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Volume 20 Number 3
June/July 2015
Combat
ready?
The UCAV’s long journey
DEEP AND
MEANINGFUL
UUV payloads
BETTER
VISUALS
EO/IR sensors
ALL
ABOARD
UAV data processing
www.UVonline.com
1
CONTENTS
Editor
Richard Thomas
richard.t@shephardmedia.com
+44 1753 727027
Asia-Pacific Editor
Gordon Arthur
gordon.a@shephardmedia.com
North America Editor
Scott R Gourley
scott.g@shephardmedia.com
Staff Reporters
Beth Maundrill
beth.m@shephardmedia.com
Grant Turnbull
grant.t@shephardmedia.com
Contributors
Claire Apthorp, Pieter Bastiaans,
Angus Batey, Peter Donaldson,
Eugene Gerden, Richard Scott,
Jonathan Tringham, Andrew White
Production Department Manager
David Hurst
Sub-editor
Adam Wakeling
Graphic Designer
Kam Bains
Commercial Manager
Christian Letessier
christian.l@shephardmedia.com
+44 1753 727003
Editor-in-Chief
Tony Skinner
Managing Director
Darren Lake
Chairman
Nick Prest
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Unmanned Vehicles
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Articles contained in this publication may
not be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of the publishers.
3
Editorial Comment
Editor Richard Thomas wonders whether the
long-promised UCAV revolution is going to take
place any time soon.
News
17
4
FAA opens the skies, slowly...
A review of some of the latest developments
from around the unmanned systems industry.
10
Coming out fighting
Despite numerous demonstrator programmes,
a true UCAV, capable of carrying out strike
missions in a contested air defence environment,
has yet to enter service. Angus Batey highlights
the many challenges faced in developing such
a platform.
37
Better visuals
The level of EO/IR surveillance provided by high-end
UAS is now taken for granted by many commanders
in Western militaries. Angus Batey looks at some of
the ways in which airframe and sensor developers are
looking to improve this capability even further.
17
Deep and meaningful
From mine countermeasures to hull inspection
operations, UUV payloads provide valuable
capabilities to naval forces around the globe and
ensure greater operator safety. Claire Apthorp
reports on recent market developments.
44
Technical support
Lockheed Martin’s Squad Mission Support System
has seen extensive development work over
the past few years combined with real-world
operational deployments. Scott R Gourley visited
the company’s testing facility in Dallas, Texas, to see
the latest activity.
24
All aboard
A greater level of onboard data processing is a key
element in taking UAVs to the next level of utility.
Peter Donaldson explores some of the technologies
that are making this possible.
30
Split personalities
Grant Turnbull examines the benefits and likely
employment of aircraft that are able to switch
between manned and unmanned modes of
operation.
48
Interview
Tom Frost, senior VP and general manager for
defence and security at iRobot, spoke to Richard
Thomas about the firm’s plans for the future and
the key word in robotics development – autonomy.
© The Shephard Press Ltd, 2015.
ISSN 1351-3478
Print
Buxton Press, Derbyshire, UK
Front cover:
The X-47B demonstrator has achieved many milestones including autonomous in-flight refuelling, but a combat-ready
UCAV has yet to be fielded by any operator.
(Photo: USN)
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Volume 20 Number 3
|
June/July 2015
| UNMANNED
Vehicles
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3
EDITORIAL COMMENT
The price of progress
There are times when those in the industry
take a step back from the firing line to try and
gain an overview of how far technology has
come and just how much is still left to do in
order to achieve the set goals.
Take for example the UCAV. These
monuments of unmanned progress have
performed tasks that would have been
unthinkable a generation ago and yet here
we stand on the threshold of a new military
epoch as enormous jet-powered stealth
platforms begin to determine how they
should conduct a mission, how best to react
to a situation and how we as human
operators can harness their capabilities.
So even while fifth-generation combat
aircraft continue with their programmes and
begin to enter the battlespace, superpowers
and larger political blocs are turning their
thoughts as to how they and the manned
element inside can be replaced.
In some respects it seems a natural
continuation of the development of UAS
which is in many ways reinventing the wheel
(minus the hub), but there are still some clear
limitations to UCAV progress.
They are among the most highly
developed examples of research, design and
engineering on the planet, and in making
something to such high specifications, the
costs likewise reach for the sky, proving to be
out of reach for some nations hoping to
pursue national programmes. Manufacturers
again have to find a way to overcome this
new barrier, while maintaining the concepts
of stealth and survivability in a contested
environment.
Nevertheless the advantages in removing
the weakest physical component of a combat
air system clearly have made it tactically
worth pursuing.
Unmanned Vehicles’
special report on the
world of the UCAV is timely then, given the
recent in-flight achievements of the X-47B,
and Angus Batey takes a good look at
competing efforts in the US and EU and
where future development of such systems
might lead. Amid all the false starts and murk,
might we be able to shed some light? The
proof will be in the reading.
Meanwhile,
UV
gets its feet wet and
delves into the watery world of UUVs and
mine countermeasures (MCM) payloads. As
Claire Apthorp discovers, the next era of naval
operations will see these platforms coming
into their own as navies begin to recognise
the role technology can play in keeping
personnel out of harm’s way, while improving
operational tempo and capability. One only
has to note how potential MCM ship
replacement programmes are very much
being kept on the back burner as industry and
customers bide their time waiting for the
technology to develop.
We get a look into the inner workings
of Lockheed Martin’s Squad Mission Support
System testing facility in Dallas, thanks to
Scott Gourley who writes about at least two
types of Ox, a mysterious shape under a
tarpaulin, and the programme’s future in the
US Army.
Lastly, our very own Grant Turnbull looks
into the delightful halfway house of
unmanned systems – the optionally piloted
vehicle (OPV). While increased automation
and removal of the human component has
seen most platforms reduce in size, the OPV
(as its name suggests) gives the user the
option of choosing what sort of pilot they
want while retaining the all the functionality
that a bigger trunk provides.
Richard Thomas, Editor
n
EW payloads
n
Infrastructure monitoring
RESPONSE
Unmanned Vehicles’
editorial team is
always happy to receive comments on
its articles and to hear readers’ views
on the issues raised in the magazine.
Contact details can be found on p1.
IN THE
NEXT
ISSUE
n
Surveillance UGVs
n
Tactical UAS
www.UVonline.com
Volume 20 Number 3
|
June/July 2015
| UNMANNED
Vehicles

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