this division, Dan Beachman, said that the Birdeye-400 drone with a mass of 5.3 kg is the smallest system in the company's portfolio, since it meets all the needs of the market. “I believe that our model Birdeye-400 is in demand by defense and law enforcement agencies and, most likely, we will remain in this niche in the future. We have always tried to keep our finger on the pulse and study market demands, we try to satisfy requests as quickly as possible … We believe that we have every opportunity to constantly improve the system, add more features and at the same time maintain size. Since we are engaged in UAVs, we must improve on-board equipment and increase the capabilities of systems to perform a variety of tasks."
Both mini UAVs, Birdeye-400 and Birdeye-650, are popular not only in Israel, but also in many other countries. “We try to keep the system in demand through continuous improvement, and in this process, batteries with a large capacity are not the last,” Beechman said. "We started with a flight duration of less than an hour, and now we are approaching an hour and a half with the same configuration." He added that in the "mini" category, customers are looking for a small system that can be carried in a backpack and "they are happy with our accomplishments." These two small systems can carry a small payload of one kilogram and one and a half kilograms, and their flight duration is 1, 5 hours and 5 hours, respectively.
Currently, the process of reducing the size of onboard equipment is underway, which, according to Beachman, allows one to integrate either more sensors into one UAV, or allows a smaller drone to carry equipment that was previously intended exclusively for larger vehicles. “We see a clear trend, the technology is helping to reduce the size of the payload, so we can hang more systems on a specific system or install sensors on smaller systems. With the exception of nanosystems, mini and mini UAVs are not exclusively the domain of the military, as many commercial and amateur systems fall into similar weight categories. Take the DJI Phantom family of UAVs, quadcopters from this manufacturer have become synonymous with non-governmental, professional and amateur use, unmanned aerial vehicles. These commercial, yet functional, small UAVs can be purchased for around $ 1,000. However, the availability of such technology means that it is open to hacking and can turn into a weapon in the wrong hands.
The Western coalition led by the United States in the fight against the Islamic State (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) uses armed drones, mainly the MQ-9 Reaper model by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which belongs to the MALE category. IS fighters also have a lot of experience with drones, but on a slightly smaller size. A video of the use of a modified Phantom UAV, which was adapted to drop grenades on the military personnel of the coalition forces and the civilian population in Iraq and Syria, appeared on the network. This means that the coalition forces are forced to fight not only the infrastructure of IS and its fighters, they must also identify, track and neutralize improvised armed mini-UAVs.
It is noteworthy that the use of drones by IS to carry and drop explosives negatively affects the combat capability of the coalition forces deployed in Iraq and Syria, which are helping these countries in the fight against a terrorist organization. The first fatal attack of this type was recorded in October 2016, according to the Center for Counter Terrorism, based at the United States Military Academy in West Point. “In early October, two Kurdish soldiers were killed while inspecting an unknown drone. The group has been in service with drones for quite some time and is experimenting with them, this case was the first successful use of UAVs and perhaps this practice will become widespread and such incidents may become more frequent in the coming months, years and decades. While professional systems are in one way or another protected from malicious hacking, the technologies of amateur UAVs by themselves are not so advanced as to protect themselves from attacks, so the risks that these technologies carry should not be underestimated.
If dropping grenades is a threat, then the use of chemical or biological weapons from small UAVs can be terrifying in consequences, and IS is an organization that seeks to use everything it can get to and what it believes can cause at least some damage. … The Center also said in a statement that "the use of drones to some extent complicated only some conflicts, but the use of this technology by various kinds of insurgents should significantly change or transform the course of any conflict."
While micro-UAVs and mini-UAVs have been used for several years in some military operations, in particular in the military interventions of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq, the capabilities they offer appear to be not fully explored. Only the most technologically advanced countries, mainly NATO members, are armed with miniature military systems such as the Black Hornet, although many armies are striving to obtain such technologies, which greatly simplify the conduct of hostilities in populated areas.
One of the reasons why countries do not have such systems in service is their cost. After all, all the necessary technologies must be “crammed” into a miniature shell, although the process of moving the computing power of a desktop computer into the ubiquitous smartphone indicates that, ultimately, the price noose can be successfully unleashed in the near future. Another reason for the insufficiently frequent use of mini-, micro- and nano-UAVs may lie in the banal shortage of these systems. These three categories are often incorrectly combined into one, but the capabilities of different systems, for example, the Black Hornet and Birdeye-400, differ slightly, indicating, thereby, there is a lack of acceptable solutions that can meet the needs of the entire market. For example, the Black Hornet drone is intended for use by special forces and ground forces seeking to quickly get a picture of a potentially dangerous area into which they have to enter, while the Birdeye-400, with a flight duration of one and a half hours, allows for longer (albeit insufficient) surveillance. behind the terrain.
One of the trends emerging in this market is the replacement of other types of UAVs with these small devices, which resembles the process of replacing traditional aviation with unmanned systems. Despite the fact that some experts may not see the advantages of unmanned systems, taking on the dangerous tasks that manned platforms have traditionally solved, in general, autonomy is currently a favorite topic of the military in many countries of the world. Operators don't just agree that drones are limiting their capabilities, they are looking for new ways to improve the efficiency of their unmanned aircraft. Size and relatively low visibility are the most attractive characteristics of micro-UAVs, since they allow conventional units and special forces to quickly establish surveillance over the area of the upcoming operation, because otherwise it is simply risky to enter there without preliminary reconnaissance.
We can say with confidence that as the development and cost of micro-UAV technologies are developing and reducing the cost of micro-UAV technologies, the armies of many countries, and not only the first row, will be able to afford to adopt such systems into service. But, unfortunately, as the realities of our time show, extremist organizations of various kinds can "catch up" behind them.
