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January 2009
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Aerosonde Mark 5 UAS has successful test
Published: Jan. 6, 2009
HUNT VALLEY, Md., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. company AAI Corp. says its unmanned aircraft system has successfully completed its first flight test.
AAI is designing its Aerosonde Mark 5 UAS for eventual deployment as part of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps unmanned vehicle programs. Officials say the Aerosonde Mark 5, under development for two years, successfully conducted its first flight tests, marking a milestone for AAI.
The tests, conducted at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, were designed to measure the capabilities of the Aerosonde Mark 5's latest airframe design.
"We have incorporated the best features of our proven Aerosonde aircraft UAS," Steven Reid, AAI vice president of unmanned aircraft systems, said in a statement.
"The Aerosonde Mark 5 delivers impressive endurance with superior intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition capabilities. Our experience and understanding of our military customers' needs uniquely position us to meet these Navy and Marine Corps requirements."
28. DHS Taps SwissCopter for 20 Manned and Unmanned Helicopters
Published: 1/6/2009 InfoBase Publishers/DACIS Newswire
The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) (Washington, DC) awarded SwissCopter AG (Murten, Switzerland) a $15 million contract for 20 manned and unmanned helicopters for safety and security applications for a Homeland Security Project in the Middle East.
All Live Driving Video Systems (LDV) 100 and LDV 200 drones are equipped with multiple cameras, digital and analogue data links and the mapping software i3D from Innosuisse Corp., SwissCopter's parent company.
SwissCopter designs and produces complete solution packages for Homeland Security, Pipeline and Border patrol and commercial applications. The systems include a wide range of drones, autopilots, camera systems, ground stations and the individually designed software for all needs.
The LDV system allows steering and controlling of smaller flying objects and vehicles with a simulator. The uniqueness of the steering system is analogous, that the pilot experiences the same feeling as he / she would sit directly in the cockpit of the object, despite he / she is in a remote, far away location. All orders are submitted and controls in milli seconds and therefore allow a control in real time.
- AIR FORCE WORKING TO PUSH LINK-16 DATA OVER TTNT WAVEFORM
Inside the Air Force November 21, 2008
The Air Force will test a technology that will let special operators use software-based radios to broadcast Link-16 messages over the secure Tactical Targeting Network Technology waveform at a series of networking experiments in Nevada, according to service planners.
At next year’s Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment at the Nellis Air Force Range in Nevada, service officials will equip a special operator with a small Quint Networking Technologies software radio -- similar to a Joint Tactical Radio System -- that is running the TTNT waveform. Using this system, the operator will push Link-16 data to a strike aircraft, unmanned drone and even a simulated incoming net-enabled weapon -- all of which will be equipped with the software radios.
This will give the soldier the “capability to redirect the [weapon’s] path, to strike the target that [he] is seeing,” said John Sopher a technical advisor at the Global Cyberspace Integration Center (GCIC) at Langley Air Force Base, VA during a Nov. 13 telephone interview.
The major advantage of using TTNT for this mission is that the Internet-based waveform is difficult to jam and detect -- something that is critical to special operations forces, according to Sopher.
The secure waveform can also communicate much more easily with other software-based communications assets on the Global Information Grid, added Sopher.
“The benefit of using Internet Protocol is that I can put a gateway on the ground or [in the air] and because it uses Internet Protocol, I can easily pass that information to other units [such as command and control], essentially you can pump that information into the GIG,” said Sopher.
While the team will be testing out the TTNT waveform at this year’s JEFX, the software radio can also run the wide area network waveform that will be used by JTRS -- allowing even greater collaboration with other aircraft or ground troops, according to Col. Stephen Moulton, director of modernization and innovation at the GCIC.
Moulton’s team plans on using a C-12 Huron carrying essentially a seeker head from an Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile as a stand-in for the net-enabled weapon in the experiment, according to Moulton. The strike aircraft and unmanned drone have yet to be decided on, added Moulton.
While TTNT was recently axed as the communication waveform of choice for stealth jets, it is still being evaluated for its use in environments where the United States has air dominance, according to Moulton. -- John Reed
Role in operations should be ‘minimal’
NAVY SECRETARY DEFENDS USE OF CONTRACTORS IN SUPPORTING ROLE
Inside the Navy November 24, 2008
Navy Secretary Donald Winter last week defended the use of contractors to conduct some military missions, but said the services should look to reduce outsourcing on the front lines.
“For those that suggest that contractors should never be involved directly in operations, that the role of the military is reserved solely for those in uniform, I would refer you back to our Constitution and discussions of the issuance of letters of marque,” Winter said during a Nov. 17 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “The concept and the role of privateers in terms of military activities and defense of our nation, really goes back to the 18th century, when privateers were a big part of U.S. naval capability.”
Further, the secretary noted Daniel Boone and Sacagawea acted as guides and interpreters for U.S. military missions.
“This is something that is not new, perhaps what is new is the way in which this concept has evolved over the last several years,” Winter said.
One of the difficulties with the use of contractors providing technical support to leased equipment on the battlefield is the proximity of the hired help to danger, he said. Unlike in the past, counterinsurgency operations like those conducted in Iraq do not have a well-defined “rear area” where contractors can operate without being in the direct line of fire, Winter noted.
“I don’t like the fact that I can go out to forward-operating bases and find contractors there operating [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] assets like the Scan Eagle system out past the normal areas of safety for contractors,” Winter explained.
Scan Eagle is a small, long-endurance autonomous unmanned system that can spy on its surroundings. The system has already been used in Iraq to support Marine Corps forces and has deployed aboard Navy ships in the Persian Gulf.
Right now, the Navy and Marine Corps address ISR shortfalls by leasing the Scan Eagle drone and the services of the people who operate these drones from Boeing and The Insitu Group.
“What we have is the result of recognizing the criticality of these assets,” Winter said last week. “It’s very hard to convert programs like Scan Eagle to programs of record into the inventory and train uniformed personnel on their operations so we can transition from a contracted service to a military capability.”
The Navy leases the drones through Boeing and The Insitu Group with an indefinite quantity contract, issued through separate task orders, worth a maximum of $143.2 million, according to Navy spokesman Lt. Clay Doss. The contract expires in November 2009.
“We have an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with Boeing Corp. to provide persistent unmanned aerial system ISR services in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom sea-based deployments and land-based detachments, using contractor-operated and -maintained Scan Eagle unmanned systems,” Doss explained in an e-mail.
In turn, Winter last week said, in a supporting role, contractors should continue to have a place in military operations.
“The volunteer force did not volunteer to do the laundry, they did not enlist in the military to clean latrines,” he said. “We cannot treat them they way we did the conscripts in World War II and Korea.”
Additionally, the secretary said the military retiree community is an excellent resource for training.
“Contracting is a mechanism for tapping the retiree population for training activities,” he said. -- Zachary M. Peterson.
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