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09 Dec 21. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is unveiling a new Unmanned Aircraft System called Mojave, named for one of the harshest and most austere areas the world, where deadly rattlesnakes and horned lizards adapt to survive the extreme forces of nature.
Mojave is based on the avionics and flight control systems of MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle-ER but is focused on short-takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities and increased firepower. It features enlarged wings with high-lift devices, and a 450-HP turboprop engine.
Mojave provides options for forward-basing operations without the need for typical airport runways or infrastructure. It can land and takeoff from unimproved surfaces while also retaining significant advantages in endurance and persistence over manned aircraft. These innovations make Mojave the perfect UAS to perform armed overwatch, attack and armed reconnaissance missions.
A prototype aircraft first flew this summer and is continuing to demonstrate exceptional short-field performance and other unique qualities.
“We’re proud to bring these extraordinary capabilities to our Predator line of UAS,” said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue. “We are providing the ground force with a long-endurance, armed overwatch UAS that can quickly reload weapons at austere sites, located close to the conflict zone. This revolutionary design, based on 7 m flight hours of UAS experience, increases expeditionary employment options – making Mojave a real game changer.”
GA-ASI’s history in UAS technology is second to none and is continually pushing technologies to adapt to emerging threats. Predator-series UAS have evolved since their support of the U.S. war effort following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 to become not only a critical provider of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), but also provide kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to neutralize threats and achieve overmatch.
The Mojave project brings together all the best of the proven technologies for employment, sustainment and production and capability to achieve industry-leading reliability, range and endurance. STOL capability increases the number of employment options available to Mojave, potentially including aircraft carrier-based options, unlocking naval missions or sea-based support for special operations forces.
Payload capacity is 3,600 lb. (1,633 kg) and Mojave can carry up to 16 Hellfire or equivalent missiles. Mojave can be equipped with a sensor suite including Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) to support land or maritime missions.
08 Dec 21. Plymouth Rock and Sky Power Announce Partnership. Plymouth Rock Technologies Inc., the Massachusetts-based UAS developer, has announced a procurement partnership with German Wankel engine manufacturer Sky Power GmbH. PRT makes both multi-rotor and fixed-wing UAS, which it markets for use in commercial, military and law-enforcement applications. Its XV fixed-wing VTOL system, capable of beyond visual line-of-sight operations, was launched in February and has been sold to customers in the oil and gas sector. The X1 multi-rotor system is available with payloads that include ground-penetrating radar and X-ray sensors, and an IED de-arming system. The company highlights the exportability of its systems and says its designs are predicated on “wherever possible sourcing from USA/NATO partners“.
“We chose to partner with Sky Power because of their country of origin, ISO 9001 certification and [the fact] that their engines can be customized and configured for specific applications, either as a direct propulsion unit, as a range extender in a hybrid configuration, or as a power unit and generator“,
said Carl Cagliarini, PRT’s Chief Strategy Officer.
“The flexibility ethos of Sky Power is in synchronicity with that of PRT. Having information on exact metrics, such as fuel consumption, engine parameters, and exhaust-gas temperatures optimization means that performance and environmental statistics can be accurately measured and presented for safety based routine service.”
“As VTOL UAS systems move forward into heavy lift and military service, this engine data is imperative to our military and commercial clients,” Operations Director, Paul Keen, added. (Source: UAS VISION)
08 Dec 21. Boeing and RAAF advance all-digital Airpower Teaming Systems. Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have advanced the operational readiness of the Airpower Teaming System aircraft, successfully demonstrating multiple payloads, semi-autonomous behaviours and crewed-uncrewed teaming in the digital environment. In a multi-day exercise that expanded upon a similar activity, RAAF operators worked with the digital twin to develop and test autonomous behaviours in operational scenarios and against threats provided by Defence.
According to Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney, RAAF head of Air Force Capability, the state-of-the-art digital twin concept has allowed for evaluation and integration of smart human-machine teaming systems in our force structure.
“We are working closely with Boeing Australia on the integration of advanced payloads and operational requirements to ensure the Airpower Teaming System capability will be mission-ready to support air combat operations,” AVM Denney said.
Testing included validation of the teaming aircraft integration and payloads as they operated alongside Defence crewed platforms, as well as the effectiveness of the distributed sensors across the Airpower Teaming System uncrewed team.
The test scenario involved several aircraft operating in a threat environment, executing mission aims in coordination with crewed aircraft being operated by RAAF personnel, and builds on working to develop the crewed-uncrewed interface during earlier activities.
This work also contributes to the development of the Boeing Airpower Teaming System being offered to global customers.
“The digital engineering expertise has enabled us to accelerate the Airpower Teaming System’s product lifecycle development of the aircraft design through to production,” according to Brad Thompson, airpower teaming system chief capability architect.
“Creating the digital environment has also enabled us to test the mission systems code in a realistic operational environment so we can rapidly iterate our crewed-uncrewed teaming concepts and payload implementation to meet the threat environment.
“Taking a digital twin approach delivers an agile, cost-effective test program to keep pace with the future battlespace, and we’re well along the path to drive towards initial operational capability,” Thompson said.
Progress on the Airpower Teaming System’s mission system and payload development has included ground-based hardware and software in-the-loop testing, followed by surrogate flight testing of the onboard systems to support verification of the digital models.
According to Thompson, these elements have enabled the team to rapidly roll in lessons learned into the digital environment, accelerating development towards an operational capability.
“We’re excited to test elements of payloads against appropriately spectrally representative targets in field trials,” Thompson added.
A digital twin of the entire aircraft has been “flown” thousands of times under different battlespace effects to test aircraft performance and maximise its deployment capability independently and in support of other aircraft. Boeing aims to continue to progress payload development and flight tests under the development program. (Source: Defence Connect)
07 Dec 21. UK drone industry is one of many British industries facing ‘cliff edge threat’ unless Government speeds up post-Brexit accreditation. The future of the UK drone industry, one of Britain’s prime opportunities for growth, and many other UK-based manufacturing exporters, will be severely threatened once the UK’s eligibility for the EU’s CE accreditation regime expires at the end of December 2022.
Robert Garbett, one of the world’s leading advisors on drone technology and Founder and Chief Executive of Drone Major Group Limited, today warned the UK Government of the need to speed up post-Brexit accreditation and establish a clear pathway to United Kingdom Certified Assessed (UKCA) accreditation ahead of the fast-impending deadline.
If an alternative UKCA accreditation scheme is not in place in the next 12 months, UK UAS (Unmanned Air Systems) businesses – including drone manufacturers and operators – risk being unable to trade within the global marketplace in the absence of the necessary new international regulatory accreditation.
This pressing issue, if not addressed with greater speed, will have serious consequences for many UK manufacturers looking to sell their products internationally. The issue is set to be tabled for discussion in the UK Parliament later this month.
Robert Garbett commented: “We must not sleepwalk into this urgent issue. It is essential that the UK takes a clear, committed and consistent approach to the development of CA accreditation, something which would have a significant impact on the aviation and drone industries, and will also impact many others. The UK currently has no system in place for the certification of aviation materials and also drones, and with all CE Certification no longer valid, firms will have to return to EU certification providers to re-certify, at a great cost both financially, and to the detriment of UK PLC. We now face a potential cliff edge threat which requires urgent attention.”
This has huge implications for many vital UK industries that increasingly rely on drone technology, including energy, agriculture, construction and rail.
Prior to Brexit, the UK utilised the (European Conformity) CE mark which ensured full compliance of a product with all applicable European health, safety, performance and environmental requirements. Post-Brexit however, the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark is now required for goods and products being placed on the market in Great Britain and currently covers most goods which previously required the CE marking, known as ‘new approach’ goods.
From the end of this month (December 2021), the UK will have just 12 months remaining of the ‘transitional period’ to introduce and develop the requisite accreditations to ensure global compliancy of UK products before the upcoming deadline for full compliance on 1 January 2023.
Commenting on the timeline for the accreditation, Robert Garbett continued: “It is essential that a clear roadmap is established for the UK’s accreditation. The process of implementation in itself is already highly complex and, as it stands, it will be very difficult for a certification scheme to be established with United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) in time for the December 2022 deadline, unless the current pace is speeded up.
“The UK’s departure from CE certification post-Brexit, has created an opportunity for the UK to develop an acceptable means of compliance in line with emerging international standards. It has the potential to allow the UK to look outwardly, facilitating a faster pace of innovation in a move away from the more prescriptive approach taken by the EU’s CE accreditation.
“We must get this right to leverage one of the UK’s biggest opportunities for growth in a technology where if we move fast, we could lead the world.”
08 Dec 21. Polish Navy procures iXblue’s DriX uncrewed surface vehicle. The USV was acquired by the navy’s Hydrographic Office through iXblue’s local partner Thesta. iXblue has delivered its DriX uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) to the Polish Navy’s Hydrographic Office for survey applications. DriX is an 8m USV designed to conduct various missions, such as hydrographic surveys.
It is equipped with advanced sensors, including radar, lidar, cameras, and artificial intelligence (AI).
iXblue noted that the USV will further strengthen the Polish Navy’s hydrographic capabilities.
The purchase was carried out through iXblue’s local partner Thesta.
According to the company, the DriX USV analyses its environment, avoids obstacles, and autonomously executes missions.
The USV’s Launch and Recovery System enables the vehicle to be launched from a vessel or can directly sail from a harbour to autonomously map large ocean areas within a reduced time.
iXblue Ships & Drones Global Business Development Guillaume Eudeline said: “We are honoured by the choice of the Polish Navy to operate our DriX Uncrewed Survey Vessel for survey applications in the wake of other prestigious international hydrographic services and private companies in the world such as the US NOAA.
“Offering outstanding seakeeping and speed capabilities, Our DriX USV will act as a true force-multiplier and will help the Polish Navy acquire high-quality data while optimising their survey productivity, efficiency, safety and environmental footprint.
“We would like to thank them for their trust and are now looking forward to our continued partnership with them.”
In December last year, the French Navy’s oceanographic service Shom tested iXblue’s DriX USV under the ‘Future Hydrographic and Oceanographic Capacity (CHOF)’ programme.
During this testing, two DriX were deployed at the same time in collaborative mode with the hydro-oceanographic ship Beautemps-Beaupré.
(Source: naval-technology.com)
02 Dec 21. MQ-25A Prototype Now on Carrier George H.W. Bush for At-Sea Testing. The prototype for the Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker is now aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ahead of at-sea testing.
Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, who leads the chief of naval operation’s air warfare directorate (OPNAV N98), told USNI News in a recent interview that as of Tuesday, the T-1 prototype is aboard USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) for the ship’s carrier qualifications.
The tests for the Boeing-built MQ-25A Stingray are the next steps in providing a capability for the service to operate at longer ranges in regions like the Indo-Pacific, as it adjusts to a strategy focused on conflict with peer competitors like China and Russia.
“We’re making some great progress with T-1 and reducing risks for the program. And so the primary goal of this is to look at [performance] on the flight deck, in relevant flight deck wind conditions,” Loiselle said. “When you look at the intake on that thing up on the top of the aircraft, I’m very interested to know how that thing’s going to behave from an engine perspective with 25 plus knots of wind from all directions.”
Loiselle, who became the top aviation requirements officer in June, described MQ-25 as a crucial component of the Navy’s effort to gear up for operating at longer ranges, like those it would face in the Indo-Pacific region.
The prototype – which Boeing originally built for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program that was later retooled into a tanker – has already performed overland tests refueling an F/A-18F Super Hornet, an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and an F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
The Navy plans to have warrant officers operating the tankers, with the first 10 currently going through “processing” ahead of a training that will be specific to the MQ-25A, Loiselle said. He noted that the Navy’s approach to unmanned aerial systems includes more autonomy than that of the Air Force.
“That degree of autonomy leads us to believe air vehicle operators are the way to do this. And then when we look at from a manpower perspective of what the training tracks are and the complexity of current tactics requiring people to stay in a given field in order to get the expertise necessary for the high-end fight, it’s hard to pull people out and have them do something different. Doesn’t mean that we couldn’t do it in a surge time or something along that path. But the thought is that an individual operator is going to be capable of controlling multiple drones simultaneously because of the autonomy involved.”
Loiselle said the Navy tried to make the MQ-25 requirements simple to expedite how fast it could get the aircraft out to the fleet, but now he is recommending other potential missions for the tanker.
“We kind of went skinny on the initial requirements for this in order to be sure that we’re able to go fast. So MQ-25 is capable of significantly more than we are asking it to do at [initial operational capability]. So at IOC, it needs to be able to operate around an aircraft carrier and be able to conduct aerial refueling and that’s as far as we went,” Loiselle said.
“The rest of it will be spiral developed because it’s got significant additional capabilities with a mission bay and weapons phase that, you know, we plan to take use of in the future. But we expect that thing to be able to pass around 15,000 pounds of gas 500 miles away from the carrier. And so you know, you can split that up and use it however you want to be able to use it. And so it’s got some significant capabilities that I think we’re going to look at adding in the future. But right now – that stuff – that’s all stuff I’m proposing and looking to get funded.”
Boeing beat out Lockheed Martin and General Atomics for the contract to build the carrier-based drone in 2018. The first few Engineering Development Model aircraft, currently under construction, are slated to come off the production line next year, while IOC is scheduled for Fiscal Year 2025.
While the Navy is currently focused on the refueling requirement, Loiselle said the service sees a future for the MQ-25 program to perform more missions like intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
“It’s something that on the last launch of the night, I can shoot that thing. And it’s – instead of me launching all my helicopters from all my destroyers – I’ve got an airborne asset that can stay up all through the night and provide that recognized maritime picture overnight. [It] saves me all the wear and tear on – I mean, I’m still going to be launching some helicopters, but I don’t need as many to be doing that,” he said. “And then I’m working on the manned-unmanned teaming portion of that. Now if the helicopters get a contact here and they can have an MQ-25 overhead moving at five times the speed of a helicopter, then that allows me to get those information points into the operational picture on a much more rapid manner.”
Tim Walton, a fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, said a future variant of the MQ-25 could help the Navy have an aircraft aboard its carriers that can operate at longer ranges and perform other missions.
“The MQ-25 has a great deal of potential not only for ISR, but also for other missions such as strike or airborne electronic attack,”
Walton, who recently co-authored a report about aerial refueling, told USNI News.
Walton’s report argued that the U.S. military needs to invest more money in the aerial refueling mission to remain competitive against China in the Indo-Pacific.
For example, the Navy would need “far more” MQ-25 tankers or help from the Air Force if it were operating an aircraft carrier outside the range of China’s DF-26 missile – which is reportedly 4,000 kilometers – with four F-35Cs, according to the report.
“The addition of the MQ-25A to the [carrier air wing] will increase the operating range of other carrier aircraft; however, the increased standoff distance that carriers and other ships may need to maintain from dangerous threats, such as land, sea, and air-launched cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles, may offset the opportunities enabled by the MQ-25A,” the report reads. “Moreover, the small number of MQ-25As currently planned for procurement may drive the Navy to operate MQ-25As as ‘recovery tankers’ that provide fuel to aircraft in exigencies to help them recover aboard the carrier, rather than ‘mission tankers’ that accompany aircraft on missions far from the carrier.”
Loiselle said discussions about expanding the MQ-25A program of record “are nascent and in pending budget and top line” review.
“Right now we don’t really know where we sit for [Fiscal Year 20]22, so it’s very hard for me to say where things are going to end up in the future right now,” he said.
As for China’s capabilities in the region, Loiselle pointed to the Navy’s pursuit of MQ-25 and the sixth-generation fighter program as evidence that naval aviation is seeking to keep up with the evolving threat environment.
“Just because we’ve had the next iteration of offensive capabilities doesn’t mean that there isn’t going to be a next iteration of defensive capabilities that match those requirements. So we look very closely at it. You can see the advent of the MQ-25 to extend the range of our current fighters. You can see the NGAD program coming up looking to operate at extended ranges. And so we’ve clearly recognized this and we have acquisition strategies in place that are going to mitigate worries about China’s missile capability and potential targeting of U.S. aircraft carriers.” (Source: UAS VISION/USNI News)
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