Savings in survivability would outweigh cost of fitting systems, say analysts
Most of the US military's new-generation unmanned air vehicles should be fitted with electronic-warfare self-protection systems and incorporate improved signature management measures, says a new survivability study sponsored jointly by the US National Defence Industry Association and the US Navy.
The study identifies acoustic signature reduction as the most cost-effective survivability feature for small fixed- and rotary-wing tactical UAVs. Threat avoidance will remain the most cost-effective measure for large UAVs such as the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and General Atomics MQ-9 Predator B, it says, but infrared (IR) and radio-frequency countermeasures systems are also needed by those aircraft.
The Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) vehicles, the US Air Force's Predator B, the US Navy's proposed Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAV and the US Army's Extended Range Multipurpose UAV programmes are identified by the study as the most receptive fixed-wing platforms for incorporation of enhanced survivability features in the near term.
But, it says, the US Army's Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft and the joint US Army/Navy Northrop Grumman RQ-8 Firescout rotary-wing UAVs should also be treated as first-order priorities.
The J-UCAS programme will primarily rely on IR and radar signature-reduction techniques to ensure air vehicle survival, the study says, but will also be heavily dependent on enhanced redundancy in air-vehicle control systems and on basic situational awareness to avoid threat sources. Infrared and radio-frequency active countermeasures are identified as a low priority for J-UCAS.
Survivability enhancements for the USAF's existing Global Hawk and Predator UAVs should be given second priority, the study says. Second-order status is also given to the US Army's AAI RQ-7 Shadow, Israel Aircraft Industries-Northrop Grumman RQ-5A Hunter and the Advanced Ceramics Silver Fox unmanned air vehicle.
The study estimates that incorporating a countermeasures capability to reduce the effectiveness of IR threats by 75% would add $1 million to the development cost of a generic UAV system, plus $100,000 on the individual air vehicle acquisition cost, based on a production run of 100 air vehicles.
In service, the system would add $50 an hour to overall system operating costs. However, net improvements in air vehicle survivability could amount to savings of billions of dollars, the study says.
The final report of the study, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton and the US-based Survice Engineering consultancy, is to be put into restricted circulation within the next two months.
PETER LA FRANCHI / ANAHEIM
Source: Flight International
