Bluezoo
08-24-2005, 02:59 PM
Pentagon’s UAV Plan Lacks Major, Multiyear Buys
By Vince Crawley
August 23, 2005
The U.S. military’s procurement of unmanned systems is not likely to result in the kind of large-scale multiyear purchases that are commonly needed to ensure development funds for increasingly complex manned fighters, according to the Pentagon’s new blueprint for unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
“The days of saying, ‘I’m going to buy 2,000 or 3,000 of those things over 10 years’ may not fit the unmanned role,” said Dyke Weatherington, deputy of the Pentagon’s newly renamed UAS planning task force, told reporters Aug. 17. Instead, aircraft would be rapidly developing in smaller lots over shorter periods of time for specific purposes.
The military has recently switched its nomenclature for robot planes from unmanned aerial vehicle — UAV — to Unmanned Aerial System when referring to drone projects. The move is aimed in part to stress that the aircraft are just one piece in a complex network of systems.
The so-called UAS Roadmap, a 213-page vision statement for unmanned programs, was approved Aug. 4.
The program’s No. 1 goal is developing the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, or J-UCAS, Weatherington said.
J-UCAS is being developed by Boeing and Northrop Grumman for the Air Force and Navy. The unmanned aircraft bears a strong family resemblance to the F-117 stealth fighter. Smaller versions of the aircraft, dubbed X-45A and X-47A, have flown and fired weapons in demonstration tests. Larger versions, the X-45C and X-47B are scheduled to fly in 2007.
The larger X-47B would have a 62-foot wingspan and be capable of nine-hour missions before refueling. Both versions could operate off an aircraft carrier.
The aircraft would perform a range of missions now flown by human crews in rapidly aging but critical airframes. This includes the close-in electronic suppression of enemy air defenses, a dangerous task now flown by EA-6B Prowler aircraft.
The road map envisions this mission being handled by unmanned craft by the end of this decade. By 2020, unmanned combat planes could take over high-risk penetrating strike missions now handled by the F-117 stealth fighter, as well as some integrated strike missions now flown by F-16s.
Also by 2020, another family of unmanned aircraft could begin midair refueling operations, taking the stress off rapidly aging KC-135s, KC-10s and KC-130s.
Several unmanned lighter-than-aircraft are also in development, including Lockheed Martin’s High-Altitude Airship (HAA), with a cruising altitude of 65,000 feet. The goal is for a solar-powered airship that could deploy from the United States then remain in a geostationary position overseas for a year or more before returning to the United States for servicing.
For the full text, go to:
http://www.isrjournal.com/story.php?F=1051072
By Vince Crawley
August 23, 2005
The U.S. military’s procurement of unmanned systems is not likely to result in the kind of large-scale multiyear purchases that are commonly needed to ensure development funds for increasingly complex manned fighters, according to the Pentagon’s new blueprint for unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
“The days of saying, ‘I’m going to buy 2,000 or 3,000 of those things over 10 years’ may not fit the unmanned role,” said Dyke Weatherington, deputy of the Pentagon’s newly renamed UAS planning task force, told reporters Aug. 17. Instead, aircraft would be rapidly developing in smaller lots over shorter periods of time for specific purposes.
The military has recently switched its nomenclature for robot planes from unmanned aerial vehicle — UAV — to Unmanned Aerial System when referring to drone projects. The move is aimed in part to stress that the aircraft are just one piece in a complex network of systems.
The so-called UAS Roadmap, a 213-page vision statement for unmanned programs, was approved Aug. 4.
The program’s No. 1 goal is developing the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, or J-UCAS, Weatherington said.
J-UCAS is being developed by Boeing and Northrop Grumman for the Air Force and Navy. The unmanned aircraft bears a strong family resemblance to the F-117 stealth fighter. Smaller versions of the aircraft, dubbed X-45A and X-47A, have flown and fired weapons in demonstration tests. Larger versions, the X-45C and X-47B are scheduled to fly in 2007.
The larger X-47B would have a 62-foot wingspan and be capable of nine-hour missions before refueling. Both versions could operate off an aircraft carrier.
The aircraft would perform a range of missions now flown by human crews in rapidly aging but critical airframes. This includes the close-in electronic suppression of enemy air defenses, a dangerous task now flown by EA-6B Prowler aircraft.
The road map envisions this mission being handled by unmanned craft by the end of this decade. By 2020, unmanned combat planes could take over high-risk penetrating strike missions now handled by the F-117 stealth fighter, as well as some integrated strike missions now flown by F-16s.
Also by 2020, another family of unmanned aircraft could begin midair refueling operations, taking the stress off rapidly aging KC-135s, KC-10s and KC-130s.
Several unmanned lighter-than-aircraft are also in development, including Lockheed Martin’s High-Altitude Airship (HAA), with a cruising altitude of 65,000 feet. The goal is for a solar-powered airship that could deploy from the United States then remain in a geostationary position overseas for a year or more before returning to the United States for servicing.
For the full text, go to:
http://www.isrjournal.com/story.php?F=1051072