UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AN ARMADA INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT 2020/21 : THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS over 10 000 maritime flight hours over 2 000 deck landings operated from 30+ ships powerful heavy fuel engine EXTENSIVEEXTENSIVE SHIPBOARDSHIPBOARD EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE UNMANNED MARITIME ISR 02 2020/21 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Supplement INTRODUCTION Airbus/Dassault Airbus describes the Combat Cloud as “interlinked manned and unmanned platforms which are part of a Future Combat Air System (FCAS).” LOYAL, UNAFRAID over 10 000 maritime flight hours over 2 000 deck landings AND UNMANNED operated from 30+ ships The role of networked unmanned wingmen closely supporting manned jet aircraft powerful heavy fuel engine is a vision that is now being realised. Peter Donaldson EXTENSIVEEXTENSIVE anned-unmanned team- platform will manage a diverse package of medium-to-large platforms. The company ing (MUM-T) is major UAVs that will do the dull, dirty and dangerous has extensive experience with platforms theme of big ticket devel- work inside the engagement zone of modern from small to large and with teaming, having opment programmes on Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS). operated the Barracuda demonstrator since both sides of the Atlantic Airbus is also serving as prime on the 2006. This vehicle has acted as a testbed for amongM the Five Eyes (FVEY) group of coun- Air Combat Cloud (ACC) that is to provide technologies and procedures to be used by the tries, with the European Future Combat Air the airborne infrastructure with reachback next generation of UAVs in fast reconnaissance, SHIPBOARDSHIPBOARD System (FCAS) and US/Australian Airpower to home networks that will serve up surveillance, targeting and Battle Damage Teaming System (ATS) taking significant steps tactically relevant and timely information to Assessment (BDA) missions. Missile specialist forward in recent months. reconnaissance and strike packages. Thales is MBDA is to develop the small and medium Phase 1A of the overarching FCAS taking on the role of main parter on ACC. RC platforms. demonstration programme launched earlier All the companies involved in FCAS are As force multipliers, RCs will take on EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE this year on 12 February has Dassault as prime committed to cooperation on a common specific roles in high-risk environments contractor for the manned New Generation simulation environment to ensure consistency and provide new capabilities in conjunction Fighter (NGF) with Airbus as its main partner, between demonstrators. with, and coordinated by, manned air assets UNMANNED MARITIME ISR and Airbus acting as prime for the unmanned including but not limited to the NGF. Remote Carrier (RC) element with missile REMOTE CARRIERS One particularly crucial aspect of teaming specialist MBDA as main partner. As prime on the RC element, Airbus is will be cross-platform mission management, Naturally, robust and secure networked addressing the entire scope and additionally allocating and reallocating tasks to different communications are considered crucial to the focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) as it vehicles, both individually and in groups, as concept of operations in which the manned applies to teaming, and will also develop the mission phases unfold. The idea is for the RCs 2020/21 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Supplement 03 INTRODUCTION industrial team. The aircraft measures 38 foot (11.7m) in its largest dimension, and Boeing Australia first fuselage was Boeing digital engineering and advanced composite completed at the beginning of the year. The Loyal Wingman concept feeds into materials have been used by the Australian Boeing’s manned-unmanned team to achieve their goals for low cost and Airpower Teaming System (ATS). high agility. Team member BAE Systems Australia provided hardware kits including flight control computers and navigation equipment, while RUAG Australia provided the landing gear, AME Systems wiring looms, and Ferra Engineering various precision-machined components and sub-assemblies. Following on from construction of this first major structural assembly, the next major milestone that must be achieve is to install the undercarriage so that the fuselage can come out of its assembly jig to continue systems installation and functional testing. Before COVID-19, the aircraft had been expected to fly for the first time this year. to complement and augment the manned demonstrations intended to showcase ACC This first prototype is intended to provide fighters, cooperating closely but with enough capabilities in a real world environment. lessons that will feed into the development autonomy to improve performance in high- Covering a period extending 18 months of ATS, which is what Boeing Australia is intensity conflicts and increase combat mass from signature date, it is also regarded as the currently calling the operational aircraft it to compensate for the small numbers of starting point for further demonstrations and will offer to the global defence market. Boeing sophisticated manned fighters that defence technology development. says that this aircraft represents its biggest spending plans are expected to fund. Airbus has extensive experience in the investment in a new UAV outside the US and It is likely to be the RC vehicles that benefit development of sophisticated military aircraft that it will provide fighter-like performance from more radical designs, as it is easier to for both combat and supporting roles, along and a range of more than 2,000 nautical miles. adopt and develop new technologies quickly with the development and integration of It is also to carry integrated sensor packages with unmanned platforms than with manned mission systems and weapon. The company to support ISR and EW missions and also ones, and types being studied include some will also bring its expertise in space systems to exploit artificial intelligence to operate that can be employed in expendable swarms, and collaborative digital C5ISR (Command, independently or in support of manned as well as more sophisticated groups that Control, Communication, Computers, aircraft while maintaining safe separation. can take on more demanding missions with Cybersecurity, Intelligence, Surveillance & a high degree of autonomy and task sharing, Reconnaissance) technologies to bear. DARPA WANTS SWARMS prioritisation and reallocation. The scope here Design and implementation of ACC’s first Other advanced capabilities under is broad, but one of the high level goals is to instantiation will be within the framework investigation include swarms of dissimilar enable safer penetration of hostile airspace of Franco-German FCAS cooperation. unmanned systems, both airborne and by manned aircraft. That is a tall order today, Subsequently, the intention is to enlarge ground based, capable of conducting military as Russian and Chinese IADS technology is its scope to include national air forces at operations in urban environments. This is the generally believed to have the upper hand. European level, should member nations decide subject of the US Defence Advanced Research to join the programme. Further, incremental Agency’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics AIR COMBAT CLOUD inclusion of existing platforms and related (OFFSET) initiative. Under OFFSET, nine On 20 February it was announced that Airbus collaborative combat capabilities is expected contractors are to start work on what DARPA and Thales had joined forces to develop to combine with the NGF and RC unmanned describes as the ‘fifth swarm sprint’ for the the ACC, and the companies are set to work vehicles as they come on stream to that full programme, which envisions up to 250 together on the structural design of the FCAS capability is anticipated by 2040. collaborative autonomous systems providing communications system needed to support insights to ground troops operating in dense, collaborative national and multi-national LOYAL WINGMAN crowded towns and cities. air operations and that will link the manned February also saw Boeing Australia announce Key areas to be investigated under OFFSET and unmanned assets. ACC’s purpose is to that it had completed the first fuselage for a include swarm tactics, swarm autonomy, connect and synchronise all the platforms Loyal Wingman unmanned aircraft, a concept human-swarm teaming, virtual environments and enable the processing and distribution of demonstration vehicle that is to form a key and physical testbeds. As the “sprint” label information to enhance situational awareness element of Boeing’s manned-unmanned implies, the intention is to foster rapid and collaborative operation, the companies Airpower Teaming System (ATS) effort. innovation and continuous incorporation of explain. Loyal Wingman is an advanced new technologies. The agreement represents the ACC pillar development programme being pursued The fifth swarm sprint is focused on within Phase 1A of the FCAS demonstration jointly by Boeing and the Royal Australian the physical testbed and swarm tactics. effort, is to lead up to the early technology Air Force (RAAF) along with an Australian Organisations selected for the first include 04 2020/21 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Supplement DARPA INTRODUCTION American customers, integrating satcom and automatic take-off and landing systems into aircraft already in service. In April, the US Ambassador to South Korea revealed the delivery of a Global Hawk HALE UAV system to an undisclosed location, with more expected. South Korea bought four The US Defense Advanced Research Block