PETER LA FRANCHI / ADELAIDE
UK company's Australian unit and DSTO study joint programme to test advanced UAVreconnaissance technologies
BAE Systems Australia and the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)are exploring a programme to demon- strate swarming unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technologies.
The proposed Future UAV for Reconnaissance and Interdiction (FURI) programme is expected to begin development in early 2005, with initial technology demonstrations in 2006.
FURI is "essentially a UCAV-related programme, but it is aimed at some of the deep-strike first day of operations [missions]", says Dr Julia Sutcliffe from BAE Systems Australia's Integrated Autonomous Systems Group.
The programme is an evolution of two new collaborative programmes between the company and the DSTO.
BAE Systems Australia is currently negotiating a capability technology demonstration programme for distributed data fusion, with a contract award from the DSTO to be finalised within a few weeks. This will link the company's distributed data-fusion technology for autonomous operations using UAVs equipped with multiple sensor types, ground surveillance radars and unattended ground sensors within a common networked architecture. Field trials are planned from late this year.
BAE Systems and its Australian subsidiary have been developing decentralised data-fusion techniques as the basis for an autonomous navigation system for use by swarms of UAVs under the simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) programme, previously referred to as Anser.
The second collaboration is based on networking BAE Systems Australia/University of Sydney Brumby Mk3 and Mk4 UAVs equipped with distributed data fusion engines with DSTO-owned Saab Aerosonde Mk3 UAVs equipped with lightweight airborne electronic-warfare emitter location systems.
These would gather EW data which would then be processed by the Brumby platforms to provide a common operational picture. The Brumby UAVs would carry mixed payloads comprising electro-optic and radar sensors and laser range-finders. The fused data would be networked to all UAV types in the formation, with ongoing data fusion to provide increasingly accurate target localisation data.
Speaking at the Australian Association of Old Crows conference in Adelaide on 17 February, Sutcliffe said the "Aerosonde will reach a stand-off distance. They will produce some targeting information and that will then cue the Brumby system to go in and take further measurements."
An initial demonstration of this capability is scheduled for the third quarter of this year.
The FURI programme will initially integrate the DSTO's lightweight EW payloads with the Brumby UAV, says Sutcliffe. "Early in 2006 we will be looking at the FURI-targeting demonstration, which will be an integrated EW and SLAM demonstration."
Sutcliffe also reveals that a more capable version of the Brumby, designated the Mk5, is now being planned as a wholly BAE Systems Australia-run development programme. To assist with the FURI demonstration, the enhanced design will have a 30kg (66lb)-payload capacity.
Source: Flight International
