UAV'S all country news and views

DATE:12/06/08

SOURCE:Flight International

USAF to use GPS weapons with Reaper UAV

By Craig Hoyle

The US Air Force plans to equip its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned air vehicles with GPS-guided weapons in the near future, and is also reassessing its future acquisition mix with the company's smaller MQ-1 Predator A.

The air force last month conducted the first test releases of 226kg (500lb) GPS-guided GBU-49 bombs from a Reaper over the US Navy's China Lake weapons range in California, culminating with a "ripple" release of three GPS stores and one laser-homing round.

"We hope to integrate that [operationally] soon," says Col Chris Chambliss, commander of the USAF's Predator and Reaper-equipped 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Creech AFB, Nevada, adding:

"It takes us out of the visible spectrum." However, the service is still assessing its rules of engagement to see whether MQ-9 operators could perform strikes using targeting information acquired using the type's General Atomics Lynx synthetic aperture radar.

Since deploying the "hunter-killer" type over Afghanistan last October, Chambliss says the Reaper has frequently employed its weapons - currently comprising two 226kg laser-guided bombs and four AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles.

"That's one of the reasons we wanted to get the Reaper into the fight so early," he adds.

USAF Reapers had flown more than 320 sorties totalling 2,400 flight hours in Afghanistan by early May, according to the service, and Chambliss confirms: "We're on a pretty much 24h schedule."

Chambliss says the air force is also now assessing its long-term fleet strategy for the Reaper, with 60 air vehicles currently planned for acquisition, alongside more Predator As. "We're trying to reveal whether that's right," he says.

In addition to its increased weapons load and greater altitude and endurance characteristics, the Reaper - which is also operated from Creech by the UK Royal Air Force's 39 Sqn - also brings improved reliability and maintainability, in part thanks to its use of a commercial turboprop. "The engine problems we have with Predator we're not seeing with the Reaper," says Chambliss.

Predator milestones

France Discusses UAV Projects with Germany
Plans to Speak with Spain Next

By pierre tran

Published: 17 Jun 15:52 EDT (11:52 GMT)

PARIS - French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said he recently discussed procurement of surveillance UAVs with his German counterpart and would do so with the Spanish minister soon.

Two rival offers are contending for scarce program funds for medium-altitude, long endurance (MALE) drones.

France, Germany and Spain are funding a feasibility study for the Advanced UAV from EADS. In direct challenge, Dassault and Thales have made an unsolicited offer of an unpiloted spy plane using an Israeli airframe.

"I discussed it with the German minister last week," he told journalists at the Eurosatory trade show June 16, when asked about the two offers for medium-altitude, long endurance drones. He would discuss the subject with the Spanish minister at a planned July 23 meeting, he added.

A risk-reduction study for the Advanced UAV project commissioned by the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) procurement office is expected to be completed in September, Morin said. The study should provide information on costs and industrial risks, he said.

A French procurement official said a decision would probably be made early next year on whether to accept an offer for the Advanced UAV from EADS or the competing Dassault-Thales bid for a European MALE system.

An executive familiar with the EADS offer said the company had made a bid below 2.8 billion euros ($4.3 billion), the lower figure in a budget range that extended to 3 billion euros.

The initial German requirement is for a surveillance capability, the executive said. The Advanced UAV is designed to meet that need and offers 17 different missions in the surveillance model. The architecture allows later adaptation to a reconnaissance mission, a particular German requirement.

The French white paper on defense and national security, published June 17, identifies great demand for surveillance and combat drones in air-land operations, pointing out that fighter aircraft and unmanned aircraft are increasingly complementary.

UAVs are seen as playing an important role in gathering knowledge and anticipating enemy actions, key elements in French autonomy in military matters.

The existence, however, of rival offers from French companies undermined the white paper's call for greater cooperation in European industry, a defense analyst said.

The EADS offer of the Advanced UAV would be split in thirds, with EADS France handling mission systems integration, EADS Germany the airframe and Indra of Spain taking the lead in the communications package. Within the French work share, Thales would supply the radar.

A counterbid by Dassault and Thales also includes Indra and uses the Heron TP airframe from Israel Aerospace Industries.

Voyeur UAV
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AFRL demonstrates concept vehicle for bomb damage assessment
by Rex Swenson
AFRL Munitions Directorate

6/3/2008 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Air Force Research Laboratory researchers conducted successful flight test of Voyeur, a proof-of-concept rotary wing unmanned air vehicle designed for bomb damage assessment (BDA) missions.

Lite Machines Corporation developed the coaxial counterrotating helicopter under a Small Business Innovation Research contract.

The UAV's compact size and nominal weight, coupled with its unprecedented flight capabilities, represent unparalleled qualifications for the selected mission.

BDA entails the reconnaissance activity that occurs following a munition's impact; these missions confirm the weapon's target destruction effectiveness. BDA poses difficulty because strike zones are typically controlled by hostile forces and thus not accessible for close examination. High-altitude photographs taken by satellites and orbiting aircraft often lack timeliness and surface detail resolution. Meanwhile, low-altitude, close-range examination via manned aircraft is often prohibitive due to insufficient room for maneuvering and high probability of hostile fire. The dangerous nature of these obstacles underscores UAVs as a well-suited option for performing BDA, given their capability to supply the clear, concise, close-in sensor data that is ideal for assessment tasks.

Voyeur employs two counterrotating coaxial rotors, which provide increased lift and maneuverability while eliminating the need for a tail rotor. An active stability system makes the aircraft both more stable and more maneuverable than traditional rotary wing UAVs, which rely on passive stability supplied by linked rotors. The vehicle's capacity for hovering stability facilitates the operation of onboard sensors from a stationary position, enabling BDA even in cluttered urban environments and providing unquestionable confirmation of target destruction moments after the impact event.

Specifications and pic -

Sub-Launched Micro UAV Developed By Spawar
By tom kington

A micro-UAV that can be floated to the surface from a submerged submarine and then fired from a tube has been developed by U.S. researchers, an official said at a pre-Singapore Airshow conference.
The project, which was launched by the U.S. Navy's SPAWAR Systems Center in San Diego, started debugging in December after a 150 day trial period, said SPAWAR official Daniel Sura at the Unmanned Systems Asia-Pacific conference organized here by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

SPAWAR researchers succeeded in floating to the surface, from a depth of 40 ft, a buoy in which a firing tube was stationed and which contained a Tacmav micro-UAV with its wings folded. Controlled by a cable attached to the buoy, the UAV was then launched.

The Tacmav, which has been deployed by U.S. forces in Iraq, can fly at 80 kmh with 30 minutes autonomy and is produced by Applied Research Associates (ARA), New Mexico.

Sura said that the system was designed to be launched by divers, from a submarine or from an unmanned undersea vehicle. The cable linking the buoy to the launch vehicle or divers had been developed for command and control purposes, but could also be developed as a data link to the UAV, he said.

Coming trials would be undertaken using ARA's larger Nighthawk UAV and possibly other UAV types, he added.

ID this UAV!

Spanish Crown Prince Felipe (C) observes an unmanned flight plane during his visit to the Campamento Arena, the military base of the Spanish forces in Herat, Afghanistan, 17 June 2008.

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bd popeye said:

ID this UAV!

[qimg]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x8/lancero333/junho/20080617152025ENLUS0138592212137160.jpg[/qimg]

Click to expand...

it appears to be the french SPAWAR - or Isreals medium altitude UAV hermes or something like that.

ok its a IAI SEARCHER MK II not a french SPERWER.