Textron’s Remote-Controlled Flying Bomb

Textron Defense Systems has a new flying drone that’s designed to explode on contact with enemy positions.
The compact BattleHawk Squad Level Loitering Munition is armed with a 40mm high-fragmentation charge. It has a video camera built into its nose, so ground troops can remotely pilot it over rooftops or hills to attack hiding enemy forces.
The BattleHawk weighs about five pounds when it’s packed inside its special launching tube. A spring propels the drone into the air and the electric motor starts up the tiny, rear propeller.
“Once it’s launched, it’s armed,” Mick Guthals, director of Business Strategy & Capture at Textron, said while displaying the BattleHawk at the Air Force Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. Sept. 17–19.
Using a small remote control, ground troops can fly the BattleHawk at speeds up to 60 miles per hour for approximately 30 minutes. The BattleHawk is designed to attack dismounted enemy and light-skinned vehicles, Textron officials said.

The world’s leading combat UAVs

As the typical demands of a conflict evolve, air forces across the world are examining the possibility of carrying out attacks without endangering the lives of servicemen. Unmanned combat UAVs, having been developed from their reconnaissance predecessors, offer just that solution.

Although aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper have seen substantial action in conflicts within Iraq and Afghanistan, a whole raft of new UCAVs possessing new and emerging capabilities are beginning to come to the fore.

Perhaps the most notable of which are the European duo of BAE's Taranis and Dassault's nEUROn programme.

A recent memorandum of understanding signed between the governments of France and the UK have outlined a future collaboration on the development of a UCAV, combining the strengths of both the Taranis and nEUROn projects. Any subsequent vehicle promises to more than match the current family of UCAVs.

Taranis

        The Taranis air vehicle is approximately the same size as the BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainer

BAE System's Taranis UCAV, unveiled in July 2010, is the culmination of a £143m joint programme to design an unmanned air vehicle demonstrator.

Once fully developed, the Taranis will be capable of delivering weapons to a battlefield in another continent with a high level of autonomy, filling capability gaps in the RAF's future fleet.

Northrop Grumman gets ready for HALE air-to-air refuelling

Las Vegas - Northrop Grumman (booth 3639) has flown two RQ-4 Block 10 Global Hawks in formation under its KQ-X programme to develop the concept of air-to-air refuelling for high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs.

One of the aircraft in the exercise was equipped with a belly-mounted refueling system.

The two aircraft have yet to make dry contacts or exchange fuel, however.

"This programme is designed to demonstrate air-to-air refuelling of high-altitude long-endurance UAVs," said Walt Kreitler, HALE Systems director of business development at Northrop Grumman. "This is a very complex mission."

Under a $33 million deal in 2010 with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Northrop agreed to demonstrate refuelling with a pair of Block 10 RQ-4 Global Hawks the company shares with NASA.

Negotiating with the US: Pakistan offers new drone-use mechanism

ISLAMABAD: With fissures in their bilateral ties quickly being healed, Pakistan has offered the US a new mechanism encompassing ‘surveillance’ of targeted operations against wanted militants as an alternative to drone strikes in the country’s tribal regions.

The plan, as crafted by Islamabad, involves both the identification of targets by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the tribal areas and swapping of information with the Pakistani security agencies. The latter will then deal with the situation accordingly, said officials familiar with the development.

“To ensure that Pakistan acts on the information provided by the CIA, the US can use any mechanism to monitor our operation on the ground,” revealed a senior figure of the country’s security establishment.

“They (US) can even use drones for this purpose,” the official explained. However, he clarified that no foreign boots on the ground would be allowed for surveillance.

The mechanism is currently figuring in behind-the-scene discussions between Pakistan and the US, he said.

The idea also seeks to dispel the growing perception in Washington that Islamabad is playing a ‘double game’ in the ‘war on terror’.

He disclosed that both sides had coordinated initial drone attacks when the CIA first launched its campaign back in 2004. Another official remarked that “the CIA later took a solo flight under the assumption that Pakistan is playing a double game”.

The official said Pakistan expects a breakthrough in its ongoing negotiations with the US on finding a ‘mutually acceptable’ alternative to the CIA-piloted drone campaign.

The optimism stems from the fact that until now, Pakistan had never offered the US any serious alternative to predator strikes.

The reason, the official cited, was a tacit understanding between Pakistan and the US to use pilotless drones in the rugged terrain along the Pak-Afghan border where key al Qaeda figures are believed to have found refuge.

Perhaps for the first time, officials also acknowledged that drone attacks eliminated several key militants who posed an equal threat to both Pakistan and the US.

In a candid admission, one official went to the extent of saying that collateral damage figures compiled by independent human rights organisations in the drone attacks were somewhat exaggerated.

However, the official said the government ‘had’ to oppose the drones campaign due to the widely-held public opinion that drones violate Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty and integrity.

“That is why we have offered this alternative to the US – because we (Pakistan) want to become part of the system rather than being isolated,” he maintained.

However, officials did not give any timeframe for a breakthrough on the stalemate over drones, which the US believes are critical to eliminating high-value targets associated with al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Given that it’s election year in the US, many experts are sceptical that the administration of US President Barack Obama would agree on any drastic changes in their drones’ campaign.

UAV To Provide Close Air Support for Battlefield UAVs Unveiled

At the 2012 Farnborough International Airshow, MBDA unveiled a concept weapon system for 2030 – the CVS301 VIGILUS. VIGILUS is a suite of future strike weapons for UAVs that provides a close air support capability to battlefield UAVs.

More from the MBDA press release:

Allowing the UAV to remain at a safe stand-off distance, VIGILUS offers a flexible targeting and strike capability against multiple time critical targets that can be directly controlled by ground troops.

VIGILUS delivers persistent, proportional, precise and rapid effects that are beyond today’s capability and deployed technology, exploiting new technologies and novel designs.

The VIGILUS weapon system comprises an integrated launcher and communications unit, a scout missile, a family of effectors and an integrated weapon command system that together deliver greater situational awareness as well as proportional and rapid engagement of time critical targets.

VIGILUS gives the operator permanent real time visual contact with the target, an operational advantage provided by the scout missile, known as Caelus. Caelus can operate at low altitudes below the cloud base, providing accurate and precise targeting data when adverse weather conditions would limit target engagement directly by UAVs.

The VIGILUS weapon system has a flexible and adaptable command system. It can be co-ordinated directly by ground troops, giving them the ability to engage multiple, beyond line of sight targets in both urban and open areas. It can also be controlled by a weapon system operator located in the UAV ground control station.

Steve Wadey, Executive Group Director Technical and Managing Director UK, MBDA,

said:

“Continuing the success of 2010 and 2011, Concept Visions 2012 shows MBDA’s continued commitment and desire to explore weapon system concepts beyond 2030. Through Concept Visions, MBDA harnesses the imagination and innovation of the European workforce through the creation of inspirational and ambitious concepts for future weapon systems. As in previous years, MBDA will use the concepts generated to stimulate our customers, suppliers, shape our markets and challenge our own assumptions about the possibilities for the future.”

CVS301 VIGILUS is the latest output from MBDA’s high profile Concept Visions project that has established the company’s leadership for envisaging how innovation in missile systems could dominate the future battlefield. Now in its third year, Concept Visions is a company-wide initiative aimed at identifying the key technologies and their integration into a weapon system to shape the future defence market in key domains beyond 2030.

MBDA’s European workforce was challenged to provide concepts and technologies for weapon systems that could be integrated into future Unmanned Air Systems. Following assessment by an international panel, the winning concepts and technologies became the subject of intense workshops, utilising not only the technical expertise within MBDA, but also reaching out to UAV platform providers as well as current UAV users.

Through a rapid and iterative process, the international Concept Visions team has created the CVS301 VIGILUS weapon system.

US Frigate Deploys with 4 Fire Scout UAVs

4 Fire Scouts to Increase Maritime Surveillance Aboard USS Klakring

 
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. --– Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 42 deployed with four Fire Scouts aboard frigate USS Klakring (FFG 42) June 29 in support of operations off the Horn of Africa.
 
With a record number of Fire Scouts aboard the guided missile frigate, the Navy’s goal is to fly up to 12 hours a day and significantly increase real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support to combatant commanders.
 
“With each deployment, we are getting better and better at providing a maritime ISR capability, taking lessons learned each time and making improvements for future operations,” said Capt. Patrick Smith, Fire Scout program manager at Pax River.
 
The history of HSL-42 and the MQ-8B dates back to 2008 when the detachment retrofitted USS McInerney (FFG 8) to accommodate Fire Scout for its first deployment.
 
Last year, HSL-42 deployed with two Fire Scouts and an H-60 helicopter aboard USS Halyburton (FFG 40). During this deployment, the detachment recorded more than 1,000 flight hours. Fire Scout flew 438 of those hours and set records for altitude range and endurance.
 
“This is our third deployment with HSL-42, who have become very familiar with the system,” Smith added. “Now they have the mission of flying two Fire Scouts simultaneously during operations, allowing the ship's commander to keep a constant watch on a target of interest.”
 
The Navy and industry partner Northrop Grumman first demonstrated this capability in late 2011 and has since refined the techniques for use aboard Klakring and all future operations. An operator will provide commands to both air vehicles using a single-control station. The crew can replace aircraft low on fuel during a mission without losing site of the target.
 
“By having additional air vehicles aboard the ship and flying dual operations, we will have the ability to provide an increased maritime surveillance capability far greater than ever before with this unmanned helicopter,” Smith said.
 
The six-month deployment aboard Klakring coincides with Fire Scout operations in Afghanistan. Three MQ-8B aircraft have flown more than 2,500 hours, providing full-motion video and imagery to troops in the field. The Navy temporarily paused flights after a mishap in April, but operations resumed later that month.

Russian Army to Receive First Indigenous Strike UAV in 2014

The first domestically-developed strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be put in service with the Russian Armed Forces by the end of 2014, a defense industry source said on Thursday.
In early April, Russia’s Defense Ministry issued a technical specification for the development of the drone. The new aircraft is expected to have a modular structure and be able to carry various types of equipment and armament.
“St. Petersburg-based Tranzas company has been ordered to start flight tests of the strike drone in the beginning of 2014 in order to put it in service by the end of the same year,” the source told RIA Novosti at the engineering technology forum in Zhukovsky.
The source did not reveal the details of the weapons load as they are classified, but said the drone will weigh about a ton.
President Vladimir Putin said on June 14 that Russia must develop a range of military UAVs, including strike and reconnaissance types as soon as possible.
Russia plans to spend around 400 billion rubles ($13 billion) on UAV development in the next eight years.
Moscow has so far bought two Bird Eye-400, eight I-View Mk150 and two Searcher Mk.2 UAVs, totaling $53 million, from Israel.

Where The UAVs Go After Afghanistan

When the U.S. pulls most of its forces out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, over a hundred large (Predator, Reaper, Global Hawk) U.S. Air Force UAVs will go with them. Most of these will not go back to the United States. There is great demand for these UAVs in South America and the Pacific.
In Colombia, American intelligence advisors are eager to have these large UAVs to track drug gang and leftist rebel operations. Colombian troops see the UAVs as a way to track down the remaining leftist rebel leaders and locate well hidden cocaine operations. The U.S. Air Force has new sensors they believe can detect hidden camps and drug operations hidden in tropical woodlands. These sensors have been successful in forested areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In the Pacific, American advisors in the Philippines want to bring the same kind of surveillance to seek out Islamic terrorists and leftist rebels there. In South Korea UAVs can fly just south of the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea) and see many kilometers into North Korea. Global Hawk UAVs fly at 20,000 meters altitude and can see into most of North Korea, for hours at a time. Even though all these UAVs will stay out of North Korean air space, the North Korean have an extensive (although antiquated) air defense system and a well-deserved reputation for aggressiveness. For the U.S. Air Force, this would be an opportunity to test UAV defensive measures for operating in more hostile environments.
Meanwhile, Afghan security forces are not looking forward to losing all their UAV support. Some of the large American UAVs will remain behind, including the CIA ones that hunt down and kill terrorist leaders across the border in Pakistan. But the current plan is to remove over a hundred of these UAVs from the region. A few will return to the United States to assist in training airmen who operate and maintain these aircraft. But most will continue on to other overseas hotspots where their services are needed.

China's UAVs capable of disrupting U.S. aircraft carriers

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) China has reportedly developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of interfering with the navigation of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, according to foreign reports.

China Briefing, a news website sponsored by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, said China's continued investment in UAV research will make it the second UAV country after the U.S., and its rapidly developed UAVs will enable Beijing to interfere with the situation in the two bodies of water.

The UAV has become an important tool for the Chinese navy to carry out "anti-intervention and regional isolation operations," and the vehicles will be used particularly in anti-aircraft carrier combat, it said.

Jane's Defense Weekly reported that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force displayed two pictures captured by its surveillance aircraft that show three People's Liberation Army Navy vessels crossing the Miyako waterway into the western Pacific on April 29.

One of the pictures shows three UAVs practicing vertical take-offs and landings on the rear deck of China's Type 054A frigate "Zhoushan."

Based on the picture, analysts speculated that the UAVs have good stealth capability and can carry 34 kilograms for six hours.

When performing reconnaissance missions, the UAVs have different types of sensors mounted on their bellies. Target images recorded by the UAVs will be transferred to frigates at sea using data link carriers, the weekly reported.

Jane's Defense Weekly reported that the UAVs spotted by Japan's defense ministry are similar to the Camcopter S-100s built by Austria-based Schiebel Corp.

The weekly magazine suspected that the Austrian company breached the European Union's arms embargo to China.

But Schiebel Corp. said its sale of civil S-100 UAVs to China in 2010 was in line with European Union regulations and stressed that the UAVs shown in the photos were not S-100s. The company suspected they might be products developed independently by the Chinese army.

Whatever the origin of the UAVs, James C. Bussert, editor at the U.S.-based Signal Magazine, said in an article that simply having UAVs would not be enough for the People's Liberation Army to attack U.S. aircraft carriers.

The army will need to have a comprehensive operational support system for search, identification, track, locks, combat and assessments against the "sources of threats," before it can complete a "kill chain," Bussert said.

He added, however, that the UAVs will be the integral part of the "kill chain."

Indian Police Set To Operate Locally Developed UAV

The Chandigarh Police in North Western India as well as specialised police team are set to be the first Indian police force to operate locally developed UAV cutomised for police operation. They will be used for monitoring large rallies and marches, providing bird’s eye views of the law enforcement officer and improving situational understanding.

 DRDO Golden Hawk will be the first UAV to be operated by the police and shall be followed by DRDO Netra .

$20 Mil for BlueBird- Indian pharmaceutical company decided to acquire shares of the Israeli UAV manufacturer

Nearing the end of talks with Israeli manufacturers, the Indian pharmaceutical company decided to acquire shares of the Israeli UAV manufacturer

Several days after IsraelDefense reported on India’s intentions to invest in the Israeli defense industries, it is now official – India’s pharmaceutical giant Piramal Healthcare will acquire some of the shares of the Israeli UAV manufacturer BlueBird for $20 million dollars.

IsraelDefense reported just several days ago that India is interested in investing in the Israeli defense industries, and that Piramal is conducting meetings with several Israeli manufacturers planning to approach defense tenders in India.

At the end of the talks that Piramal held with several Israeli manufacturers, the Indian company decided to acquire shares of the Israeli UAV manufacturer BlueBird. The Israeli company has refused to comment, but it seems that the final agreement will soon be signed.

The investment will apparently take place via Piramal's US subsidiary. The company plans to establish a defense subsidiary, which may lead to potential investments in additional Israeli companies.

The planned Indian tender will include 500 mini and micro UAV systems that have an endurance of at least 30 minutes and can be operated by one or two soldiers. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has a strong position within the Indian defense establishment, and it will apparently offer several mini-UAV models.

BlueBird, whose shares will be acquired in part by the Indian pharmaceutical company, has already concluded a cooperation agreement with the Indian company Dynamatic.

IT180 mini UAV will secure the progression of ISAF French troop convoys in Afghanistan

After a consultation to respond to an operational emergency, a tender has been won by INFOTRON and TOSA, and several systems have been ordered by the French defense procurement agency (DGA) for the French Army. These systems provide advanced observation and detection capabilities for the Engineer Units, particularly in the fight against Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

The French defense procurement agency (DGA) selected the INFOTRON IT180 UAV to equip the Engineer Units, after a call for tender with very selective specifications. First systems will be delivered starting from summer 2012. This is one of the first military contracts of reference for the young SME located near Paris, which has developed this mini-helicopter UAV with counter-rotating rotors since 2005.

The DROGEN system (DROne for enGiNeering) is based on the IT180 vertical take-off mini-drone, which is already being used for lots of civil missions (diagnostics of engineering structures, monitoring forest fires, orthophotography, aeromagnetic maps, etc).

Each DROGEN system is composed of two vectors equipped with dual optical gyro-stabilized cameras and a ground control station developed in partnership with Thales Optronique (TOSA). The system has a range of more than 3 km and an endurance of 30 minutes. The quick battery exchange procedure (<2 minutes) allows running multiple consecutive missions.

Its robustness, quick set-up, detection capabilities by day or night and stealthiness were decisive factors in the DGA teams’ choice of this system.

Several countries have already chosen the military version of this system for reconnaissance and observation missions, particularly in the fight against drug trafficking or counter-terrorism. “This new commercial success reinforces INFOTRON’s position in the growing market of military mini-drones. This reference gives us stronger credibility for addressing lots of export opportunities,” says Francis Duruflé, INFOTRON’s Marketing and Sales Director.

“Thanks to its intrinsic stability due to its counter-rotating rotors, it is the only product in its category able to carry such high-performance detection systems in severe environmental conditions. It is a unique product in its category – a real Jeep® of the air that took more than four years of R&D with several patents being filed,” adds Christian Brunel, INFOTRON’s Chief Technical Officer.

Indian armed forces to get 95 UAVs capable of aerial surveillance and air strikes

The Indian defence ministry today announced that a total of 95 mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will be purchased in the near future, to improve the aerial surveillance capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy (IN). Sources close to the ministry said that the process for the procurement has already started, and that the bidding process is likely to be initiated by the beginning of next year.
So far the defence ministry has not revealed whether they will give preference to the local defence manufacturers during the procurement process. If local equipment manufacturers are not given the priority, then the Israeli UAVs, like the IAI Heron (Machatz-1) and the IAI Searcher are likely to be the strongest contenders to win the bid. The Heron drones are currently operated by the Armed Forces in a number of nations, including Brazil, Canada, France, Turkey, and the United States. The IAI Searcher is also used by nations such as Russia and Thailand.
The Indian officials said that they intend to procure 60 UAVs for the IAF, while the remaining 35 units are meant for use by the IN. The defence ministry have already placed certain conditions for the future UAV deal, insisting that the weight of the UAV should not be more than 5.50 lb and the entire set, including the operational kit should not weigh more than 33 lb.
The Indians hinted that they want the UAVs to be light-weight, so that a single soldier will be able to operate them. The current version of the IAI Heron weighs more than 550 lb, and it is not clear whether the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will consider manufacturing a miniature version for export to India.

China's ASN-209F UAV

China's ASN-216 UAV

China's ASN-218 UAV

U.S. Navy to install Linux on VTOL drones

The U.S. Navy will begin installing the Linux operating system on its vertical take-off (VTOL) drones. For now, the military branch only has one VTOL drone, but will eventually have 168.

The new deal is with military contractor Raytheon, worth $28 million, and will cover a "Linux transition on the tactical control system software for vertical take-off (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle ground control stations."

The Mysterious Chinese Predator Clone

For the last four years a Chinese aircraft manufacturer (AVIC)  has been showing off photos and videos of a prototype for a clone of the American MQ-1 Predator UAV, called the Wing Loong (that's Chinese for Pterodactyl, a Jurassic period flying dinosaur). For the first time, one has actually been seen in flight, over the capital of Uzbekistan. This may be the first export customer.
 
While Wing Loong is similar in shape to the larger American MQ-9 Reaper, in size it's almost identical to the 1.2 ton Predator. Wing Loong weighs 1.1 tons, has a 14 meter (46 feet) wingspan and is 9 meters (28 feet) long. It has max altitude of 5,300 meters (16,400 feet) and endurance of over 20 hours. Promotional pictures of the Wing Loong show it carrying two unidentified missiles. Not much more is known of this Predator clone.

The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems report from Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC)

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F9335CB2-73FC-4761-A428-DB7DF4BEC02C/0/20110505JDN_211_UAS_v2U.pdf

Photos of UK drones

The Taliban’s First Drone ?

micro-UAV that was found during a raid on insurgent supply cache in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

                         Compare the drone above to these pics of Lockheed’s Desert Hawk