EADS is leading efforts to refine European thinking on the role of UAVS
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH
There is a clear requirement emerging in Europe for high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) that can be used for strategic reconnaissance missions, according to European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) .
The European defence group envisages development of a HALE platform capable of operating at altitudes up to 60,000ft (18,000m) with a range of 6,000km (11,000nm), and offering "adequate endurance". Such a vehicle would carry sensors including synthetic aperture radar/moving-target indicator, electro-optical/infrared and signals intelligence (SIGINT).
With military forces under increasing pressure to reduce or even eliminate the risk of losing pilots, EADS Military Aircraft head of advanced design and technology/operations analysis Dr Robert Polis believes "more and more offensive missions will be put on the UAV side".
The company expects offensive counter-air and ground-attack missions in future to be shared between manned combat aircraft and UAVs, with the latter possibly being controlled by the manned combat aircraft. EADS believes conventional fighters are likely to be replaced eventually by a new generation of air-to-air unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) .
Polis also thinks UAVs will have a role in ballistic missile defence, to be achieved by equipping HALE UAVs with air surveillance and fire control sensors, and arming them with weapons capable of intercepting missiles in the ascent phase. HALE platforms will also act as datalink relay stations and data network nodes.
According to EADS Military Aircraft director of advanced design and technology Hannes Ross, air-to-air UCAVs will become a reality "probably not before 2030", with latest-generation manned aircraft such as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) likely to remain operational for many more years. Meanwhile, high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance air vehicles (URAV) "are something we feel that the military will need, to provide precise reconnaissance for special targets", he says.
EADS is studying a twin-engined HALE URAV design with a length of 13.6m and a 42m wingspan, an empty weight of 5t and a take-off weight of 13.6t, providing for a payload capability of 1.5t. The company is also working on a non-HALE penetrating URAV which is much smaller, with a wingspan of just 4.1m and a 5.5m-long fuselage, an empty weight of 0.9t and a take-off weight of 1.5t.
The latter, according to Ross, would be "a penetrating vehicle very similar to a stand-off missile, but it would have to return. That is something that does not exist yet, but we think it will be required." EADS has tested a parachute system that can allow the vehicle to be recovered after a mission.
A typical UCAV, meanwhile, would be about 12m long with a 9m wingspan, weigh 4.5t empty and 8.2t at take-off, EADS believes. A UCAV, Ross points out, could carry the same payload as a manned aircraft, but would be lighter because "you take out the pilot and the cockpit".
EADS believes stealth technology will be essential for development of successful UCAVs and tactical URAVs, but will not necessarily be required for stand-off, strategic HALE URAVs: "Stealth is something that is crucial for Europe," says Ross. "The USA has 25 years of experience with this technology, which has resulted in three serious production aircraft and a fourth, the JSF.
"In Europe we have to combine our resources, and there are currently talks under way between the governments of France, Germany, Sweden and the UK to conduct joint technology programmes in the next 10 years." A European stealth demonstrator aircraft, Ross says, could fly as early as 2007.
EADS, meanwhile, is working on future UAV/UCAV flight control and mission guidance systems designed to optimise mission performance and effectiveness, and to increase survivability. Other goals include enabling mixed manned/unmanned operations and allowing UCAVs to undertake "complex missions".
The company says UAV/UCAVs will require autonomous information management systems and autonomous/semi-autonomous vehicle subsystem control, mission guidance and flight control systems, as well as an optimised ground control station man-machine interface.
EADS is working on the development of autonomous, automatic target recognition (ATR) systems for UAVs deployed in offensive roles. ATR manager Christoph Stahl says that, while the company has had some success developing ATR algorithms, there are still "significant technological challenges". The result is that implementation of ATR techniques in UAVs is unlikely to be achieved for years, EADS believes.
Studies under way at EADS into intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) UAVs has raised concerns about Europe's datalink capability and about the operation of unmanned aircraft in the continent's controlled airspace. The company's head of future airborne reconnaissance systems, Dr Hermann Hessel, envisages HALE UAVs and non-HALE URAVs being deployed on air, surface and maritime missions, carrying out stand-off and penetrating reconnaissance. Hessel says that, while suitable European sensors are available and a synthetic-aperture radar is under development, the continent still needs an ultra-wide-band datalink capability and better satellite communication facilities. Also, the issue of accommodating UAVs in controlled airspace has yet to be resolved.
Taking the lead
Hessel says EADS is prepared to act as a "system leader" in building a joint ISR system, and favours the use of "mature platforms wherever possible", including adaptation of existing UAVs. EADS is working with Northrop Grumman to study adaptation of the Global Hawk HALE UAV to meet NATO ISR requirements.
A German consortium, meanwhile, is finalising plans for a "ground-breaking" series of UAV test flights in controlled airspace aimed at demonstrating techniques for deconflicting the pilotless aircraft from general air traffic. The group, which includes the DFVLR flight test centre, research agency DLR, EADS and German electronics company ESG, expects shortly to receive a German ministry of defence contract for the second phase of its UAV demonstration programme.
A definition phase has already been completed. The second phase will see the start of flight trials using the DLR's VFW 614 Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System (ATTAS) experimental testbed, which will be used to simulate the operation of a UAV in controlled airspace under instrument flight rules (IFR).
"The experience we gain will lead to conclusions on the definition of operational procedures and improvements to the design of flight management and flight control systems for UAVs," says EADS Military Aircraft flight test technology/data analysis manager Eberhard Pohl. "Realising the objective of having unmanned aerial platforms participating in general air traffic means that we will have to break new ground."
In the planned demonstration, the fly-by-wire ATTAS will operate as a simulated UAV within German-controlled airspace, with the pilots intervening only to perform the take-off and landing, and in the case of an emergency. Pohl says it is envisaged the aircraft will fly autonomously in accordance with a pre-programmed flight plan, although a ground controller will be able to issue guidance commands in real time via a datalink to comply with air traffic control instructions.
The aim is that air traffic controllers will be able to process a UAV through their sectors in exactly the same way as any other aircraft operating in IFR airspace. Pohl says the long-term aim is to open all classes of airspace to UAVs, including those governed by visual flight rules.
There are no internationally recognised regulations governing the operation of UAVs in non-restricted airspace, or their airworthiness certification. Pohl suggests UAVs should be subject to the same safety standards as manned military aircraft to ensure people on the ground are not exposed to higher risks from UAV crashes or mid-air collisions. The safe return of UAVs operating in controlled airspace following a datalink failure will be a particular focus, he says.
Source: Flight International
