by UAVs - Armada International

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Compendium
by armada
UAVs
time to get real
armada INTERNATIONAL: The trusted source for defence technology information since 1976
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Will the European multiple-nation male finally make
it this time? Well that’s what Angela Merkel and
François Hollande have confirmed in April. We shall
see… At any rate, that’s what the Male 2020 partners
Dassault, Alenia and Airbus are hoping for.
Time To Get Real
Contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan raised the use of Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to a new level, though in an environment that was unique
in several important respects (as were previous air operations in Korea and
Vietnam). The withdrawal of most Coalition forces from Afghanistan by the end
of 2014 has provided an opportunity to reflect on the present and future use of
uninhabited aircraft.
A
Eric H. Biass and Roy Braybrook
mong other aspects, defence
forces may consider what
services UAVs can best
provide in a more general
conflict scenario, what they really cost
to acquire and operate, how UAVs can
survive in the presence of hostile aircraft
and modern air defence systems, and how
they can be integrated into home-based
peacetime operations.
The Afghanistan experience undoubtedly provided a massive boost for the
UAV market. In its aftermath, nobody
wants to go to war without (at least)
airborne unmanned ISR assets, any
more than they would go to war without
precision-guided munitions.
“One of the factors
limiting UAV sales is the
knowledge that most
recent UAV operations
have enjoyed a permissive air environment,
and thus do not necessarily
provide accurate guidance
on future needs.”
Nonetheless, UAV sales still represent
only a small percentage of the military
aircraft market. In the Pentagon’s FY16
request, they amount to only 5.94% of
spending on “aircraft and related systems”.
One of the factors limiting UAV sales is
the knowledge that most recent UAV
operations have enjoyed a permissive air
environment, and thus do not necessarily
provide accurate guidance on future needs.
In contrast, during the 78-day
Operation Allied Force over Kosovo in
1999 some 47 Nato UAVs were lost, of
which 35 were claimed to have been shot
down by Serbian air defences. If a UAV is
large enough to be seen from a distance, it
is an easy daytime target. Three Georgian
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The US Air Force fact sheet says
that the RQ-170 is operated by the
30th Reconnaissance Squadron at the
Tonopah Test Range and the 432nd
Expeditionary Air Wing, based at Creech
AFB, likewise in Nevada.
To give credit where due, the very
limited public knowledge of the US Air
Force Northrop Grumman RQ-180
advanced signature-control ISR UAV
(another subsonic flying wing in the
company’s B-2 tradition) appears to
be entirely due to research by Aviation
Week (AW&ST). It is believed that the
development contract was awarded in
2008, that the first delivery took place
in 2013 and that the RQ-180 could be
operational this year.
There has been speculation that an
explosion over the Kola Peninsula on April
19, 2014 may have marked the destruction
Intercepting hypersonic UAVs requires
impossibly short reaction times by air defence
systems. The Mach 6 penetrator is exemplified
by the Lockheed Martin SR-72 project.
(Lockheed Martin)
UAVs (including at least one Elbit Hermes
450) were shot down over Abkhazia by
Russian fighters in the run-up to the
Russo-Georgian War of 2008.
For the short-term, the larger UAVs
need defensive aids to dispense flares
or jam the guidance systems of the
incoming missiles.
If cost is no problem, then the way to
penetrate modern air defence systems is to
go fast or go invisible. Hypersonic missiles
are being developed, so hypersonic ISR
UAVs must be on the cards, although
air-breathing examples seem likely to be
either very large or very limited in range.
Some indication of the magnitude of
the development problems is provided by
the fact that, although Lockheed Martin
has been discussing its Mach 6.0 SR-72
project with propulsion experts at Aerojet
Rocketdyne for several years, the company
claims only that the penetrating ISR endproduct could be operational by 2030. All
that has been revealed is that off-the-shelf
turbine engines would accelerate the SR-72
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to around Mach 3.0 (the speed reached by
the SR-71 Blackbird), and that scramjets
would then take it to twice that speed.
In
endoatmospheric
operation,
hypersonic ISR assets may come as
spinoffs from Darpa’s XS-1 experimental
spaceplane, on which Boeing and
Northrop Grumman (among others) are
working. The XS-1 is intended to place a
payload of 1,360-2,270 kg into low earth
orbit. Boeing is responsible for the much
larger X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV),
which has remained up to 674 days in orbit.
Turning to stealth, the Lockheed
Martin RQ-170 Sentinel was evidently
designed to be fairly survivable over a
country such as Iran, but of no great
consequence if lost, making it the first
attritable reduced-signature UAV. It is
believed to have entered US Air Force
service in 2007, and to have been deployed
to bases in Afghanistan and South Korea,
probably to monitor nuclear developments
in neighbouring states. One was lost over
Iran in December 2011.
Hypersonic ISR UAVs may spin off from
Darpa’s XS-1 experimental spaceplane
programme, as illustrated by the Boeing
project. The alternative to the Boeing XS-1
design is this Northrop Grumman concept,
using a similar configuration. (Northrop
Grumman)
The Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle has flown missions of up to
674 days, but its purpose has not been disclosed. (Boeing)
by Russian air defences of an RQ-180 that
had taken off from Stavanger in southern
Norway (which seems highly unlikely) to
photograph Russian naval bases.
I High Costs
Even relatively low-tech UAVs are costly
and provide little operational flexibility
in comparison with a normally piloted
aircraft. The sale to the United Arab
Emirates of eight unarmed General
Atomics Predator XP UAVs with EO/IR
sensors and maritime radars is worth $
220 million. At first sight this appears
expensive for relatively simple airframeengine combinations with advanced
communications and surveillance and
targeting packages. It may be noted that,
although these UAVs are unarmed, the
State Department was prepared to licence
separately the sale of laser designators to
“However well
intentioned, American
efforts to slow the
proliferation of armed
UAVs are encouraging
other nations to develop
aircraft to exploit the
resulting demand.”
mark targets for attack by other means.
The US Government banned the sale of
unarmed Predator XPs to Jordan, but has
more recently cleared marketing to India.
The relatively high cost of the UAE sale
is partly explained by the fact that this
was the launch order for a new model,
the Predator XP having first flown on
June 27, 2014. For comparison, the US
Army budgeted $ 357.9 million for 15
weaponised General Atomics MQ-1C
Gray Eagles in its FY16 budget request,
around $ 23.9 million per aircraft.
One of the latest UAV sales for
which data are available is that of four
General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers to the
Netherlands. As detailed by the Defense
Security Cooperation Agency, four MQ-9
Block 5s with six Honeywell TPE331-10T
turboprops, four General Atomics Lynx
radars, the usual bells and whistles, and
a spares package to support 3,400 flying
hours over a three-year period were
estimated to cost $ 339 million, or $ 84.75
million per aircraft.
On the subject of exports of unarmed
UAVs, although the MQ-9 Reaper has
been purchased by France (16), Italy
(six), the Netherlands (four) and the UK
(ten), so far only the British version has
armament provisions. Italy has requested
this upgrade, and Turkey has asked
the US for armed UAVs. Spain (where
General Atomics is teamed with Sener)
and Germany have expressed interest
in acquiring MQ-9s, and will probably
request the weaponised version. Australia
has requested pricing and availability
information, and RAAF personnel are
being trained in America on the MQ-9
in anticipation of an order.
In February 2015 the US Administration
announced that it had established a
The various appendices on this 1:10 scale model of the Male 2020 unveiled by Dassault at Eurosatory clearly indicate that the various roles of
the UAVs will also cover ground or maritime monitoring (belly radar), electronic warfare and signals intelligence. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
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“The champions in terms
of export in this domain
undoubtedly are the
Israelis, if one combines
the types marketed
just by Israel Aircraft
Industries and Elbit.”
I New Developments?
Sea-based trials were launched in 2012 with the US Navy’s Laser Weapon System (LaWS) on
board the destroyer USS Dewey, DDG-105. (US Navy)
marginally more relaxed policy, allowing
sales of lethal UAVs through governmentto-government deals to (unspecified)
approved nations and subject to end-use
assurances. The implication was that the
previous (unannounced) policy was of
absolutely no sales of American armed
UAVs, with Britain as the absolutely sole
(unexplained) exception.
However well intentioned, American
efforts to slow the proliferation of armed
UAVs are encouraging other nations to
develop aircraft to exploit the resulting
demand.
Photographs published earlier this
year of a crashed CASC Caihong CH-3,
on its back in a Nigerian field with two airground missiles attached, show that China
is one respondent. Reports indicate that
the 630-kg CH-3 has been exported to at
least four countries, including Pakistan.
The larger (1150 kg) Chengdu Wing
Loong or Pterodactyl, which is also armed,
has been delivered to three countries,
thought to be Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
The IAI Harpy anti-radiation loiterattack UAV was exported in 1994 to China
(and subsequently to Chile, India, South
Korea and Turkey), but further Israeli
sales of armed UAVs may be subject to
pressure from the United States (as was
upgrading of Harpy).
However, countries such as Brazil,
Russia, India and South Africa (with
China, members of the Brics group)
are all capable of developing UAVs and
lightweight guided missiles. For the more
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complex types, the easy stepping stone is
to first build one under licence, and this is
what Brazil has recently embarked on-the
home production of the IAI Heron male. It
is known as the Caçador (hunter).
Japan, South Korea and the various
European
countries
with
these
capabilities may want to respect America’s
International Traffic in Arms Regulations
(Itar), the Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar
Arrangement, but can they do so in a time
of relatively high unemployment?
In the Western World, the UAV industry
is probably reaching an apex in terms of
sales and is likely to experience a situation
already witnessed by the armoured vehicle
industry. The scenario was very clearly
exposed at this year’s Idex exhibition in
Abu Dhabi with a plethora of perfectly
adequate vehicles produced by those
emerging countries that hitherto imported
them. Not only do they make them, but
as proved by their presence at defence
exhibitions they are now exporting them.
As far as UAVs are concerned, several
examples have already been pinpointed
in the above paragraphs, although as far
as China’s real capabilities, these are only
partly revealed when a mishap occurs.
Like anything it develops, China keeps
data close to its chest.
We shall leave the lighter UAVs aside
for the time being, as very often their
development boils down to militarising
relatively advanced radio-controlled
The MQ-9 is still known to General Atomics as
the Predator-B. This Nasa trials example, named
Ikhana, will be used to test the General Atomics
Due Regard Radar. (Nasa)
Future battlefields will see mobile laser weapons
used against targets such as UAVs, mortar bombs
and tactical missiles. This 10-kW truck-mounted
laser weapon demonstrator was developed by
Boeing under US Army funding. (Boeing)
aircraft (or part of them) and have them
type approved by one’s own certification
offices at a comparatively frightening
cost-indeed a very juicy activity for the
so-called consultant agencies involved.
Eyes are currently focused on the male
UAV types and perhaps their immediate
sub-category. The champions in terms of
export in this domain undoubtedly are
the Israelis, if one combines the types
marketed by Israel Aircraft Industries
and Elbit. Emerging countries are however
trying to find ways of moving away from
dependency, particularly when airlaunched weapons are involved.
In Europe, the development of a jointnation UAV has become a comedy or a
drama depending on the way it is looked
at. For the time being, this disaster makes
the fortune of General Atomics whose
customers for the Reaper include France,
Italy, the Netherlands and Britain. Three
of these, in particular, never managed to
agree on a single basic European design,
but all eventually agreed to go out and buy
the same one from abroad, displaying a
great sense of unity.
So what will now happen to the
umpteenth European project “confirmed”
“Missiles-and particularly
the fire-and-forget
variety-are strictly
speaking the only true
man-made unmanned
aerial vehicles in use
so far.”
by Angela Merkel and François Hollande
during the first week of April is really
matter for conjecture, as the German
Chancellor actually mentioned the
possibility of an armed version, which
is rather surprising given the German
population’s current aversion to weapons.
The project has been in the air for a while
now; it remains to be seen when the
actual aircraft will make to the air. As a
matter of fact, this particular (and latest)
project finds its origins in the industry,
as is often the case, and is the result of
a plea made in June 2013 by Dassault,
Alenia and Cassidian (now Airbus), but
which hitherto went unheeded—the
norm when politicians must get involved.
Now of course, two years later, it becomes
their own idea. The photo of the model
presented herewith was photographed by
Armada last year by Dassault. The project
is known as the Male 2020.
In total contrast, Europe has been the
cradle of several military rotary-wing
UAVs, but none, it is true, are multiplenation products. But, to render unto
Caesar that which is Caesar’s, the European
developments largely find their roots in
a Swedish firm called Cyb-Aero, whose
Apid models have often been a starting
point for a number of projects. The subject
of rotary wing UAVs is examined further
down this survey.
I Manpower and Mishaps
Returning to the matter of UAV costs,
there is concern that “unmanned” aircraft
actually require considerable manpower.
For example, the US Air Force reportedly
plans to allocate ten pilots to each
MQ-1/MQ-9 Cap (combat air patrol)
during normal operations. The service is
required by the Pentagon to provide 65
Caps, each with four UAVs. Add in the
sensor operators, maintenance crews
and intelligence analysts, and every
“unmanned” flight-hour requires hundreds
of human-hours.
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“The FAA is not expected
to clear the use of UAVs
for trivial missions such
as pizza delivery.”
During a demonstration staged by Rheinmetall in Ochsenboden in 2013 and witnessed by
Armada, a high-energy laser successfully knocked three high-speed jet-powered UAVs out
of the sky within a few seconds. The Hel laser was installed on top of a Revolver Gun turret.
(Armada/Eric H. Biass)
Another US Air Force concern is
that it is currently not rewarding for its
personnel to learn to fly only UAVs, which
the service (like Nato) refers to as RPAs
(unlike the US Army and Navy, which
call them UAVs, and the US Congress,
Coast Guard and FAA, which call them
UAS). One new effort to incentivise US
Air Force RPA-only pilots to stay beyond
their six-year active-duty commitment is
an increase in “flight” pay from $ 650 to $
1500 per month.
One piece of good news in regard to
UAV costs is that accident rates for the
more expensive types are coming down to
acceptable levels. This is important, since
the US Air Force has over 300 large UAVs,
currently listed as 164 MQ-1s, 194 MQ-9s
and 33 Northrop Grumman RQ-4s.
Class A mishaps are defined as those
resulting in damage costing $ 2.0 million
or more, and rates are calculated per
100,000 flight hours. Benefiting from
improvements in pilot training and
aircraft modifications, the Class A rates for
the MQ-1 and MQ-9 are now approaching
that for the (manned) Lockheed Martin
F-16, and the rates for the RQ-4 (which
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has more redundant systems) is actually
lower than that of the F-16.
The point can be made by reference
to US Air Force data for the last five
years (FY10-FY14). During this period
the service’s F-16 fleet flew an average of
195,623 hr/yr, and had a Class A mishap
rate of 1.79. Meanwhile its piston-engined
MQ-1s flew 209,233 hr/yr and had a
mishap rate of 4.30. The turboprop MQ9s flew 119,205 hr/yr and had a mishap
rate of 2.35. The largest of the US Air Force
UAVs, the RQ-4s flew only 15,356 hr/yr,
but had a mishap rate of only 1.30.
I Compare Apples with
Apples, not Pears
The cost battle on remote control aircraft
versus traditional aircraft is actually absurd.
A UAV devoid of all the systems required
by an on-board pilot (avionics, ejection
seat, canopy, Obogs, pressurisation, air
conditioning, etc.) is necessarily cheapernot to mention the weight and volume
penalty that is thus saved and that would
otherwise have other costs in terms of
size and therefore added weight. One
tends to forget an essential point in
such calculations. A fighter aircraft, for
instance, is a system, just like a UAV, and
requires its own complex infrastructure.
Very often, that cost factor is not drawn
into the equation. UAVs, on the other
hand, are sold as systems and when a first
buy is involved the entire operational
environment has to be created.
Then, a major part that cannot be
measured as part of the operational cost
per hour is efficiency. Whatever people
may say, a Global Hawk can stay aloft a
lot longer than a U-2, its crew can take
8-hour shifts, whereas the U-2 pilot can’t.
In the U-2 versus Global Hawk
controversy, the real question is “is a
Global Hawk needed to do a time-limited
U-2 job?” In other words, “would one use
a Rolls-Royce to plough a field?” On the
other hand, would one take the risk of a
Gary Powers Mk2 adventure, or rather
send out a Global Hawk if it is known
that the environment is unsafe, but the
mission a necessity? Certain things are not
measurable, and there’s a word for this. It
is incommensurable.
In principle, the cost of some military
UAVs (especially the small air vehicles
used by front-line forces) should benefit
from civil developments. While armed
forces buy around 1,000 UAVs per year,
hobbyists were estimated to have bought
around 500,000 in 2014 and to be heading
for one million in 2015. Aside from
benefiting from the large scale of civil
production, the military may exploit some
low-cost civil developments. Examples
include sonar obstacle-avoidance, the
video tracking of manoeuvring targets,
and waterproof quadrotors that can float
and stare underwater.
The leader in the civil sector is China’s
Shenshen-based Da-Jiang Innovations
(DJI), which has 2,800 employees and
in 2013 recorded sales of $ 130 million
(followed by around $400 million in 2014).
Its products sell for $ 500 to $ 3,000. Two
other principals are America’s 3D Robotics,
based in Berkeley, California, and France’s
Parrot, based in Paris. Parrot sold 218,000
AR UAVs in 2012 alone.
To illustrate the value-for-money of
consumer UAVs, in April 2014 DJI launched
the Phantom 2 Vision+, a GPS-guided UAV
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Medium Altitude
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Ahead of Time
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information to the UAV operator so that
appropriate avoidance action can be taken.
Meanwhile General Atomics (GA) is
developing the UAV-mounted Due Regard
Radar (DRR), which is proposed as an
element of the FAA Airborne CollisionAvoidance System for Unmanned
aircraft (ACAS-Xu). The DRR has been
tested as part of GA’s Sense-And-Avoid
(SAA) system, which includes automatic
collision-avoidance and sensor fusion to
provide the UAV pilot with a display of the
traffic around his aircraft. The company
is working with Nasa to integrate its SAA
system on the latter’s Predator-B test UAV,
named Ikhana.
I CUAS
In 2014 Darpa issued an RFI regarding transports and bombers to act as “aircraft carriers in
the sky”, launching and recovering small multi-role UAVs to penetrate hostile airspace and
attack heavily defended targets. (Darpa)
with a stabilised camera that shoots 1080p
HD video at 30 frames/sec and takes 14
megapixel stills. It cost only $ 1,299.
The commercial UAV sector is relatively
small, but over 2300 are already used in
agriculture in Asia, and the American
market should take off when the Federal
Aviation Agency finally finalises its rules
for the operation of small UAVs.
It is currently expected that UAVs
weighing less than 25 kg (but more
than 2.0 kg) will be allowed to carry out
aerial photography and mapping, crop
monitoring, and the inspection of oil and
natural gas pipelines, cellphone towers,
bridges and tall buildings. The FAA
predicts that 7500 US commercial UAVs
will be operating by 2020.
However, it is anticipated that
commercial UAVs (“Small UAS”) will be
restricted to daylight operation with at
least 4.8 km visibility, a maximum altitude
of 500 ft (which is clearly inadequate for
some of these tasks) and in visual line-ofsight (Vlos) with an operator who carries
the FAA’s UAS Operator Certificate. It
must display identification markings of
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the largest practical size. The FAA is not
expected to clear the use of UAVs for
trivial missions such as pizza delivery.
The return of military UAVs to the
continental US (Conus) has highlighted
the need for measures to ensure that they
do not collide with other flying objects
using the National Airspace System (Nas).
So far this has been accomplished by the
use of a manned chase plane or a ground
observer, which restricts operations to
daytime.
The US Army has now begun installing
SRC’s ground-based sense-and-avoid
(Gbsaa) system at its key Conus airbases,
starting with Fort Hood, Texas in
December 2014. This will be followed by
Fort Drum in New York, Hunter Army
Airfield in Georgia, Fort Campbell in
Kentucky, and Fort Riley in Kansas.
The Gbsaa system takes data over fibre
optic cables or microwave links from a
number of airspace sensors (three SRC
Lstar radars in the first application) and
computes the risks of UAV-collisions
associated with other aircraft tracks.
The Gbsaa operator (GBO) passes this
There is growing awareness that in future
conflicts UAVs may pose a threat to any
ground and surface forces. The obvious
way to deal with a Predator-size UAV is
a shoulder-launched infrared-homing
missile.
To protect the UAV against this type
of threat, Elbit Systems has developed
the mini-Music directional infrared
countermeasure (Dircm) system. The
attacking weapon is initially detected
by a missile approach warning system,
then acquired by a thermal tracker,
which allows a laser beam to be fired
accurately at the incoming weapon,
disrupting its guidance.
It is conceivable that large UAVs might
in future have some form of defensive
micro-missiles, analogous to the ALE47-dispensed Orbital ATK Helicopter
Active Protective System (Haps), which
was developed to defend against RPGs.
Forward ground units are likely to have
air defence weapons to engage manned
aircraft and medium/large UAVs, but they
currently do not have the means to deal
with small UAVs, which may be used in
swarms. Counter Unmanned Air Systems
(Cuas) studies therefore emphasise the
detection of multiple small airborne
targets and the development of low-cost
means to defeat them.
Radar detection is effective, but not
feasible at small unit level, hence the use
of passive infrared and other wavebands
is being investigated. In regard to UAVdefeat mechanisms, mini-missiles (such as
the US Navy’s 2.5-kg Spike) would in series
production have a unit cost measured in
tens of thousands of dollars, making them
too expensive a means to counter a swarm
of micro-UAVs.
Tern is a joint programme by Darpa and the US
Navy’s Office of Naval Research to give forward
deployed small ships the ability to serve as bases for
Male ISR UAVs. (Darpa Concept Image)
However, ground- or surface-based
directed energy weapons using lasers or
microwaves offer the prospect of low cost
per target, and less collateral casualties and
damage than (for example) fragmentation
warheads. The targeted UAV does not
necessarily have to be destroyed. Damage
to its radome or sensor window would
probably render it aerodynamically
unstable and negate its mission.
Laser weapons provide not only low
cost (less than one dollar) per kill, but
also virtually unlimited magazine capacity,
fast engagement and the ability to deal
with manoeuvring targets. On the other
hand they are subject to atmospheric
attenuation, especially due to water
vapour and smoke, and can only engage
one target at a time. They clearly cannot
attack over-the-horizon targets.
Boeing has demonstrated a 10-kW
truck-mounted laser weapon developed
under the US Army’s High Energy
Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL-MD)
programme. UAVs and mortar bombs
were successfully engaged at ranges of up
to 5.0 km and 2.0 km respectively.
In a recent field test, Lockheed Martin’s
30-kW Athena (Advanced Test High
Energy Asset) fibre laser weapon disabled
the engine of a small truck at a distance of
more than 1.6 km.
Boeing has been contracted to develop
a prototype High Power Beam-Control
Subsystem (HP-BCSS). This is to provide
the extreme accuracy required by laser
weapons being developed for use on US
Navy ships by BAE Systems, Northrop
Grumman and Raytheon under the ONR’s
Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation
(SSL-TM) programme.
Sea trials began in 2012 with the US
Navy’s Laser Weapon System (LaWS)
on board the USS Dewey (DDG-105).
Developed under the leadership of
Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea),
LaWS is a 30-kW SSL designated AN/
SEQ-3(XN-1). In 2014 it was deployed as
an SSL-Quick Reaction Capability (QRC)
on board the USS Ponce, an interim
Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB[I])
based at Manama, Bahrain as part of the
US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
The SSL-QRC and –TM programmes
are intended to lead to a 100-150 kW
Advanced Development Model by 2016,
to guide the integration of HEL on
The five-tonne Boeing Swift Phantom demonstrator will be powered by two CT-7 turboshaft
engines. Darpa imposes a forward speed of 400 knots at 40% load and the possibility for the
15-metre span (over ducted fans) aircraft to be inhabited. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
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Following termination of the US Army’s Northrop Grumman Lemv programme in 2013,
Hybrid Air Vehicles bought back the HAV304 prototype to serve as the basis for the manned
Airlander illustrated. A future drone derivative is possible. (HAV)
ships such as the Arleigh Burke (DDG51) class of destroyers and LCS frigates.
The US Navy plans a shipboard laser
weapon programme of record “in the
FY2018 time-frame”, leading to IOC
in FY2020/21. These more powerful
lasers are expected to be effective
against various surface and airborne
targets at ranges up to 15-20 km.
In 2014 the US Navy Office of Naval
Research (ONR) awarded Raytheon a $
11.0 million contract to integrate a shortrange laser weapon system on a Hummer
vehicle. This line of development is
expected to lead to a 30-kW laser weapon
and a compact phased-array radar being
installed on the future Joint Light Tactical
Vehicle (JLTV).
Germany’s Rheinmetall has recently
acquired comprehensive experience with
the use of commercially available high
energy lasers and with their adaptation
as weapon systems, particularly in the
field of air defence. In 2013 it successfully
demonstrated a 50-kW weapon, and a 30kW version with an optical tracking system,
12
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
integrated into an Oerlikon Revolver
Gun air defence turret, and linked to an
Oerlikon Skyguard radar fire control unit.
The 30-kW weapon shot down three jetpowered UAVs flying at 50 metres/sec at a
range of around two kilometres.
I Novel Concepts
Airborne laser weapons may be applicable
not only to sixth-generation manned
fighters but also to medium-size UAVs.
America’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
plans to spend $ 286 million in FY16-20
in developing weapons technology that
will “build the foundation for the next
generation UAV-borne laser system,
capable of tracking and eventually
destroying the enemy at a much lower cost
than the existing missile defense system”.
General Atomics has been carrying out
laboratory tests on a “third-generation
laser system” that will be able to fire
ten 150-kW bursts of energy between
recharges, which will take only three
minutes. The company is designing a
1360-kg package to house this laser and
fit inside the weapon bay of its Avenger.
If funded by DoD, this package could be
ready for airborne tests within two years.
It may be noted that Afsoc has voiced
interest in the concept of a pallet-mounted
laser weapon that could be mounted in a
Lockheed Martin C-130.
In another move to exploit the potential
of UAVs, the US Army is developing the
concept of Manned-Unmanned Teaming
(Mum-T, or simply Mut), in which pilots
of the Boeing AH-64 Apache and Bell
OH-58D are able to control UAVs such
as the General Atomics MQ-1C Gray
Eagle, Northrop Grumman MQ-5B
Hunter, Textron Systems RQ-7B Shadow,
AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven and Puma
AE, to specify their flight paths, direct their
sensors and view their imagery.
This is being achieved through
progressively more capable levels of
equipment. For example, the AH-64D
Block II has Level Two, allowing it to
receive video from a UAV in flight and
direct its sensor. The AH-64E Guardian
(formerly AH-64D Block III) has Level
In July 2010 the solar-powered Zephyr
Seven established the absolute aircraft
endurance record of 336 hours and 22
minutes. (Airbus Defence and Space)
Four, allowing the pilot also to control
the flight path of the UAV.
In essence, Mut allows sensors to be
taken close to hostile targets without risk
to the controlling aircraft, providing the
helicopter crew with high quality live
imagery of the target about to be attacked.
In the longer term, through its use of
UAVs the AH-64E will absorb the role of
the OH-58D armed aerial scout.
In a game-changing concept, Darpa’s
Gremlin programme envisions transports
and bombers serving as “aircraft carriers
in the sky”, launching from a safe distance
volleys of small multi-role UAVs that
would fly into contested airspace, and
later recover to the launch aircraft. Darpa
issued the RFI (request for information)
in late 2014, aiming for full system
demonstrations within four years. The
Agency has requested an initial $ 8.0
million for Gremlin in FY16.
Darpa’s Team-US (Technology for
Enriching and Augmenting MannedUnmanned Systems) is another radical
approach to future anti-access, area-denial
scenarios. Since the number of sixthgeneration manned combat aircraft will be
very limited, fourth- and fifth-generation
US fighters will have to remain viable.
They can do so by directing swarms of
attritable “unmanned wingmen”, which
would perform surveillance, electronic
attack and weapon delivery missions
against network-integrated air defence
systems. Darpa has requested $ 12.0
million for Team-US in FY16.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL) is also working on the concept of
an “affordable, attritable” air-launched
UAV, aiming for a unit cost of no more
than $ 3.0 million.
One of the building blocks for the use of
swarms of UAVs is Darpa’s Collaborative
Operation in Denied Environments
(Code) programme. This is aimed at one
person controlling six or more UAVs,
equipped for “collaborative autonomy”
in finding targets and engaging them.
I Males at Sea
Another mould-breaking programme
originated by Darpa is Tern, which
explores concepts that would allow
Male (medium-altitude, long-endurance)
UAVs with ISR and strike capability to
be operated (even in elevated sea states)
from forward-deployed US Navy ships
that do not have a carrier-type deck.
In May 2014 Darpa teamed with the
Office of Naval Research (ONR) on Tern
(formerly TERN for Tactically Exploited
Reconnaissance Node), aiming for a
full-scale at-sea demonstration from
a ship with the same deck size as an
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The US
Navy is also interested in operating Tern
from its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS),
amphibious transport docks (LPDs), dock
landing ships (LSDs) and Military Sealift
Command cargo ships.
In production form, the Tern UAV is
intended to remain on station at 925 km
radius for over ten hours, and to deliver
a 270-kg payload to a radius of 1700 km,
which (if attainable) would allow 98% of
the world’s land area to be reached from
the sea. It is envisioned that Tern would
be used in deep overland ISR and strike
missions without use of a forward base or
help from a host nation. Since stealth is not
mentioned, the concept appears to assume
a military undeveloped region, a surprise
attack, or standoff jamming support.
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
13
The US Navy’s second Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, BuNo 168458, made its first flight
on October 15, 2014. (Northrop Grumman/Alan Radecki)
The key to Tern is clearly the launch
and recovery system, but Darpa is also
interested in developing compact stowage
arrangements, robotic deck handling and
automated maintenance and preflight
checkout. The objective is to achieve
prototype flight demonstration in 2017.
For Tern Phase One, Darpa concept
definition study contracts were awarded in
September 2013 to Aurora Flight Sciences,
Carter Aviation Technologies, Maritime
Applied Physics Corporation, Northrop
Grumman and AeroVironment.
Twelve-month Tern Phase Two preliminary design contracts were awarded
by Darpa to Northrop Grumman and
AeroVironment in October 2014, to lead
to a subscale flight demonstration prior
to the Phase Three contract award.
There are rumours that vertical
operation is used by both contractors, but
Aurora has received a Darpa contract to
develop its patented SideArm UAV launch
and recovery system. This evidently uses
a rig that mounts a launch rail and a
recovery loop which is engaged by a hook
extended from the top of the UAV.
I Vtolx-Plane
Discussion of Darpa-led work on future
UAVs would be incomplete without
reference to the 52-month, $ 130 million
Vtol X-Plane programme, although this is
aimed at technology that will be equally
applicable to manned aircraft.
14
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
The Agency plans to develop a
demonstrator that can achieve a speed of
550-750 km/hr, a hover efficiency of over
60%, a cruise lift/drag ratio of at least ten,
and a useful load equal to at least 40% of
its 4500-5500 kg gross weight.
Phase One 22-month X-Plane contracts
were awarded in October 2013 to Aurora
Flight Sciences, Boeing, Karem Aircraft and
Sikorsky Aircraft (teamed with Lockheed
Martin Skunk Works). Nothing appears
to have been revealed about the Aurora
project, aside from its LightningStrike
name. The Boeing Phantom Swift has two
lift fans buried in the fuselage and two
wingtip-mounted vectorable ducted fans.
The Sikorsky Rotor Blown Wing is a tailsitter. Karem’s design has optimum-speed
tilt rotors at mid semi-span, the outer wings
tilting with the rotors.
The four contenders are to submit
preliminary designs in late 2015, and
Darpa is to select one contractor to build
an X-Plane technology demonstrator to
fly in February 2018.
I Persistent Surveillance
The security situation in Afghanistan from
2003 onwards led to a desire for full-time
aerial surveillance, in such detail that the
emplacement of roadside bombs could be
detected. There were various proposals for
the use of lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles,
but-aside from tethered aerostats—none
has entered service. The US Air Force’s
Mav6 Blue Devil Two project was cancelled
in June 2012 and the US Army’s Northrop
Grumman Lemv (Long-Endurance
Multi-Intelligence Vehicle) was halted in
February 2013.
The Lemv was to be based on the
HAV304 hybrid airship developed by the
UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV).
The first of three prototypes planned
for the programme flew in August 2012
at Lakehurst, New Jersey. After Lemv
was cancelled, HAV bought back the
prototype from the Pentagon for $ 301,000,
export from the US being allowed on the
assurance that it would be operated only
in manned form.
The HAV304 is now to be used as
a technology demonstrator, while the
company develops (with some British
Government funding) the much larger,
manned Airlander 50, designed to carry
a 50-tonne load for 4800 km. First flight
is planned for 2018-19. Although not
(yet) promoted, in unmanned form the
Airlander 10 production version of the
HAV304 is estimated to have-as was
required for Lemv-an endurance of 21 days,
flying at 20,000 ft with a 1150-kg payload.
The only high-tech ISR-LTA is the
Raytheon Jlens, in which surveillance and
tracking radars carried by two tethered
unmanned balloons are positioned at
10,000 ft altitude for up to 30 days at a
time. The Jlens can detect and track lowflying manned aircraft and cruise missiles
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armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
15
The third Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, financed by the manufacturer, had its maiden flight on November 18, 2014.
The three development aircraft are shown reunited at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River, Maryland. (US Navy)
at ranges of up to 550 km. It also has a
limited capability against short-range
ballistic missiles.
Plans for Jlens production have been
cancelled, but two systems have been
completed. One is the subject of a threeyear US Army evaluation, to see how
well it integrates with the existing Norad
Eastern Air Defense Sector, and the
other is in strategic reserve, available for
worldwide deployment, if required.
The hybrid airship combination of
helium gas, modern envelope materials,
aerodynamic lift from body shaping, and
vectored thrust offers the prospect of
extremely long endurance, coupled with
easier ground handling than traditional
airships. As stol devices, they provide
independence from conventional airfields,
although they will need a flat, clear area
perhaps 300 metres across.
cruise for 120 hours with a 450-kg payload,
but at only 20,000 ft, with correspondingly
reduced coverage.
In December 2014, the Orion prototype
with 450 kg of ballast performed a flight
lasting 80 hours, and landed back at
China Lake, California with 770 kg of
fuel remaining. The flight, conducted at
altitudes up to 10,000 ft, was terminated
early due to range availability.
The Orion is estimated to be capable
of 114 hours (4.75 days) endurance at
800 km radius, reducing to 51 hours at
4800 km. It could be modified to carry
a 450-kg load under either wing, giving
it strike potential. Ferry range is 24,000
km. It cruises at 125-160 km/hr, and has
a dash speed of 220 km/hr. The Orion may
represent a cost-effective alternative to an
unarmed Predator.
Two US hydrogen-powered projects
are aimed at the holy grail of extended
endurance at 65,000 ft, an altitude that
would provide realistic optimum of area
coverage for a wingborne aircraft.
The 4450-kg Boeing Phantom Eye
subscale demonstrator has a 45.7-metre
wingspan and two 2.3-litre tripleturbocharged 112-kW Ford engines that
burn liquid hydrogen, contained in two
I Fixed-Wing Extremes
However, refinements in relatively
conventional fixed-wing aircraft are
leading to endurances measured in
days. Their continuing role in extreme
endurance operations is thus assured.
Aurora Flight Sciences was selected in
2007 to perform the AFRL Ultra Long
Endurance study, to establish whether
a fixed-wing design could offer an
alternative to the LTA concepts then being
promoted. This led to the 3175-kg Orion,
at that stage a single-engined, hydrogenfuelled aircraft, designed to cruise at
65,000 ft for more than one day with a
180-kg payload. The Orion programme
is AFRL-managed, but mainly funded by
the US Army’s SMDC (Space & Missiles
Defense Command).
As work on the Orion design continued,
it evolved into the twin-Austro diesel
engined, 5080-kg Male aircraft with a
40.2-metre wingspan. Orion was now to
16
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
The turboprop-powered General Atomics MQ-9B Reaper has proved highly successful in
the hunter-killer role. This trials aircraft is shown armed with four MBDA Brimstone
air-ground missiles. (MBDA)
The Piaggio Aero P.1HH Hammerhead is a UAV
version of the high-speed P.180 Avanti business
aircraft. The Italian Air Force is to be the launch
customer, planning to order six Hammerheads and
three control stations. (Piaggio Aero)
2.44-metre diameter spherical tanks. It
in this case the engine powers an
was designed to remain for four days at
electrical generator, running four
up to 65,000 ft with a 200-kg payload.
motors that turn propellers distributed
The Phantom Eye demonstrator had
along the wing leading edge. The
its maiden flight in June 2012, sustained
GO-1 was designed to stay aloft for five
some damage on landing, and resumed
days at up to 65,000 ft with a 170-kg
flight trials in February 2013. In June
payload.
Funded by six US Government agencies,
2013 Boeing was awarded a $ 6.8 million
the GO-1 began flight trials in January 2011,
contract by the US Missile Defense
but crashed after 18 hours into its ninth
Agency to install an unidentified payload
flight three months later. In December
in the demonstrator. Subsequent flights
2012 the Pentagon terminated funding.
reached 28,000 ft and endurances of up
to five hours. Boeing is continuing trials, However, AeroVironment completed a
aiming to increase endurance and achieve
second prototype, and in February 2014
an altitude of at least 60,000 ft.
teamed with Lockheed Martin to market
If successful, this demonstrator
internationally the Global Observer as an
programme could lead to construction “atmospheric satellite system”.
Fixed-wing aircraft with hydrogenof the full-scale Phantom Eye with a
burning reciprocating engines evidently
64-metre wingspan, designed to stay at
extreme altitude for ten days with a 450- have potential for extreme endurance
kg payload. Four such aircraft are claimed
at high altitude, but the endurance and
to be capable of providing continuous
sustained altitude records for UAVs are
communications coverage.
held by a solar-powered aircraft.
Originally developed by the UK-based
In the same class as the Phantom
Qinetiq, the Zephyr Seven established
Eye subscale demonstrator, the Aero
the official endurance record for manned/
Vironment Global Observer GO-1 has a
unmanned aircraft of 336 hours and
40-metre wingspan and a single
engine burning hydrogen. However, 22 minutes in July 2010. It also established
a UAV record for sustained altitude
of 70,740 ft.
The Zephyr Seven has a wingspan of 22.5
metres and a take-off weight of 53 kg, with
a payload of ten kg. It cruises at around 55
km/hr and has a dash speed of 100 km/
hr. The project has now been acquired
by Airbus Defence & Space, and a larger
Zephyr Eight is planned, to be marketed
as a “high altitude pseudo-satellite” (Haps).
In late 2013 South Korea’s Dapa (Defense
Acquisition Program Adminis-tration)
announced a plan to develop an ultra-light
solar-powered UAV by 2017 to perform
such missions as communications relay. The
UAV is to remain on station for three days
at a height of 10-50 km (33,000-164,000
ft). The budget of $ 42.5 million is to be
provided by various government ministries.
America’s Darpa has meanwhile
expressed interest in developing unmanned
aircraft that could monitor military and
commercial activities north of the Arctic
Circle for more than 30 days at a time,
keeping track of air, surface and subsurface
targets. Operating year-round at such
high latitudes would clearly be a difficult
challenge for solar-powered UAVs.
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
17
Aerolight
Payload: 2.56
4.00
8 kg
Hi-resolution
CCD or night
camera
Aerosky
Arrow Lite
40
Israel Aerospace Industries
t-o/recove: cat-para
104.00
Payload: ~0.220 kg
1.10
2.47
(manufacturer
day + infrared
Asio
n/a
t-o/recove: conv-conv
70.3115 5.00
Payload: 1.5 kg
n/a
0.62
+laser illum
Low-level day or
uncooled infrared
1x electric
Stark Aerospace
Desert Hawk III
~3 ~152.75
Lockheed Martin
Fire Scout MQ-8C
Payload: Hermes 90
K-Max
Dragon Eye RQ-14A
7.5 10+1.5
Payload: 136 kg
Flir Brite Star II
Telephonics sar
Cobra ASW
Fire Shadow
Predator A MQ-1
Payload: 25 kg
Elbit Enhanced
Micro Composs
14 hp
2-stroke
110 1515+
MBDA
Hermes 450
Scaneagle
Elbit Systems
KZO
Shahpar
Payload: Spy Arrow
Payload: 204 kg
MST-A EO/IR,
Lynx sar, singint,
esm, GPS, INS,
Hellfire
Wasp III
Patroller
Payload: n/a
Stabilised day or
IR
Predator B, Reaper MQ-9
44920 20
Scout
48017 7
Payload: 50
electro-optica
Pakistani Origin
0.2 kg
Day or IR. autopilot.
Siva
476350 30+
Switchblade
Payload:
n/a
Video, IR
300 126.50
0.61
~1
Aerovironment
t-o/recove: hand-belly
1.30 15000.33
4.02
5.81
Inta
XM300/
400ES
0.28
0.40
105025 30+
n/a
Dcompass +
1x UEL
AR-801
52 hp
Amps (Elbit), Sar,
satcom
Payload: n/a
Flir
Rheinmetall
1x 30 hp Defrence
Schrick Electronics
SF2-350S
t-o/recove: rato-para
Payload: n/a
Euroflir 410,
Thales sar
1x 115 hp
Rotax
914F
Payload: 363 kg
Lynx sar, L-3
Wescom EO/IR,
sigint, ESM, Hellfire,
1x Ase GBU-12, GBU-38
TPE33 1-10T (export. ISR only)
tp
Payload: 0.80
0.80
Datron
Payload: <1.00low 0.50
Payload: n/a
Gimballe
EO/IR
4x
t-o/recove: cat-cable
4-cyl
Rotax 912
ULS100 hp
161 11.503.50
10.36
20.12
General Atomics
1x 1.5 hp
2-stroke
18 1615
t-o/recove: boost
20015 6
8.50
18
Sagem
1x Rotax
914
115 hp t-o/recove: conv-conv
0.60
0.66
Thales
1.2 kg
6.50 183.00
11572540
Rheinmetall
Hight-resolution
stabilised CCD
(typically Controp
brushless M-Stamp)
4.2
6.6
Gids
n/a
Day/Night electrooptical
Explosive
2.26
3.41
t-o/recove: vtol
520023 12+
1.19
3.05
Boeing
Payload: 6.10
10.52
t-o/recove: conv/cat
conv
Payload: 2700 kg
8.23
17
General Atomics
2.04 1.001.00
UEL
1.00
2.20
Aeronautics
n/a
Day TV
2xAveax
1005/6Y
1500 hp
T5317A1
Orbiter
Payload: 4
~4
t-o/recove: vert-vert
27311612
15.8
15.8
Lockeed Martin-Kaman
t-o/recove: vtol
8.0060.50
1.73
1.16
Aerovironment
4.00
5.00
Elbit Systems
1.0 kg
day/IR, sigint
12.7
~36
Northrop Grumman
Selex Galileo
t-o/recove:hand-belly
0.9
1.5
18 kg
Cats EO
not determined)
8 hp
Aeronautics
Payload: n/a
4.48
Wasp AE
2.7 n/a0.6
0.76
1.02
t-o/recove: auto vtol
Payload: 40 kg
CCD, IR
stabilised turret
Rotax 503
UL-2V
49.6 hp t-o/recove: conv/cat-
conv/para
Payload: n/a
Day camera + GPS
Explosive grenade
pin-point antipersonnel
t-o/recove: tuve launch
Payload: n/a
Stab. day +
infrared camera
n/a
18
armada
Aerovironment
Compendium UAVs
2015
0.32 101.00
t-o/recove: land-belly
armada Compendium UAVs 2015
Aerovironment
1.3 0.50.5
Armada International’s
Aerosonde Mk. 4.7 G
Payload: 2.10
3.6
AAI-Aerosonde
Bat 12
Payload: 1.90
3.6
Northrop Grumman
Eagle 1/Harfang
10020 14
Fury
115025 24
Hermes 900
Elbit Systems
Luna
EMT
Pchela 1
Predator C Avenger
130 8.202.00
13.4
20.11
General Atomics
Searcher Mk III
IAI Malat
Skeldar V-200
T-20
Payload: Watchkeeper
Cyberflight
Global Hawk RQ-4B Bk 20-40
n/a
Day or IR
Payload: n/a
TV or LLTV or
elint
Heron
*internal
2948kg tot,
Lynx sar, EO/IR
4,800lbt turret, wide
PW54B rang of GBUs
IAI Malat
Manta IA-17 Extended
Stab day+infrared
(Tamam), satcom
Much quieter engine
1x 80hp than Searcher II
Limbach
40 kg
EO/IR
2.20 4.001.00
Payload: 1360 kg
14,62865
Block 20: sar,
EO+IR wide area
search/spot.
36
1x R-R Block 40: MR-RTIP
AE3007 H sar/MTI radar
tf
Payload: Indra
Predator XP
110030 50
1x Rotax
914
115 hp
Seeker II
Skylark I-LE
7.5 kg
Stab zoom day +
infrared
Retractable gimbal
assy
12.518>20
t-o/recove:cat-para
Payload:max 40 kg
EO/IR, soon Sar,
sigint
Hirth 2-str
58 hp
t-o/recove: auto vtol
20011+ 6+
Payload: 204 kg
Lynx sar, Sigin,
ESM, EO/IR,
satcom, GPS,
Rotax 914 INS
turbo
230025 40
Payload: n/a
7.00
Denel
Payload: 8
17
General Atomics
n/a
TV & IR, custom
(IAI Tamam)
4.00
3.30
Payload: 1x
electric
3 hp
Pelicano
8 kg
Infrared, Mpeg
recorder
1.27
2.8
IDS
Payload: 120 kg
Payload: 8.60
16.61
Samana/
Trud
P-032
32 hp t-o/recove: cat-conv
Payload: 1588 kg*
t-o/recove: hand or
cat belly
5.60 n/a1.00
14.53
39.90
Northrop Grumman
t-o/recove: cat-net/
para
n/a
Colour camera,
multi-sensor,
electronic survey
28018 10
1x 4-cyl
2-stroke
50 hp t-o/recove:conv-conv
/arrestor
Payload: 1.5
3.00
1.2 kg
E-O Controp
2-str Hirth
55 hp
75 n/a16
45015 30
Elbit Systems
t-o/recove: vtol
230 13-6.00
Payload: 190-cc
10 hp
Honda
4-str
16 kg
Cloud Cap T2
EO, Cloud Cap
Piccolo autopilot,
two drop loads.
T-Hawk Mav
n/a
EO plus
Honeywell
X-47B (Ucas-D)
demonstrator
I-Master radar
UEL
AR 801
38.8 kW
t-o/recove:hand-conv
7.5 153.00
Payload: 0.45 kg
0.40
0.33
t-o/recove: cat-belly
Payload: 6.10
10.51
U-Tacs
n/a
CCD camera
(various manufs)
Athena Guidestar
2-cyl 2-s 311system
6.70 hp
42619 16
Payload: 0.82
1.00
2.87
5.26
Arcturus
n/a
EO gimbal, SarGMTI (Elbit), satcom,
air-to-ground
weapons singint,
1x Rolax elint
100 hp
4.00
4.70
Saab
E-Swift Eye
Payload: 300 kg
716753 20
5.85
8.56
250 kg
t-o/recove:cat-net
<4010 6+
Zanzottera
2-piston
490ia
20018 14
38 hp t-o/recove: conv-conv
0.80
2.20
IAI Malat
Stab day-night +
“special mission”
suite
Entered service in
2011
2.77
3.26
Yakovlev Design Bureau
Bird Eye 400
t-o/recove: cat-net
Payload: 97033 40
2.26
2.36
Aeronautics
50 kg
Stabilised EO
n/a
EO or EW
1x Rotax
914
115 hp
Payload: 4.50
6.50
option
Payload:
13515 15
15
15
Aerostar
sigint, weopons
16hp
2-stroke
Hirth
~1
4.35
Lockheed Matin
34 kg
EO/IR, sar,
4.00
16.3
EADS-IAI Malat
5 kg
Cloud Cap stab.
day+infrared, also
belly-mounted sigint
pack New specific
4hp
single piston engine (2014)
t-o/recove: cat-belly/
Lyc.EL-005
15.2015 12
net
6.80 10.500.70
2-stroke
3W engine
4 hp
Sony FCB-IX11A
EO, DRS E3500
IR cameras
t-o/recove: vtol
Payload: 2040 kg
11.58
18.90
EO, IR, Sar,
GMTI, ESM, IO
P&W F100
Northrop Grumman
20.21540
armada
40+
Compendium UAVs
2015
19
Compendium of UAVs
Aladin
Payload:
0.60
1.46
n/a
Day or IR
Anka Block A
Payload: 200 kg
8
173
300 T E-O turret
(Savronic datalink)
1x
electric
EMT
Bird Eye 650
TAI
4.0 low1.00
Payload: ~1
3.00
1.1 kg
E-O Controp
Black Jack
175030 24
Centurion
TMG 2.0
heavy fuel
t-o/recove:conv-conv
Payload: 2.10
4.80
23 kg
infrared, marker
8 hp
IAI
11 153+
Falco
Payload: 5.30
7.20
Selex Galileo
45015 14
Global Hawk RQ-4 Block 30
UEL
AR 682
75 hp
1x RR
AE30007 H
1462860
Heron TP
36
Mantis
465045 36
demonstrator
TV & IR, custom
(IAI Tamam,
various)
Selex ES
Global Hawk Triton (Bams)
n/a
2 x EO, Sar
EO/IR, sar,
EW. comint
650 2018+
Hero SD-150
Payload: 10 kg*
21.515>20
Puma AE
*incl fuel,
modular pallet
2.5 hp
Honda
1xRR
AE30007 H
1462860
Mantis
Payload: Payload: -500gr
1.40
2.80
Pioneer
Gimballed EO, IR
1.5212+
Payload: R90
Seeker 400
Payload: 100 kg
10
15
210 156.50
Sentry HP
n/a n/a0.50
Skylark II
DRS Technologies
n/a8.0016
Payload: n/a
4.20
9 kg
Stabilised EO
not defined
Sky Saker CH4
150 106.00
1x 27 hp
Sachs SF2t-o/recove:conv/rato-
350
con
Payload:
65
1x Enics
M44D
pulse jet
Tipchak (1K113)
Payload: 2.40
3.40
Luch
n/a
TV, IR, targeting
laser (Vego)
Tracker (Drac)
Hirth
12 hp
50
Yarara
704.00
Payload: 2.47
3.98
EO
5 kg
Zala 421-12
1x
2-stroke
28 hp
Nostromo Defensa
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
30
106.00
/para
Payload: 345 kg
Stab. day + infrared,
SAR endurance:
armed/clean, laser
guided missiles or
GPS guided bombs
1350 22.5 14/30
Payload: 1.8
7.50 6.502.00
Payload: 1.00 kg
0.62
1.60
Day or IR
Electric
t-o/recove: vtol
Zala Aero
kg
Day or IR
1x
electric
6 hp
20
9.1 kg
Various
1.40
3.60
EADS
t-o/recove: rato-expen
Payload: 8.5
18
Norinco
t-o/recove:cat
155.00
n/a
Day, IR
n/a
Elbit systems
n/a
TV & flir
(IAI Tamam,
Versatron
2.57
1.90
EO & Sar
n/a
Denel
Payload: 1.42
2.56
Enics
t-o/recove:bungee/
hand-belly
2
600W
5.9 5002.00
n/a
Day or IR
4.24
5.12
IAI-AAI
50 kg
(incl fuel)
Various sensors
triple redundant
systems
t-o/recove: vtol
10013.1 5
1.48
2.10
Indra
360 degree
MFAS aesa radar,
satcom etc
36
50 hp
Payload: 1360 kg
3.3
3.5
IDS
n/a5024
2.27
3.3
Aerovironment
UEL
AR 682
75 hp
14.53
39.9
Northrop Grumman
1x
1200 hp
P&WC
PT6-67A t-o/recove: conv-conv
Payload:
Payload: 100 kg
2x R-R
250 tp
Penguin B
UAV
Favtory
EISS (integrated
sar, EO + IR),
Asips (sigint),
satcom
t-o/recove:cat-snag
59 2024
6.2
12.5
t-o/recove:conv/cat
conv
Payload: 245 kg
n/a
22
BAE Systems
Falco Evo
14
26
IAI Malat
70 kg
EOST 45
(typical), Picosar
and Gabbiano
radars
Payload: 1360 kg
14.53
39.9
Northrop Grumman
Insitu/Boeing
t-o/recove:cat-para
3.90 1.002.00
t-o/recove: vtol
Apex
Payload: ~1.90
4.20
Axi
L-3
28
Camcopter S-100
187.00
Schiebel
200 186.00
Firebird
2268 3040.00
Global Observer GO-2
<2 9
Fire Scout MQ-8B
Payload: 536 kg
Gimballed multi-
Northrop Grumman
Payload: 450 kg
EO or EW
Payload: .25 kg
Stabilised pan
and lilt
day/night colour
or IR
Payload: 1430208.00
Gray Eagle MQ.1C
8 motors
4127 65168+
Hunter MQ-5B
Payload: 7.01
10.44
n/a
TV & IR
(IAI Tamam)
*internal,
522kg ext,
EO/IR, sar,
4 Hellfire, satcom
163329 30
I-View
Neptune RQ-15
Payload: Payload: DRS Technologies
62
Pointer
8.004.00
Payload: 274 14.85.00
Shadow 200 RQ-7B (ext. wing)
211 189.00
UEL
AR 74-1230
2-str
hp tp
Rx
powerplant abbreviations
2-stroke
horsepower
turboprop
Rotax engine
elec
gas
s/b -cyl
electric engine
gasoline engine
solid booster
-cylinder
tf
tj
pj
h
20 kg
Gimballed
EO/IR
(various
Manufacturers)
34 kg
Flir (lypical), also
signit, elint, ladar
L-3 240n/a 12
Northrop Grumman
Raven RQ-11
Aerovironment
Shadow M2
Payload: 19.5 kg
T Controp
infrared + day
21 hp
Yamaha
93
n/a4+
Payload: AAI-Textron
Sperwer Mk 2
1x
Aveox 27
1.82 141.50
Payload: 81.6 kg
34022 18
EO-IR+ laser pointer
& laser designator
underwing EW s uite, 1x 48hp or sar, or Fury
Lycoming gliding missiles
diesel t-o/recove: conv-conv
Payload: 3.50
4.20
Sagem
Vulture
25015 20
50 kg
EO, Sar, elint,
comint. Modified
structure for
Robonics cat.
launch
65 hp
Rotax
562UL
Payload: 3.11
5.21
ATE
n/a
EO, IR
3.9
6.92
Zanzottera
498i
39 hp t-o/recove:conv-conv
turbo fan
turbo jet
pulse jet
heavy fuel
1.04
1.31
t-o/recove: conv/cat/
rato-para
Payload: 4.48
6.00
n/a
Radar,IR plus
guided bombs in
two internal bays
3.65
3.13
145 13.004+
Viking 400
59 kg
EO/IR, laser
painter, laser
range finder &
laser designator
Payload: 3.81
4.50
VTULaSTV
1x UEL
AR 741
38 hp
Payload -6000 35n/a
R-Bat
t-o/recove:cat-conv
Payload: 3.66
6.22
Sojka III
n/a
EO, IR
(IAI Tamam)
1x GoeblerHirth
38 hp
208.00
9.30
12.50
Neuron
3.60 0.6+1.00
250
1x Adour
CCD camera or
IR
4.60
5.70
AAI-Textron
demonstrator
1x
electric
Ranger
Ruag
Neuron
t-o/recove: cat/bellt
para
Payload: 0.90 kg
1.80
2.70
Aerovironment
9 kg
IR or TV or
droppable
1x 15 hp
2-stroke
30 kg
Mosp EO or
EL/M-2055B
n/a
IAI Malat
1.83
1.83
Thielert
165 hp
heavy fuel t-o/recove:conv-conv
4.10
7.10
Dual
885 1820.5
t-o/recove: vtol
Payload: 204 kg*
2x 57 hp
Northrop Grumman
1x R-R
250C20W
8.53
17.07
General Atomics
n/a
EO, IR, laser
designator, Sar,
GMTI, radar
Fuel Cell
Aerovironment
t-o/recove: hand belly
1
7.01
8.22
EO/IR,Sar,
satcom +2
6-cyl
hardpoints
Lycoming
~300 hp
25.4
78.94
2-cyl 2str
Hirth
heavy fuel
55 hp
0.45
1.7
Selex
Galileo
var
custom
180 n/a 6-8
Crex-B
50 kg
t-o/recove:vtol
10.36
19.81
Northrop Grumman
Cyb Aero
Day, IR, elint,
comint, laser;
rangefinder’
1x 55 hp laser pointer, Sar
Austro
AE50R
Payload: 4.0
3.30
t-o/recove:cat-para
Payload: 3.09
3.40
Apid 60
n/a
Day + infrared
T-Stamp Controp
Operational
US Army
50 kg
Optronic day
sight (M-Tek)
125 163.00
1x TTLWae 342
take-off / recovery abbreviations
conv conventional catcatapult
paraparachute
belly belly land
rato hand
vtol
stovl
rocket-assist t-o
hand launched
vertical t-o/land
short t-o vertical land
Electric
motor
armada
turbine
or t-prop
engine
piston
engine
Compendium UAVs
2015
Wankel
engine
21
The Royal Australian Air Force has leased IAI Herons since 2009, one of which (serial A45262) is shown at Kandahar in Afghanistan. The lease has been extended for training at
Woomera, South Australia until December 2017. (Commonwealth of Australia)
I Hale
The in-service leader in the Hale (high
altitude, long endurance) category
remains the Northrop Grumman Q-4.
This began life as a Darpa project, but was
pressed into service following the 2001
terrorist attacks on the US. The principal
operator is still the US Air Force, which
has an active Global Hawk fleet of four
EQ-4Bs (modified Block 20s), 18 RQ-4B
Block 30s with three more to be fielded by
FY17, and eleven Block 40s.
The EQ-4B has the Battlefield
Airborne Communications Node (Bacn)
payload, and is operated together
with four Bombardier E-11A (Global
Express) manned aircraft to provide
communications relay facilities. The
RQ-4B Block 30 is a multi-intelligence
platform, equipped with the Raytheon Eiss
(Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite) and
the Northrop Grumman Asip (Airborne
Signals Intelligence Payload). Formal IOC
was declared in August 2011.
The RQ-4B Block 40 carries the
Northrop Grumman/Raytheon ZPY-2
Aesa radar, providing Sar/GMTI facilities.
Early operating capability (EOC) was
declared in September 2013, and IOC
is projected for later in 2015. In 2014 a
Block 40 from the 348th Reconnaissance
Squadron based at Grand Forks, North
Dakota remained airborne for 34.3
hours, the longest unrefuelled flight ever
achieved by any US Air Force aircraft.
22
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
The US Air Force also operates 33
Lockheed U-2S manned aircraft in the
same high altitude ISR role. In recent
years the Pentagon has been trying to
standardise on a single type, proposing
first to terminate the Global Hawk Block
30 in its FY13 request, and then (thwarted
in that ambition by Congress) to retire the
U-2S in its FY15 request.
Comparing the 18,000-kg manned U-2S
with the 14,628-kg unmanned RQ-4B, the
U-2 is basically more capable, having a very
effective 2270-kg payload, relative to the
1460 kg for Global Hawk. In addition, the
U-2 can cruise much higher, at over 70,000
ft, compared to around 55,000 ft for the
RQ-4B. Sensor range to the horizon is
roughly proportional to altitude.
The U-2 is also much easier to deploy
overseas, and has a self-defence suite and
anti-icing measures. The U-2 has a lower
mishap rate, recording an average of
1.27 Class A accidents per 100,000 flight
hours over the last ten years (FY05-FY14),
compared to 1.93 for the RQ-4B.
The main advantage of Global Hawk
is that it has almost three times the
endurance of the U-2, which is limited to
twelve hours for the sake of the pilot. In
addition, if Global Hawk were to be shot
down over hostile territory, there would be
no present-day Gary Powers to be paraded
in front of the media.
The FY16 defence budget request
envisions the U-2 being funded for at
least three more years (FY16-FY18),
retaining it in US Air Force service until
2019. Meanwhile, the sensor package
of the Global Hawk will receive a $ 1.8
billion upgrade, aimed at achieving
parity with the U-2S. As said a few pages
earlier, one can only compare things that
are comparable and built for a given
purpose.
Lockheed Martin has now proposed
an optionally manned version of the
U-2. It is claimed that three U-2s could
be converted and two ground stations
provided for around $ 700 million.
The IAI Heron is shown equipped with SatCom
and Sigint equipment, an EO/IR sensor turret
and a maritime surveillance radar. (IAI)
The IAI Super Heron HF (Heavy Fuel)
demonstrator, registration 4X-UMF, is
powered by a Dieseljet Fiat engine, and has
an endurance of 45 hours. (IAI)
The first export order for the RQ-4
was Germany’s four RQ-4E Euro Hawk
Sigint aircraft, based on the Block
20. These were to replace the German
Navy’s five Breguet Atlantic ATL-1s,
which were retired in 2010. A Full-Scale
Demonstrator was flown to Germany
in July 2011, and fitted with the Eadsdeveloped Elint and Comint payloads in
two underwing ‘gondolas’. However, the
Euro Hawk programme was cancelled
in May 2013 due to problems with
certificating the UAVs to operate in
central European airspace.
Then in January 2015 the EuroHawk
contractor was funded to de-preserve
and restart maintenance work on the
Demonstrator, with a view to completing
testing of the sensor payload, probably
at Sigonella AB in Sicily, where US
Air Force Global Hawks already
operate. To provide the four required
service aircraft, the payload is to
be installed on a different platform,
such as the better-equipped US
Navy’s MQ-4C or a high-flying manned
business jet.
In contrast to the Euro Hawk, Nato’s
15-nation AGS (Alliance Ground
Surveillance) plan to acquire five RQ-4B
Block 40s was based from the outset on
the use of Sigonella. The AGS aircraft are
to be certificated by Italy. Deliveries are to
be completed by mid-FY17.
South Korea is buying four RQ-4B
Block 30s through the FMS (Foreign
Military Sale) process in a deal valued
at $ 815 million, basically to improve
surveillance over North Korea and provide
warning of missile attacks. In December
2014 Northrop Grumman was awarded a
$ 657 million contract, covering the four
aircraft and two ground control stations
for the Republic of Korea Air Force. The
first is to be delivered in 2018 and the last
by June 2019.
In November 2014 Japan’s Ministry
of Defence announced the selection of
Global Hawk in a programme to improve
its surveillance capabilities, responding
to maritime disputes with China and
concern over North Korean missile
developments. It is anticipated that an
FMS deal will be finalised shortly, leading
to three RQ-4Bs being operated by the
Jasdf at Misawa AB from FY19.
The US Navy’s MQ-4C Triton differs
from the RQ-4B basically in equipment,
but the wing and “ruddervators” are
modified to avoid flutter at the relatively
high airspeeds used in descending to
low altitude to investigate surface
contacts. The wing leading edge is
strengthened to improve resistance
to bird strikes, and is provided with deicing gear and lightning protection.
Triton equipment includes the
Northrop Grumman ZPY-3 MFAS
(Multi-Function Active Sensor) radar,
the Raytheon MTS-B/DAS-1 EO/IR
sensor turret, a TCAS (Traffic Collision
Avoidance System), ADS-B (Automatic
Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast), the
SNC ZLQ-1 electronic support measures,
and an AIS (Automatic Identification
System) receiving VHF transmissions
from surface vessels.
A forward-looking “Due Regard
Radar” to detect other aircraft has
been deferred to a later stage of
development. Planned improvements
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
23
Bidding to repeat the success of the Heron, the Elbit
Systems Hermes 900 has already chalked up some
impressive wins, including selection by Switzerland
and Brazil. (Elbit Systems)
include a Sigint package and upgraded
communications relay capability.
Flight trials to prepare for Triton
included tests with five RQ-4A Block 10s.
These are being followed by three LRIP
MQ-4C Lot One development aircraft
and (on current plans) 65 production
Tritons. The first MQ-4C development
aircraft (BuNo 168457) flew on May 22,
2013, followed by the second (168458) on
October 16, 2014. Due to funding cutbacks,
Northrop Grumman has financed the third
development aircraft (which first flew on
November 18, 2014), and it is anticipated
that the production total will be reduced.
Each orbit requires only four Tritons.
The US Navy plans to declare EOC
with the fourth and fifth MQ-4Cs at
the end of FY17, and to announce IOC
with four aircraft in FY18. The first
operational Triton squadron, VUP-19,
is being established at NAS Jacksonville,
Florida, with a detachment at NAS Point
Mugu, California. A deployment to Guam
is scheduled for FY16. The second, VUP11, will be established at NAS Whidbey
Island, Washington. The other planned
operating sites are Beale AFB, California,
Andersen AFB on Guam, NAS Sigonella
in Sicily, Kadena AB on Okinawa, and an
unspecified airfield in southwest Asia.
In May 2013 the Australian Government
confirmed that it had selected the MQ4C to satisfy its maritime and land
surveillance needs, and was negotiating
the purchase of up to seven, to be operated
in conjunction with up to twelve Boeing
P-8A manned aircraft. The Indian Navy
has expressed an interest in buying up to
eight Tritons. Canada and Spain are also
regarded as potential customers.
24
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
I Group V
The Northrop Grumman family discussed
above represent the upper end of what
the Pentagon refers to as Group V UAVs,
defined as weighing over 600 kg and
designed to operate at over 18,000 ft.
Other notables in this group include
the turboprop 4762-kg General Atomics
MQ-9 Reaper (still Predator-B to its
manufacturer). The US Air Force plans
to buy 343 MQ-9s, the last in FY19. The
current MQ-9 production variant is the
Block 5, with increased maximum takeoff weight, a stronger undercarriage,
encrypted data links, high definition video,
and automatic landing facility. The Block
5 was launched with a $ 377.4 million US
Air Force order for 24 aircraft in October
2013. Italy is to equip its Reapers with
Rafael Reccelite pods and Selex Seaspray
7500E radars.
The 5310-kg Predator-B ER has
a stronger undercarriage, alcoholwater injection for improved take-off
performance, and two external tanks,
increasing endurance in ISR missions
from 27 to 34 hours. The prototype first
flew in February 2014. This variant was
launched with a February 2014 US Air
Force contract for 38 of its MQ-9s to be
upgraded to ER standard by mid-2016.
Wings with span increased from 20 to 24
metres are being developed as an option,
to further raise ISR endurance to 42 hours.
The Reaper’s main rival in the
international market is the 4650-kg IAI
Heron TP (‘Eitan’), which first flew in
2006 and was first used operationally
in an Israeli Air Force strike against a
convoy carrying Iranian arms through
Sudan in 2009. Reports indicate that
Israel has only a small number of Heron
Turkish Aerospace Industry displayed this Anka retroactively called Block A
at the Berlin Air Show in 2014, to illustrate the fact that a more capable B
iteration was on its way to iron out some of the earlier model’s shortcomings
in terms of capacity and performance. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
In May 2014 Airbus Defence & Space,
Dassault Aviation and Alenia Aermacchi
jointly proposed the MALE2020 project
for a Male UAV that could enter service
by 2020, in order to sustain their key
capabilities (and restrict MQ-9 sales). It
is anticipated that at the Paris Air Show
in June 2015 representatives of France,
Germany and Italy will sign an agreement
to fund initial studies, leading to contract
signature with these three entities in
December (more on this further).
I 600 kilos and more
In its third iteration, the IAI Searcher has
gained in endurance (now 18 hours instead
of 16), maximum take-off weight (450 kilos
instead of 428) and operational ceiling
(23,300ft instead of 19,000). It has a quieter
four-stoke flat-four engine and features wintip winglets. (IAI)
TPs, and that these are used only for longrange missions, such as those over Iran.
Its procurement has been considered by
France and Germany, but-on published
evidence-the first export deal has yet to
be signed.
Europe’s latest venture in this group
is the 6145-kg Piaggio Aero P.1HH
Hammerhead, a joint development with
Selex ES of the Piaggio P.180 Avanti twinturboprop business aircraft. The obvious
course of action would have been to
develop an optionally-piloted aircraft, but
it was decided to make this purely a UAV.
The Hammerhead differs structurally
from the Avanti in having the wingspan
extended from 14 to 15.6 metres. It first
flew on November 14, 2013. At Idex last
February it was announced that the Italian
Air Force is to buy six Hammerheads and
three ground control stations.
India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is working
on the long-running Rustom series, which
is now to fulfil a tri-service requirement
to replace the Heron. The latest news
is that DRDO proposes to fund 80% of
the development of the Rustom-2, while
Indian industry funds the remainder.
Publicly available sources state that
the Rustom-2 will be powered by two
74-kW NPO Saturn 36MT turboprops,
which is clearly nonsense. The 36MT is
a 4.41-kN turbofan developed for cruise
missile applications, suggesting that the
Rustom-2 could gross around 4,100 kg,
half the weight of the 8255 kg General
Atomics Avenger.
26
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
In Pentagon’s parlance Group IV is
defined as having gross weights of more
than 600 kg, but being designed for flight
at less than 18,000 ft. The prime example
in this group is the General Atomics Q-1
Predator-A series, derived from the 520kg Gnat 750 that flew in 1989, developed
for the CIA.
The numerical leader of the series is
still the 1020-kg US Air Force RQ/MQ-1
Predator with 86-kW Rotax 914F piston
engine. The RQ-1 had its maiden flight in
1994, and was first employed operationally
in 1999, when aircraft from a pre-series
batch of nine (serials 95-3013/3021, c/n
P-013/20) was deployed to Hungary for
use over Bosnia and Kosovo. Six were lost.
The 268th and last Predator-A for the
US Air Force (an MQ-1B) was delivered
in March 2011. It is known that 116 were
involved in Class A mishaps between
FY96 and FY14, including 102 write-offs.
The current US Air Force fleet is given as
164 aircraft. Small numbers of Predator-As
are operated by Italy, Morocco and Turkey.
The unarmed Predator XP is capable of an
endurance of 40 hours.
The latest variant in the General
Atomics Q-1 series is the US Army’s
1633-kg MQ-1C Gray Eagle (American
spelling having prevailed over the original
Grey Eagle), which replaces the 725-kg
Northrop Grumman MQ-5B Hunter.
Relative to the MQ-1B, the MQ-1C
introduces a Thielert Centurion diesel
engine and adds an automatic take-off
and landing system (Atls), a Northrop
Grumman ZPY-1 STARLite radar with
Sar/Gmti facilities, communications relay
capability, a tactical common data link and
increased warload.
The MQ-1C was deployed to Iraq in
August 2009, and to Afghanistan in April
2012. The Pentagon’s FY16 budget request
includes $ 383.1 million for 17 MQ-1Cs,
following 19 in FY15 and 23 in FY14. The
US Army originally planned to have 128
MQ-1Cs plus 21 attrition aircraft and
seven for training, but later reports have
indicated that the total will rise to 164,
with a final buy in FY22. The 160th Soar
(Special Operations Aviation Regiment) is
receiving 24 MQ-1Cs.
The 1900-kg Improved Gray Eagle
first flew in July 2013, with a 153-kW
Lycoming DEL-120 engine in place of the
123-kW Centurion 1.7 and increased fuel,
boosting endurance from 23 to around 50
hours. It has already demonstrated a flight
of 45.3 hours.
The closest equivalent of the RQ-1 is
the 1250-kg Israel Aerospace Industries
Heron I (‘Shoval’), which first flew in 1994,
powered by an 86-kW Rotax 924. The
Heron has demonstrated an endurance
of 52 hours. It is currently operated
by (among others) the armed forces of
Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Ecuador,
It must be given to the Italians, even when they design a UAV, it has to look right. With fine
success feathers in its hat like seeing its bird being operated in Africa under the United
Nations banner, Selex ES is now looking at expanding the capabilities of the Falco by
giving it, inter alia, a turbodiesel engine. (Selex)
The Falco Evo (Evo being an apocope for Evoluzione) is a much heavier
(650 kg, hence Group IV) derivative with a wingspan increased from 7.2
to 12.5 metres. It first flew in 2010. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
France, Germany, India, Israel, Morocco
(ex-French Harfangs) Singapore and
Turkey, and the police forces of Brazil and
Mexico. The biggest of over 20 operators
is probably the Indian Air Force, which is
thought to have around 50. In December
2014, South Korea chose the Heron I.
The latest in this line of IAI
developments is the 1450-kg Super Heron
HF (Heavy Fuel), which is powered by a
149-kW Dieseljet Fiat engine and has an
endurance of 45 hours. It was unveiled at
Singapore in early 2014, equipped with
the IAI Mosp 3000-HD EO/IR laser turret,
IAI/Elta EL/M-2055D Sar/Gmti radar and
a Sigint suite.
The 1180-kg Elbit Systems Hermes
900 (‘Kochav’) first flew in December
2009. The Hermes 900 was selected by the
Israeli Air Force in 2012 and (with a heavy
fuel engine) by Switzerland in 2014. It is
also used by Brazil, Chile, Colombia and
Mexico. The Hermes 900 was introduced
into Israeli service during Operation
Protective Edge over Gaza in July 2014.
Another Israeli UAV in this category is
the 800-kg Innocon Falcon Eye, which is
based on a manned aircraft.
China has made several attempts to
repeat the success of the Predator-A and
Heron I, including the 1100-kg Wing
Loong (Pterosaur), the 1330-kg Casc CH4B and its Norinco Sky Saker derivative,
and the 1200-kg Harbin BZK-005. Iran
has publicised various UAV developments
in this category, notably the Qods
Aeronautics Industries (QAI) Shahed
(Witness) and the larger Iran Aerospace
Industries Organisation (IAIO) Fotros,
each of which has weapon pylons.
The United Arab Emirates has
developed one of the few twin-engined
UAVs, the 1500-kg Adcom Systems
United 40 Block 5, which was unveiled at
Dubai in 2013.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)
performed the maiden flight of its 1600kg Anka UAV in December 2010. Two
aircraft have since been built and are
known as Anka block As, as tests have
proven the need for a more capable Anka
block B. A TAI official told Armada that
the Turkish ministry of defence had
ordered ten Block Bs to be built to test
a variety of new equipment including
satellite communications (so watch for
that aerial “cockpit”), which almost
commands well beyond line of sight
controllability, a heavily and redesigned
nose gimballed turret (to make it much
lighter and with much higher resolution
cameras and so forth), but remained tightlipped on the armament option. Since the
Anka B will need to be re-engined given
the fact that troubled Thielert has gone
into Chinese hands (Avic), options are
open to install a more powerful engine
from elsewhere and thereby make the
armament option even more probable.
The first flight of the B was announced
in January this year, but the photo
released with the announcement shows
no difference with the A. So how much
this really was a “full-blown” B remains
to be seen. If the reported order for ten
Anka systems for Egypt was ever signed,
it has evidently been cancelled.
Europe’s principal project in this
category is the 1050-kg Sagem Patroller,
which is based on the Stemme S-15 motorglider. The Patroller has an automatic takeoff and landing system, and an endurance
of 20 hours. It is being promoted for both
military and civil use.
I 25 to 600 kilos
This is the most numerous category
(Group II to the Pentagon), hence it is
possible to mention only a few illustrative
examples.
A relative newcomer to this group is
the 500-kg Karayel, developed by Turkey’s
Vestel Savunma to achieve 20 hours
endurance with a 70 kg payload. Vestel
is producing a batch of six for the
Turkish Ministry of Defence under a
2011 contract.
One of the leaders is the IAI Searcher
series, which (along with the IAI/AAI
Pioneer) replaced the IAI Scout and
Displayed at Idex in February 2015, the Denel Snyper is a Seeker 400 adapted to fire
air-to-ground missiles, in this instance a couple of Impi-S. Tests are already underway
and should be completed by 2016 (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
27
Being reasonably small and able to operate from a relatively limited footprint, while offering
a good endurance and an datalink range of 80 miles out at sea, the newly engined Textron
Aerosonde 4.7G would also lend itself to maritime anti-piracy missions particularly if fitted
with some form of auto-detection software to detect trouble spots emerging from the sea
clutter. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
IMI Mastiff, Israel’s first major ISR UAV
projects, with service dating back to 1979.
Now in its third iteration as the Searcher
Mk III, it is powered by a 35-kW Limbach
engine and has an endurance of 18 hours.
The Searcher II, which entered service in
2000, has been used by 14 nations and still
serves in large numbers (at least 100) in
India. It is manufactured under licence by
the Ural Works of Civil Aviation (UWCA)
in Yekaterinburg in Russia with the name
‘Forpost’.
The 450-kg Elbit Systems Hermes 450
(‘Zik’) is operated by eleven countries,
and is believed to be used by Israel in
armed form. The Hermes 450 was the
basis for the Elbit Systems/Thales WK450
Watchkeeper, which replaces the former’s
parasol wing with a shoulder mounting,
and adds the Thales I-Master radar
with Sar and Gmti modes. The British
Army is receiving 54 of these UAVs, of
which 24 represent an attrition reserve.
Four Watchkeepers were deployed to
Afghanistan in August 2014, but FOC is
not expected before 2017.
Italy’s 490-kg Selex ES Falco, which
first flew in 2003, was developed purely
for the export market. The principal
customer is Pakistan, which is believed
to have ordered 25 Falcos in 2006, with
further examples being produced under
licence by the Pakistan Aeronautical
Complex at Kamra. In September 2013 a
country in the Middle East, thought to be
Jordan or Saudi Arabia, placed a Euro 40
million order for Falcos. Turkmenistan
has purchased three and the United
Nations five, initially to support its
operations in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC).
28
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
Other relatively heavy, runway-operated
tactical UAVs include the UAE’s 570-kg
Yabhon-R and 650-kg Yabhon-R2, products
of Adcom Systems. Pakistan’s GIDS (Global
Industrial and Defence Solutions) produces
the 480-kg Shahpar, which is similar to
China’s 630-kg Casc CH-3.
In a substantially lighter category, the
250-kg Sagem Sperwer has been one of
Europe’s few successful UAV programmes,
with production now totalling 150 units.
Although several services have withdrawn
it, Sperwer is still operated by France,
Greece, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
In 2011 France funded an upgrade, and
ordered three more Sperwers with an
option on five more.
Other UAVs in a similar weight
category include China’s 300-kg CAAA
CH-92, South Korea’s 290-kg KAI RQ101 Night Intruder 300, and Russia’s
250-kg Vega/Luch Korsar. Israel’s 220-kg
Aeronautics Aerostar has been purchased
by 15 operators.
The 170-kg Textron Systems RQ-7B
Shadow 200 serves as the Tactical Uas for
both the US Army and Marine Corps. It
is also operated by the armies of Australia,
Italy, Pakistan, Romania and Sweden. The
US Marine Corps has a need for the RQ7B to deliver lightweight precision airground weapons. Several types have been
tested, the most recent being the laser/
GPS-guided Textron Systems Fury, which
is the 5.0-kg Thales Free-Fall Lightweight
Modular Missile.
The US Army RQ-7B (a fleet of 117
UAVs) is now being upgraded by Textron
Systems to Shadow Version 2 (V2)
The Textron Systems Shadow M2 features a redesigned fuselage and wing-mounted weapon
pylons, shown here carrying the company’s 5.9-kg Fury GPS-guided/laser-homing gliding
missiles. (Textron Systems)
The 23.5-kg Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle 2 introduces a heavy fuel engine, generating electrical
power to suit a wider range of payload options, weighing up to 3.5 kg. Flight endurance is
16 hours. (Insitu)
standard, an all-digital configuration with
Ku-band compatibility and NSA-approved
encryption with the Tactical Common
Data Link (TCDL). The Shadow V2 can
carry a high-definition EO/IR payload for
full-motion, high-quality video imagery.
It is being fielded with Textron Systems’
Universal Ground Control Station
(UGCS), which will also serve the Army’s
Gray Eagle and Hunter UAVs.
Textron is now marketing the Shadow
M2, which has a 48-kW Lycoming diesel
engine, a redesigned fuselage with two
payload bays, higher cruise, increased
endurance, satellite communications for
beyond-line-of-sight operations, and
provisions for wing-mounted payloads
such as Sigint and NBC-detection.
In the context of Textron, and in spite
of its smaller size, mention must be made
here of a new iteration on the Aerosonde,
which is now powered by a purpose-built
single-piston Lycoming engine designated
EL-005 that happily runs on Jet A, Jp5 or 8
jet fuels, to produce four horsepower with
a time between overhauls of 500 hours.
The Aerosonde has an endurance of 14
hours. It still takes off from a catapult and
although it typically would be recovered
by flying it into a net, it can belly land
on a runway or reasonably flat surface if
its underside is prepared with protective
self-adhesive hard rubber stripes (similar
to those used to protect door cars from
parking spot dings), the chin-mounted
Cloud Cap ball being retractable of
course. This stabilised package includes
a camera with wide angle and rifle scope
view, as well as a medium-wave infrared
camera. The Aerosonde is also used as
a sigint mission platform, courtesy of a
payload pallet that is belly mounted as
close as possible to the aircraft’s centre
of gravity (the sigint suite being supplied
by the American government). The
new engine was introduced in late
2013 and retrofitted to about 100 aircraft.
It is flown for Socom and the Navy in a
special package arrangement whereby
missions are actually performed by
Textron personnel.
In all some 400 Aerosondes have
been built to date, but the type’s field
of applications is now exceeding the
boundaries of military operations with
one system sold in the Middle East to
the oil and gas industry for installation
surveillance. In this particular instance,
company operators were trained by
Textron and have started operating the
system themselves in mid-2014.
Lower down the scale from the Shadow
M2, the 61-kg Insitu/Boeing RQ-21A
Blackjack (formerly Integrator) is a more
capable derivative of the smaller but
highly successful ScanEagle. Adopted as
the Small Tactical UAS for the US Navy
and Marine Corps, the Insitu/Boeing (as
the company told Armada it preferred to
be called) UAV is catapult launched and
recovered by means of a stronger version
of the earlier SkyHook, formally known
as the Stuas Recovery System.
The first RQ-21A system with five
air vehicles and two ground control
stations was deployed to Afghanistan
in April 2014. The US Marine Corps has
a requirement for 32 systems, of which
three were funded in FY14, and three
in FY15. A further four were requested
(for $ 84.9 million) for FY16. The Navy
has a requirement for 25 systems, of
which three were funded in FY15. The
Netherlands has ordered five Blackjack
One of the most widely used hand-launched ISR UAVs is the Elbit Skylark 1-LE, which
is flown by ‘Sky Rider’ units of the IDF and has been exported to over 20 countries.
(Elbit Systems)
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
29
Europe’s most successful UAV helicopter is Austria’s Schiebel Camcopter S-100, of which
over 100 units have been sold. This example is one of two operated over Ukraine for the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (Schiebel)
systems and an undisclosed Middle
Eastern country a further six.
I 9 to 25 Kilos
One leading example of a Pentagon Group II
item is the 22-kg Insitu/Boeing ScanEagle,
derived from the SeaScan that was
developed to support commercial fishing
operations. Thanks to its ‘SuperWedge’
pneumatic catapult and innovative
‘Skyhook’ recovery system with differential
GPS for precision engagement, ScanEagle
provides independence of runways.
The ScanEagle entered US Navy service
in 2005, and is now operated by the armed
services of 15 nations. In October 2014
Insitu introduced the ScanEagle 2 with a
heavy fuel engine and a range of system
improvements, although endurance is
reduced from 20 to 16 hours. The Iranian
Aviation Industries Organisation (IAIO)
produces a reverse-engineered ScanEagle
under the name Yasir.
Other UAVs in a similar size category
include China’s 18-kg CAAA CH-803,
Israel’s 20-kg Aeronautics Orbiter-III
and 24-kg BlueBird Aero Systems
ThunderB, and Russia’s 18-kg Vega/
STC Orlan-10.
the 6.53-kg RQ-12A Wasp III, although
Israeli UAVs from various companies are
not far behind.
The Puma is currently used only by
the US services, but the Wasp series is
also operated by the Australian Army,
the French Navy and all three Swedish
services. The lightweight Raven is flown
by 23 nations.
The leading alternative is the 7.5-kg
Elbit Systems Skylark I-LE, which is
the IDF’s standard battalion-level UAV
(operated by the ‘Sky Rider’ units of the
Artillery Corps) and has been supplied to
over 20 services. In 2008 it was selected
by France’s special forces after a contest
involving ten types of UAVs. It has
been employed operationally in both
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Russia’s lightweight UAVs include the
Zala Aero’s 4.5-kg 421-04M Lastochka
and 10.0-kg 421-16E, both of which
are employed by the MVD (Ministry of
Internal Affairs). Kalashnikov has recently
acquired a 51% stake in Zala Aero. The
Ministry of Defence uses the 5.3-kg Enics
Eleron-3SV. The 8.5-kg Irkut-10 is used
by Kazakhstan and manufactured under
licence in Belarus.
Norway’s 16-gram Prox Dynamics
PD-100 Personal Reconnaissance System
(PRS) is the first micro-UAV to achieve
operational status, having been used by
the British Army and several Coalition
partners in Afghanistan. The upgraded
PRS Block II was introduced in June 2014,
followed by the PD-100 T with integrated
thermal imager and daylight camera
in October 2014.
I Rotary-Wing
In the context of small vertilift UAVs for
use by front-line forces, there is a clear
case for the silent operation provided by
battery-power. Notable examples include
the ducted-fan Selex-ES 2.0-kg Spyball-B
and 8.5-kg Asio-B, which are now being
delivered to Italian Army infantry and
cavalry units respectively.
I Nine Kilos and Less
The Pentagon’s Group I consists of UAVs
weighing less than 9.0 kg, and are mostly
battery-powered and hand-launched.
This category is largely dominated by
AeroVironment, with the 1.9-kg RQ-11
Raven, the 5.9-kg RQ-20A Puma AE, and
30
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
The Northrop Grumman R-Bat capitalises on more than two million flight hours by the
Yamaha R-Max in agricultural operations. Gasoline-powered, it has an endurance of more
than four hours. (Northrop Grumman)
The 255-kg Saab Skeldar appears to be aimed primarily at maritime applications. It has a 41
kW diesel engine, a payload capacity of up to 40 kg, and an endurance of six hours. (Saab)
In a slightly larger category, IAI is
marketing the tilt-propeller, 12.0-kg miniPanther and 65-kg Panther. These fixedwing projects offer endurances of 1.5 and
4.0 hours respectively, compared to the 40
minutes of the company’s tandem-rotor
4.8-kg Ghost.
Airbus D&S markets the batterypowered 12-kg Copter City and 30-kg
Copter 4, with endurances of 35 min
and 120 min respectively. In 2014 it was
announced that China is developing a
battery-powered ‘Clean Energy Helicopter’,
based on the 220-kg Changhe (CAIC) U8E.
The 93-kg Northrop Grumman R-Bat,
an ISR version of the Yamaha R-Max
aircraft, is amongst the lightest in this
category and, as a Yamaha product, has
over two million flight hours of cropspraying operations in Australia, Japan
and South Korea. The R-Bat has an
endurance of over four hours.
Higher up in weight, the leading
company in the defence rotorUAV
domain is without any doubt Schiebel in
Austria, which was the first to successfully
mass-produce and sell a rotorUAV in
the 100 to 200 kilo class for defence
applications, namely the S-100. Also
known as the Camcopter, its sales have
amply exceeded the 250 unit mark. The
success of the Camcopter, and particularly
once the usefulness of such a category
of UAV became evident to the naval
world, prompted others to enter the fray.
Schiebel has developed a diesel engine for
the Camcopter, which is expected to have
its maiden flight in 2015. The S-100, in
addition to being produced under licence
in Russia by Gorizont, also has officially
demonstrated its capabilities onboard
frigates of various navies (including the
French and German navies), and as a
carrier of aesa radars like the Selex Picosar
and the Thales I-Master (normally carried
by the Watchkeeper). As a Gorizont,
it also has been seen on China’s PLANavy ships.
Saab probably was the first to follow
with the Skeldar, but oddly enough was
not aiming at a naval version, but first at
a land-based type for the Swedish army,
which eventually turned it down. After
many iterations and versions (including a
Skeldar M for marine) the Skeldar grew to
the current Skeldar V-200 status. Against
all odds, Saab scored its first Skeldar sales
in Spain, whose national Indra company
had been working for several years on the
development of the Pelicano (which, like
the first versions of the Skeldar, also drew
on Apid technology) the real fate of which
is now uncertain, Indra having been very
evasive on the subject.
The next European manufacturer down
the chronological list is Cassidian, which
has since changed name to Airbus. Initially
unnamed, the Tanan made its first public
début at the Paris Air Show in 2011 (not
2013 as often stated). A noteworthy point is
that the Tanan 300, as it was finally named,
is the first of its kind to have been powered
by a diesel engine from the outset. It had
actually made its maiden flight a couple of
weeks before the 2011 Paris event.
Closing the march is an Italian project
that was presented at Euronaval late last
year (2014) by Ingeneria dei Sistemi, a
company that was set up as a joint venture
with Agusta Westland. Known as the SD150, it has an empty weight of 100 kilos
and a payload capacity of 50 kilos. In
spite of its recent public presentation, it
had its maiden flight in Siena (Tuscany)
in 2012 and completed more than 150
flight by October 2014. One major detail
that sets it apart from its above-described
stable mates is the fact that it spins a three
blade rotor against two to all the other
ones. The SD-15 is currently undergoing
certification as it eyes both the civilian
and military markets. Unsurprisingly,
the Marina Militare has shown interest in
the programme (its rotor blades can be
folded backwards for storage or garaging),
especially that the current 50-horsepower
engine is to be substituted for a heavy fuel
type of similar power output.
Word must be here said about Japan.
Indeed some of the above programmes
would have probably been heavily
challenged had the Japanese heliUAV
industry been allowed to develop and
export defence versions of their very
successful civilian models. As a matter of
fact, the set-up mentioned earlier between
Northrop Gumman and Yamaha is a first
inroad in this field, but by far not a new
strategy in the defence world.
As mention was made above of the
hitherto relatively unknown Ingeneria
dei Sistemi, it is worthy to note that this
company is also developing a light recce
fixed-wing UAV in the 20 kilo category
The 330-kg Airbus Tanan 300 is equipped
with a heavy fuel engine and is designed
to operate with a 50 kg sensor payload out
to a radius of 180 km. (Airbus Defence &
Space)
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
31
The Ingenieria Dei Sitemi SD-150 Hero is developed in
cooperation with Agusta Westland. Its three-blade rotor
distinguishes it from its stable mates, but a most noteworthy
point is its ability to take off from altitudes of 9859 feet
(3,000 metres). All flight and navigation systems have triple
redundancy. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
known as the Manta. A modular aircraft,
it features a rather unique quick-swap
propulsion module that enables it to
fly under either electric or piston
power. Catapult-launched and parachuterecovered, it has been sold in small
numbers to the Italian Army for testing.
Moving higher upscale, are the Russian
Helicopters 300-kg Ka-135, 600-kg (later
700-kg) Ka-175 Korshun and 3,000kg Albatros UAVs shown as mock-ups
in 2010. All had contra-rotating rotors.
It appears that the Russian Defence
Ministry finally placed development
contracts for all three in 2011. The first
(Ka-135) is to fly in 2015 and the last (the
Albatros attack/utility UAV) in 2017.
The Schweizer 333-based Northrop
Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout began with a
US Navy requirement for 177 but the 1430kg MQ-8B programme was terminated
at 30 units, to be initially replaced by 40
examples of the more capable 2720-kg
MQ-8C based on the Bell 407.
The MQ-8C can carry a Telephonics
ZPN-4 radar, a Flir Systems Brite Star II
and a Cobra hyperspectral mine detector,
and stay airborne for ten hours. It is
planned for IOC in the autumn of 2016,
and is now to be used only on LCS frigates.
Future orders for the MQ-8C could come
from the US Marine Corps and Royal
Australian Navy.
32
armada
Compendium UAVs
2015
Following 33 months of successful
operations by the 5443-kg Lockheed
Martin/Kaman Unmanned K-Max in
Afghanistan, there is political support for
cargo UAV becoming a programme of
record. The US Army and Marine Corps
are currently defining their operational
needs, especially in regard to greater
autonomy in obstacle detection, collision
avoidance and landing site selection.
There is also interest in carrying loads
internally with the long-term aim of
casualty evacuation.
Aside from the K-Max team, interested
parties include Aurora Flight Sciences,
working on the Boeing H-6U Unmanned
Little Bird, and Sikorsky with a modified
fly-by-wire UH-60MU. From a US Army
viewpoint, an optionally-piloted version
of the 10,000 kg Black Black Haw could
appear very attractive.
I Lethal UAVs
Armed UAVs have existed for
decades, more recently in the form of the
IAI Harpy and Harop, and the MBDA
The larger and more capable MQ-8C version of Fire Scout is shown during trials on board the
USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) off the coast of Virginia in late 2014. (Northrop Grumman)
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ON THE COVER: The Franco-British FCAS, particularly
in the light of combat drone demonstrators built so far
by a number of European manufacturers, particularly
those around the Neuron, should in theory have all the
trump cards in hand to be a winner, at least as a project.
In theory only, alas, as Britain has refused to commit
to a €150 million study of more than two years. In the
meantime, it may eventually appear that the umpteenth
attempt to produce a European male drone - the Male
2020 - has a better chance to take to the air one day.
Compendium UAVs
Supplement to armada Issue 3/2015
Volume 39, Issue No. 3, June/July 2015
The MBDA Fire Shadow loiter-attack UAV weighs less than 200 kg, but provides an
endurance of six hours and a range of up to 100 km. Production deliveries began in March
2012. (MBDA)
Fire Shadow loiter-attack UAVs and
the small AeroVironment Switchblade.
The concept has taken a massive step
forward with the 20,215-kg Northrop
Grumman X-47B technology demonstrator, which has taken off from a carrier
and landed back on. Future tests will
include aerial refuelling.
Britain and France are scheduled to decide
by 2016 whether to work together on the
demonstration and manufacturing stages
of the proposed Future Combat Air System.
This artist’s impression shows how the FCAS
may eventuate. (Dassault Aviation/DR).
The X-47B is paving the way for the
US Navy’s Uclass (Unmanned CarrierLaunched Airborne Surveillance and
Strike) programme, reportedly designated
RAQ-25. Some conspiracy theorists
believe that Uclass is being dumbed
down (concentrating on surveillance at
the expense of strike) because a secret
US Air Force programme has already
been launched to fulfil America’s deep
penetrating strike needs.
Europe is determined not to be become
reliant on the United States in regard to
combat UAVs. The Dassault-led 7000-kg
Neuron first flew on December 1, 2012,
with half the funding provided by France
and the rest shared between Greece, Italy,
Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The Neuron
is still being extensively flight tested. The
British 8,000-kg BAE Systems-led Taranis
followed on August 10, 2013. In January
2014 a Franco-British summit meeting
produced a ‘Declaration on Security and
Defence’ that included a statement on a
joint Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
By 2016 the two nations are to decide
whether to collaborate on demonstration
and manufacturing phases.
I index to advertisers
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armada
9
Compendium UAVs
2015
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by UAVs - Armada International

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