Software a vital cog in $100 million UK/US co-operation deal as partners focus on interoperability
The common operating system for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) will be a key focus of the newly established co-operation programme with the UK, according to Mike Francis, J-UCAS programme director with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The UK Ministry of Defence and DARPA announced the $100 million co-operation agreement last month (Flight International, 22-28 March).
Speaking at the Bristol University UAV Systems conference last week, Francis said the new memorandum of understanding with the UK is focused on "interoperability and the operating system. In this case it is interoperability not with our elements, but with coalition partners. [If we] can't make it work with the UK, we probably can't make it work with anybody, so it is a great place to start," he said.
As well as co-operating with the UK, consideration is also being given to applying the J-UCAS common operating system to a variety of other new generation unmanned air vehicle and unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) types. This could include the DARPA-funded Lockheed Martin morphing wing UCAV demonstrator, he told Flight International, adding that general discussions have already taken place between the two project offices. The common operating system is a potential key for network-centric warfare, he said, adding: "We are one of the few systems that owns the nodes and the network."
The absence of legacy architectures means J-UCAS can make capability trades during the development and demonstration phase to maximise the ability of the common operating system to support a wide variety of UAV and UCAV types. "Let's see if we can make this work with the limited task that we have, but if it is as extensible as we would like to build it, it may take on new roles", he said.
PETER LA FRANCHI / BRISTOL
Source: Flight International
