Germans Fly UAVs With $30 Computer Joystick

I was catching up on one of my favorite photoblogs, The Big Picture, yesterday when I came across the photo above. In a photopost on International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) actions in Afghanistan, they show the picture of German Federal Armed Forces piloting a Luna X UAV from a container on their base in Northern Afghanistan. What really caught my attention was what the pilot was using to control the UAV. Instead of the complex all-contained units I'm used to seeing for Predator flying, these guys seem to be using just a simple Logitech Extreme 3D Pro computer joystick. Now that's some frugal war fighting.



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NASA UAV Is Micro Hurricane Hunter

With Gustav and Hanna under the belt, and Ike and Josephine right behind them, make no doubt, the 2008 Hurricane season is in full swing. With that, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) are teaming up with Aerosonde North American to deploy a UAV that flies directly into hurricanes in an attempt to understand them better. While hurricane flying is nothing new, the new aerosonde will do it a little differently than its manned counterparts. The Aerosonde Hurricane Boundary Layer Mission takes the little UAV into the core of a hurricane system at only 500 feet off the water. This is an area of a hurricane typically considered too dangerous for manned missions, but also containing critical storm dynamics that scientists know little about. First deployed during Hurricane Noel last October, the aerosonde is controlled via satellite link from NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami, FL.

[NASA]

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What I Want For Christmas: The Draganflyer X6

We see a lot of UAVs pop up on PointNiner, but this one has got to be one of the coolest. You've got to check out the videos on their website. They were enough to sell me on the Draganflyer X6. It's a remote controlled UAV with a carbon-fiber body that has three tips that contain two rotors each for control. The X6 has a oil-dampening vibration-killing mount that can be used to place a hi-def camera or night vision scope under the body for some James Bondish spying. It even has an on-board GPS and the ability to fly up to 30 mph as well as a 23 foot per second climb...straight up! Here you go, Aaron. This post takes all the guess work out of your Christmas shopping for me this year.






[Draganfly via Gizmodo]

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The Dawn Of Robot Wars

No, I'm not talking about Battle Bots here. I speaking about full on unmanned system vs. unmanned system in actual combat. This new era got off with a real bang when an MQ-9 Reaper dropped a 500-lb laser guided bomb on a remotely controlled Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in Iraq last week marking a historic first. The Reaper, which began combat patrols in Iraq last month is really proving its mettle to the battlefield commanders over there as it starts to assume the roles previously occupied by manned systems. 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Micah Morgan, said that they "searched for, found, fixed, targeted and destroyed a [threat] with just one aircraft." The Air Force already has an entire wing of UCAVs, but I'm thinking that's just the start. It won't be long before unmanned systems outnumber manned aircraft and pilots are exiled to air conditioned trailers where they play war half a world away. Countries around the world are following suit with development of their unmanned systems as well. Perhaps it will be the Major League Gamers that help us usher in the robotic apocalypse. Can anyone say Skynet?

[Aviation Week via Gizmodo]

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Lockheed Cormorant Not Starring In Halo 4

Straight out of a Sci-Fi movie, the Lockheed Martin Cormorant is hands down the coolest idea for a UAV that I have ever seen. I had come across the video below a while ago but hadn't posted it because I couldn't find a suitable version to embed until now. Known as a MPUAV (Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) the Cormorant is being designed to launch from 150 underwater on the back of a Trident ballistic missile submarine. Once it reaches the surface booster rockets carry it to a height and speed where the internal jet engine can take over. It can then cruise stealthily and autonomously over enemy territory to engage targets or collect intelligence before landing back in the water where it will be collected by an underwater drone and reeled back into a launch tube. Lockheed Martin sees this as a perfect fit for the US Navy who needs ideas on what to do with some of their Ohio-Class nuclear subs after the signing of Start II, the second strategic weapons reduction treaty. The Cormorant is science-fiction meets science-fact at its greatest. Two divisions within Lockheed Martin are working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to fulfill my fantasy of seeing the Cormorant get off the ground get out of the water.

[Lockheed Martin via Gizmodo]

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Brits Get Creative With New UAVs

The UK Ministry of Defence kicked off its Grand Challenge competition finals today on Salisbury Plain with 11 competitors vying for the RJ Mitchell Trophy and a potential developmental contract with the UK Armed forces for their UAVs. Each team gets one hour to send their systems (both airborne and ground-based) into Copehill Down village to indetify threats from a mixture of props and real actors portraying enemy combatants. Copehill Down is not actually a real village, but a mockup of a generic European village as a FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas) training ground. While some of the teams competing are relative uknowns, European defence heavyweights like Qinetiq and Thales have also joined the fray. A winner will be picked on the 19th. Here are a few of the entries:

This guy is the Peterborough based-Geoff's Flying Saucer (GFS) Project lithium polymer battery powered prototype coanda effect UAV (that's a mouthful).

This is an internal combustion engine that can be used by the GFS and actually receiving US military funding as well.

Quad-rotors were big this year. This is the London based-Swarm Systems and the University of Manchester's Tumbleweed. And here is a video of the I-Spy Tri-Rotor

Qinetiq was displaying their Cortex UAV prototype that takes off and lands on its tail, but converts to conventional flying in the air. The competition version had previously crashed. Here is a cool video of it in flight.

All picture credits: Flight Global

[Flight Global]

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Shrinks To Help UAV Pilots Cope With Distant War

Four months after a highly publicised study reported UAV pilots face more fatigue, emotional exhaustion, burnout and video-game thumb than traditional combat pilots, the US Air Force has decided to do something about it. As with the previous study, this new move will surely have in-theatre combat jockeys riled up. Top Air Force brass has decided to call in chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists "to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors," the Associated Press reports. Many UAV combat sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan are actually flown by pilots and senor operators here in the United States via remote satellite link. When this scenario first began, many UAV pilots were happy and commented that, "most of the time, I get to fight the war, and go home and see the wife and kids at night." This was until the demand for their operations exploded and their hours became more and more prolonged with new internal comparisons to "prisoners with life sentences." While this is enough to get traditional pilots up out of their seats with expletives (along with every other Army grunt and Marine who spends numerous 15 month rotations in the sandbox getting shot at) some higher ups caution that the back and forth between war and peace is straining these distant drone drivers. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game," sighs Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan. This is why the 163d Reconnaissance Wing out of March ARB in California is looking to help their crews with whatever emotional or psychological issues that may come up. If it works, then its back to bombing insurgents by day and sleeping in their bed with their wives by night.

[Boston Globe via Danger Room]

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Robot Dragonfly The Smallest Micro-UAV Yet

Next time you swat that annoying insect that keeps buzzing around your head, it might not be the only one checking you out. Dutch scientists at the Technical University Delft are showing off their new design that has got to be the smallest unmanned drone we've seen yet. The DelFly Micro weighs in at only 3.07 grams and has a flapping wingspan of just 10 cm. This tiny guy is smaller than most dragonflies, which he closely resembles. The coolest part is that the DelFly Micro has an onboard camera that can transmit a live feed back to a computer as seen in the video below and can be controlled by human or autonomously by a separate computer. I can't imagine it would do very well in a light breeze though.

(DelFly via Gizmodo)

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AirKnife takes a stab at AirSniper

I'll admit, when I first read about the half UAV/half assault rifle known as AirSniper, I laughed. Their "original" idea, X-Box controller, unique marketing style, and lack of a legitimate website made the whole thing seem like a joke. And then I saw they said they'd be at Farnborough, so I thought that maybe they're for real. Regardless, the whole thing seemed like an easy target to make fun of, and I wanted to at first, but recanted. Perhaps there really is a group (probably just one guy) who is trying to make a living like you and me by selling this idea of a killer drone that doubles as an infantry weapon. Well that didn't seem to stop blogger Chris Albon from poking a bit of fun at the AirSniper with his own idea, AirKnife. Anyway, click on both images for larger versions and tell me which one you think is for real. If any readers are at Farnborough, please stop by the UAV pavillion and let me know if you see the AirSniper. And remember, the enemy has guns and knifes too!



(Danger Room)

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Quadrotor UAV probably smarter than you

If I was a grad student at Stanford, this is the program I'd want in on. The Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control, or STARMAC, is a UAV being developed there with some incredible capabilities. With four rotor blades, GPS-based technologies, ultrasonic ranging, and a host of sensors to compliment an impressive on-board computer processor, this little guy could be the predecessor to futuristic spy drones used by the military (or video game developers). Check out in the video when they start throwing beach balls at it. We used to do stuff like that in college and they never called it research.

(via Gizmodo)

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DHS takes on airport security ala Jack Bauer

The Department of Homeland Security just won't give up on the MANPADS (Manned Portable Air Defense Systems) issue. They still see shoulder fired missiles as a great threat to civil aviation in this country. Several proposals to counter MANPADS have been in testing for years now, including this one that gets repeated comparison to the TV series 24 by Jay Cohen in the video below from the DHS. This concept involves using an unmanned aerial vehicle loitering above 60,000 feet that can monitor and track missile launches as well as confuse the missiles by shining a low-power laser at their seeker heads. The name of this project has actually been coined as Project Chloe, after the fictional character from the CTU in 24. I know this technology is very feasible, but I also think the guys in Homeland Security might watch a little too much TV. How many references can this guy make to 24?

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Boeing Flies Hummingbird to a Record

Boeing successfully flew its A160T Hummingbird UAV (unmanned rotocraft to be exact) for 18.7 hours on May 14-15, claiming an unofficial world record for endurance of a UAC weighing between 1,102 and 5,511 pounds. So is that like saying I stood on my head for the longest time for a male between 186-200 pounds? Maybe, but nonetheless, congrats Boeing.

During the flight at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona, the turbine-powered aircraft carried a 300-pound payload at altitudes up to 15,000 feet, landing with better than 90 minutes of fuel in reserve. The flight began May 14 at 8:55 p.m. (PST) and ended May 15 at 3:36 p.m.

Check out the sweet hi-res shot of the Hummingbird above.

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UAV Films Own Demise as Russian MiG Shoots it Down

In this video a Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft shows up, squeezes off an little air-to-air missle and blows a Georgian UAV out of the sky... on camera.

So we have a Russian MiG taking out a ex-Soviet Georgian unarmed UAV that was doing basic surveillance over Georgian soil (according to the Georgians). Whether that is true or not, I would imagine the political fallout over this incident could get ugly. Seems that there is a bit of unrest over there to begin with. But we can give a big thanks to the Russians and Georgians for this nice video.

Oh, and the Russian's response: "Nonsense. What would a Russian jet be doing over Georgian territory?"

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Study shows Predator pilots face more fatigue, emotional exhaustion, burnout, and video-game thumb

A new study from the Naval Post Graduate School has shown that pilots in Predator UAS squadrons suffer more from "significantly increased fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and burnout" when compared to traditional flight crews. A previous report showing similar results had prompted the Air Force to readjust their crew schedules, but according the new study there has been little change to the outcome. Another issue found with these drowsy pilots is that their home life and marriages start to go down the tubes as well due to their work environment. The root of the problem has been unidentified as inadequate manpower, but the new study failed to produce any other ideas to solve it. Perhaps they should place the entire Predator control system on XBOX Live.

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Boeing flies world's smallest synthetic aperture radar on ScanEagle

Boeing announced today that they have successfully flown the world's smallest SAR aboard one of its ScanEagle mini-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The NanoSAR weighs in at only 2 pounds and is roughly the size of a shoebox. The first flight apparently took place back on the 7th of January, however, Boeing is just now releasing the results. The ScanEagle was able to take ground imagery with the NanoSAR which was then recreated on the ground. Boeing's next step is to collect and view the imagery in real-time while the ScanEagle is in flight.

This is a huge step for the tiny UAV as it's only previous payload included electro-optical and infrared sensors. The NanoSAR will now give users the ability to see through clouds, fog, haze, and rain. These were killers for ScanEagle in the past with its EO/IR sensors, but now should pose no problem for battlefield tacticians. Take that, Killer Bee.

Raytheon Looks to Usurp Boeings UAV Dominance

Here is another battle Boeing does not want to lose. A pretty serious battle is breaking out between Raytheon and Boeing to be the primary supplier of UAVs to the United States Navy and Marines. Boeing currently has a lock on the reconnaissance UAV market. Its ScanEagle UAV has been in service since 2004, since the Pentagon decided their use was vital to missions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Then in 2005, the Navy purchased the ScanEagle to observe over-the-horizon oil platforms and suspicious ships.

Bring in the Raytheon "Killer Bee" and things may get interesting. Analysts think it will be hard for Raytheon to break into the market, but you just never know (proven by the KC-X program). Raytheon touts its UAV's ability to fly more than 100 miles and carry heavier payloads, in additional to the ability to track objects day or night with video and infrared feed and guide precision munitions with an on-board laser designator.

The Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System program created by the Pentagon is seeking to field a UAV that can stay aloft for 24 hours, takeoff from a mobile catapult-style launcher, land without a runway, navigate autonomously, and have multiple UAVs controllable from one platform. The Boeing ScanEagle already meets most of these qualifications and it is upgradable.

Smelling another protest? Only time will tell as a decision is expected to be made in 2011. I am just pleased to see EADS has not stuck their european nose in this matter (yet).

See this video of the Killer Bee in action, with a bit of on-board action. Looks like it should be swimming underwater, similar to a manta ray.