UAV Roundup 2011

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March 2011

A P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E O F A E R O N A U T I C S A N D A S T R O N A U T I C S

UAV

roundup2011

Quieter flight: A balancing act

Chinas military space surge


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Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) has over

180 uniquely configured and operational assets at 11

sites that stretch across 10 time zones. Since the start

of the program, Boeing has worked side-by-side with the

Missile Defense Agency on this complex and far-reaching

program. Now, together with Northrop Grumman, the GMD

One Team brings an unrivaled breadth of experience, ensuring

that GMD is ready, reliable and affordable.

EXPERIENCE ON A SCALE WITH GMD.


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COVERAn MQ-1 Predator armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles flies a combat mission over southern Afghanistan. See the latest

on UAVs beginning on page 22. (USAF photo by Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt.)

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly, except August, by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-4344

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Patent and Trademark Office. 40,000 copies of this issue printed. This is Volume 49, No. 3.

March 2011

AIAA Meeting Schedule B2AIAA Courses and Training Program B4

AIAA News B5

Meeting Program B13

BULLETIN

Page 4

Page 12

Page 14

Page 32

Page 38

Page 18

UAV ROUNDUP 2011 22With UAVs on the wish list of more and more nations, the growth in salesof these systems will likely continue at a brisk pace.by J.R. Wilson

CHINAS MILITARY SPACE SURGE 32Experts say China is accelerating its military space program to target U.S.aircraft carriers.by Craig Covault

QUIETER FLIGHT: A BALANCING ACT 38NASA aeronautics research seeks engineering breakthroughs that will leadto quieter aircraft and softer sonic booms.by Jim Banke

COMMENTARY 3

How far can you see?INTERNATIONAL BEAT 4Europe confronts intel capability shortfalls.

WASHINGTON WATCH 8Space, stealth, and Spartans.

THE VIEW FROM HERE 12Mapping a course to the asteroids.

AIRCRAFT UPDATE 14MPAs: Statements of global power.

ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK 18

ICESat 2: Laser eyes on Earths changing ice.

OUT OF THE PAST 44

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 46


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HIL Testing

Rapid Prototyping

Autocoding


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Much has been written about the apparent decline of science, technology,engineering, and math (STEM) education in the U.S. and, to varying de-grees, other Western countries. Four years ago, the National Academysoft-cited Rising Above the Gathering Storm study, chaired by formerLockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Norm Augustine, sounded the alarmon challenges facing the nation, with recommendations to bolster STEMdisciplines to improve American competitiveness. Other studies see Amer-ican science and engineering being surpassed by nations that are moreactively investing in infrastructure and stressing education.

Key among these concerns is the relatively sparse percentage of U.S.

students seeking advanced degrees in science and engineering, especiallycompared with their counterparts overseas. While some concrete stepshave been taken to reverse this trend, recent economic concerns, coupled

with inevitable cutbacks, pose a threat to this progress. And nowhere dothose threats seem as alarming as in the aerospace community. Presentuncertainty in NASAs direction and budget, calls for efficiencies in theDOD, and even funding threats to national test and evaluation infrastruc-ture all suggest that aerospace will not fare well.

However, the situation is not as bleak for aerospace as it is for otherSTEM fields. Researchers at the National Institute of Aerospace have beencompiling data on aerospace student enrollments dating back over twodecades, and the results are encouraging. In 1989, the various aerospaceundergraduate programs enrolled roughly 350 students per program; by

1996 that number had fallen to about 130. But since 1997, these enroll-ments have shown a steady rise, such that by 2008 they had returned al-most to the late 1980s levels and continue to grow. Graduate enrollmentsare even more encouraging, with U.S. programs now reporting 50% morestudents than in the late 1980s. Last year, the 57 aerospace programs par-ticipating in the survey reported total enrollments of over 20,000 students.Think were not attracting top students from around the globe? A recentNational Academy study suggests the opposite. The quality of aerospacestudents across the board remains second to none.

Our biggest challenge is not one ofsupplying the next generation ofaerospace engineers; rather, it is in having sufficient demand. Programcancellations, starts and stops, and facility closures all mean fewer oppor-tunities for our graduates. Students come to aerospace seeking the chance

to contribute to meaningful progress in air and space transportation andexploration. If our society does not provide those, they will eventuallygo elsewhere.

The benefits of educational outreach hardly require justificationwe willalways want to recruit the best and the brightest. To do so, we must convincedecision makers to create lasting opportunities, so that we dont lose this gen-erations talents and enthusiasm. In securing the future, the greatest contribu-tion we can make to education is to provide inspiration. Then we can all lookwith pride at the many ways aerospace technology has already transformedour world, and extrapolate to a future where it continues to bring value toour lives while opening new avenues of knowledge and understanding.

Mark LewisWillis Young Professor, University of Maryland

is a publication of the American Instituteof Aeronautics and Astronautics

Elaine J. CamhiEditor-in-Chief

Patricia JeffersonAssociate Editor

Greg WilsonProduction Editor

Jerry Grey, Editor-at-Large

Christine Williams, Editor AIAA Bulletin

Correspondents

Robert F. Dorr, Washington

Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Europe

Michael Westlake, Hong Kong

Contributing Writers

Richard Aboulafia, James W. Canan,Marco Cceres, Craig Covault, LeonardDavid, Philip Finnegan, Tom Jones, DavidRockwell, J.R. Wilson

Fitzgerald Art & DesignArt Direction and Design

Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution

Mark Lewis, President

Robert S. Dickman, Publisher

STEERING COMMITTEEMichael B. Bragg, University of Illinois;

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Merri Sanchez, National Aeronautics andSpace Administration; Mary Snitch, LockheedMartin; David W. Thompson, Orbital

EDITORIAL BOARDNed Allen, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics;

Jean-Michel Contant, EADS; Eugene Covert,Massachusetts Institute of Technology; L.S.Skip Fletcher, Texas A&M University;

Michael Francis, United Technologies;

Christian Mari, Teuchos; Cam Martin,NASA Dryden; Don Richardson, DonrichResearch; Douglas Yazell, Honeywell

ADVERTISINGNational Display and Classified:

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March 2011, Vol. 49, No. 3

How far can you see?


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Europe confronts intel capability shortfalls

4 AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011

cluding the operation of C-160 Gabrielaircraft with recently upgraded Thaleselectronic surveillance systems. InSeptember 2008, Thales was awardeda contract to upgrade the aircraftsELINT system, to enter service in 2011.The C-160 Gabriel is due to be re-placed by an A400M version when the

new aircraft type becomes available.France remains committed to de-

veloping its capabilities in these areas;the countrys June 2008 strategic de-fense review included a doubling ofexpenditures to approximately $1 bil-lion a year on space-based ISR capa-bilities by 2012.

Sharing rather than gatheringElsewhere in Europe, however, the fo-cus has been on developing new waysof sharing, rather than gathering, intel-

ligence. For example, back in May1991, Western European Union (WEU)ministers agreed to create the Euro-pean Union Satellite Center in Torre-jn de Ardoz, to share imagery intelli-

gence from satellite operators. Overthe last few years, the centers acitivies

operational environment, and a needfor more precise and reliable informa-tion, said Attila Simon, research andtechnology project manager within theEuropean Defense Agency (EDA), at aSeptember 2010 Paris conference. Thedrivers for improved sensor technol-ogy also include increased levels of RF

interference and increased pressurefor commercial use of the spectrum,according to Simon.

France leads technology pushDuring the 1991 gulf war, Europe hadto rely on U.S. assets for many of theirintelligence-gathering and SIGINT/ELINT operations. France, in particu-lar, was at the forefront of a push forEurope to develop its own capabilitiesnot just in ISR but SIGINT and ELINTas well. That country has been the

driving force in Europe behind severalgenerations of military satellites andairborne SIGINT/ELINT programs.

Along with a network of satelliteand UAS platforms, France has also

developed considerable fixed-wingintelligence-gathering capabilities, in-

EUROPEAN MILITARY ALLIES WILL HAVEto dramatically increase their levels ofcooperation if they are to make up fora potential shortfall in intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR),signals intelligence (SIGINT) and elec-tronic intelligence (ELINT) capabilitiesas a result of increasing pressures on

defense budgets. Given the complexi-ties of the tasks and the multitude ofplatforms European nations use tomeet their requirements for intelli-gence gathering, it is highly likely they will become increasingly reliant onmature U.S. technologies.

The cancellation last October ofthe U.K.s BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4program and the planned phase outof the Sentinel Airborne Stand-Off Re-connaissance (ASTOR) system onceU.K. troops leave Afghanistan are just

two recent examples of theremoval of special-missionplatform capabilities. TheSentinel incorporates aRaytheon dual-mode syn-thetic aperture/moving tar-get indication (SAR/MTI)radar mounted on a Bom-bardier Global Expresslong-range business jet,

Yet most service chiefsacknowledge that these ca-pabilities will play an in-

creasing role in future con-flicts and that new ways willhave to be sought to shareintelligence-gathering as-sets. New ways will alsohave to be found to financeand develop new capabili-ties in these areasim-proved sensors, more accu-rate analysis capabilities, and bettersharing of information.

The main capability drivers of RFsensor research and technology activi-ties include a great diversity and un-

predictable circumstances of militarymissions, changing threats, a changing

Frances considerable fixed-wingintelligence-gathering capabilitiesinclude the C-160 Gabriel.


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have grown considerably in supportof EU missions, providing images toEU security operations in the Congo,Chad, Georgia, Rafah, Kosovo, GuineaBissau, and most recently to EU navalassets targeting Somali pirates.

But because of the complexities ofthe technologies involved, the differ-ent views by national governments onthe priority for such assets, and dimin-ishing defense budgets, European co-operation in this area has been a chal-lenge. In general, it is only the largercountries such as France, the U.K., and

Germany that have identified these in-telligence-gathering technologies as apriority, which has led to further com-plications in sharing the costs of devel-oping pan-European capabilities.

The other major issue is, which isthe best forum for sharing capabili-tiesthere has been a danger of dupli-cating efforts for intelligence gatheringalready under way within NATO, theEuropean Defence Agency, and theWEU, and between individual states.Sharing accurate intelligenceespe-

cially in the sensitive areas of SIGINT,human intelligence, and measurementand signature intelligenceis fraughtwith political complexities.

But there is considerable politicalwill to improve intelligence sharing.The 1998 St. Malo agreement betweenFrance and the U.K. announced aneed for Europe to improve its intelli-gence-gathering capabilities, whichopened the door to new cooperativeagreements within the continent.

In order for the European Union

to take decisions and approve militaryaction where the Alliance as a wholeis not engaged, the Union must begiven appropriate structures and a ca-pacity for analysis of situations,sources of intelligence and a capabil-ity for relevant strategic planning,without unnecessary duplication, tak-ing account of the existing assets ofthe WEU and the evolution of its rela-tions with the EU, ran the words ofthe agreement.

St. Malo was followed by the 1999Cologne agreement to support the

EUs new common foreign and secu-rity policy with the development of

autonomous intelligence capabilities,without prejudice to actions byNATO.

Institutional and fiscal challengesHowever, this political will has beenundermined by technical and institu-tional obstacles on the ground. So al-though Europes ISR capabilities, inparticular, increased in the early yearsof the last decade, even when theywere operating in-theater, valuable in-telligence has not always been avail-able to coalition partners.

Although German land-basedSIGINT was present in the Area of Op-erations, the system was not under op-

erational control of COMISAF [Com-mander of ISAF, the International Se-curity Assistance Force], according toLt. Col. Mark Exterkate of the RoyalNetherlands Air Force, writing inNATOs Joint Air Power CompetenceCentre Journalin 2006 of the ISAF op-eration in Afghanistan the previousyear. It was embedded into the Ger-man Kabul Multi-National Brigadecontingent for German force protec-tion purposes and not integrated intoISAFs Command, Control and Com-munication infrastructure.

According to Adam Sowa, deputychief executive of the EDA, speakingin June 2010, The problem with EU-NATO relations [is that it] is, as we allknow, of a highly political nature. Un-fortunately, it does also affect the rela-tions between EDA and its NATOcounterparts. The fact is that we can-not exchange information formally.Clearly, this is hampering work onconcepts, doctrine, and standardswhere copy and paste should be theline to take and not reinventing the

wheel.Joint intelligence surveillance and

reconnaissance have been targeted bythe EDA as a priority for improvedEDA and NATO cooperation. But thiswill require individual European na-tions to rethink their capability priori-ties, according to the EDA. MemberStates will have to further reform theirarmed forces, explained AlexanderWeis, EDA chief executive, in a July2010 speech. They will have to shiftthe capability focus even more than in

the past to areas such as deployability;particularly strategic and in-theatretransport; intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance; force protection, andcommand and control.

The complexities of developingstrategic cooperative arrangementsand robust international technologyprograms which, when delayed, will

withstand fluctuating economic pres-sures have made it difficult to developpan-European intelligence gatheringprograms.

For example, the Multinational

Space-based Imaging System for Sur-veillance, Reconnaissance and Obser-

Europes military surveillancesatellite programsFrance launched its Helios-1 imagery intelligence

satellites in 1995 and 1999, in cooperation withItaly and Spain, providing 1-m optical imagingresolution but with no infrared capability. For the

second-generation Helios program, Helios-2,which included an infrared capability, France tried

to form a partnership with Germany, to no avail.Instead, it partnered with Belgium. Helios-2A,built by EADS-Astrium, was launched in December

2004; Helios-2B was orbited in December 2009.According to CNES, Helios-2 will operate in

the visible and infrared portions of the spectrumto deliver imagery to the French military night andday. France also has an agreement to exchange

some of Helios-2s optical observing capacity forfuture radar observation capacity now underdevelopment in Germany and Italy, thus affordingit an all-weather imaging capability.Enhancements provided by Helios 2 include

significantly improved resolution, more imagingcapacity, and faster access to imagery.

The German and Italian programs referred toare Germanys SAR-Lupe and Italys Cosmo-SkyMed

systems. SAR-Lupe comprises a constellation offive X-band SAR satellites in three polar orbitsthat became operational in 2008. Cosmo-SkyMedis a constellation of four satellites with X-bandSAR capabilities. The first satellite was launchedin June 2007 and the full constellation wasreported to be operational early this year.

France also launched four Essaim (Swarm)experimental ELINT satellites in December 2004.The country plans to launch the first of twovery-high-resolution civil/military observation

satellites called Pleiades at the end of this year,

with the second satellite planned for launch inmid-2012.

AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011 5


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milestone was reached in December2010 when Northrop Grumman deliv-ered the first production multiplatformradar technologyinsertion programsensor to Edwards AFB for integrationon the initial USAF Block 40 GlobalHawk, one of the key technologies onwhich AGS will be based.

Transatlantic solutions

Where European technology pro- viders have developed mature ISR,SIGINT, and ELINT technologies, therehave been problems in finding a suit-able platform. Where a platform hasbeen found, the appropriate European

technologies have been lacking.As a result, European nations have

looked increasingly across the Atlanticfor solutions to their short-term re-quirements. This year, for example,Germany should take delivery of itsfirst Euro Hawk UAV from NorthropGrumman equipped with a SIGINTmission built by EADS. The program isa transatlantic oneNorthrop Grum-man and EADS have established a 50-50 joint venture company in order topursue it. The political framework for

the program was laid back in May2006, when the German ministry ofdefense and the U.S. Dept. of Defensesigned a memorandum of understand-ing establishing conditions for cooper-ation on Euro Hawk.

The U.K.s Royal Air Force will op-erate three RC-135V/W Rivet Joint sig-

vationan international program in-cluding France, Italy, Belgium, Greece,Germany, and Spain to share imageryfrom various military satelliteswascancelled last May.

Last June Denmark pulled out ofthe NATO Alliance Ground Surveil-lance (AGS) program to provide anISR capability based on the NorthropGrumman RQ-4B Block 20 GlobalHawk that would enable NATO toperform persistent surveillance overwide areas from high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned air platformsoperating at considerable stand-offdistances and in any weather or light

condition.The program began in 1995 and

was originally developed as a broadnetwork of manned and unmannedplatformsincluding an Airbus A321with both national and shared assets.However, in November 2007, due todeclining European defense budgets,NATO chose to move forward with aUAV-only solution based on an off-the-shelf Global Hawk RQ-4B and themultiplatform radar technology inser-tion program (MP-RTIP), according to

NATO. In January 2009, the North At-lantic Council selected Sigonella NavalAir Station in Italy to host the UAVsand the ground segment (flight controlcapabilities and necessary commandand control systems).

As of early 2011, the program wascontinuing to progress. A key project

The RAF will operate Rivet Joints provided by the USAF. .

AIAA

FORMS

NEW EARTH

OBSERVATION

TASK FORCE

AIAA

FORMS

NEW EARTH

OBSERVATION

TASK FORCE

AIAA has created a newtask force to assist in theformulation of a nationalroad map for the U.S. toaddress investments in theEarth-observing industryto adequately inform futureclimate change debatesand decisions. Composed

of leading experts on policyand climate-monitoringtechnology from within

AIAA and in collaborationwith other organizations,the task force is developinga strategy to come up withrecommendations to help

reach this goal.

For more information,contact Craig Dayat 703.264.3849

or [email protected].


9/52AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011 7

nals intelligence aircraft supplied un-der a Foreign Military Sales deal with

the U.S. government. The aircraft arebased on KC-135 airframes, whichform part of the USAF tanker fleet.The first copy is to be delivered in2014. L-3 Communications, whichhandles airframe and mission-systemmodifications on the Rivet Joints, willmodify, refurbish, and install missionsystems for the U.K. aircraft.

Looking aheadTo meet future intelligence needs, Eu-ropean nations will seek to increase

cooperative efforts in new long-termtechnology programs. The EDA hashelped pioneer a number of ISR pro-grams recently, including the SPACE-BaSAR project2 to research high-reso-lution, wide-area angle-of-coverageresearch for a next generation of mili-tary SAR satellites, and the Tactical Im-agery Exploitation Station study to in-

vestigate joint capabilities for tacticalimagery exploitation. A key compo-nent of this will be the developmentof dual-use satellite imaging concepts,

to help the spread of cost of imple-menting very-high-resolution imagingtechniques.

As well as developing strategic in-telligence gathering programs, there

will likely be closer collaboration be-tween the armed forces of individualstates for tactical surveillance and SIG-NIT/ELINT operations, especially inthe coordination of UAV operations.This will probably mean that smallerEuropean nations will develop moredata-sharing agreements with coun-tries such as Spain, France, Italy, Ger-

many, Sweden, and the U.K. with theappropriate airborne and space-based

ISR, SIGNIT, and ELINT capabilities.While some of these countries have

been able to delay the upgrade of air-borne platforms carrying this equip-

Events CalendarMARCH 5-12

2011 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, Mont.Contact: David Woerner, [email protected]; www.aeroconf.org

MARCH 15-16

2011 AIAA Congressional Visits Day, Washington, D.C.Contact: Duane Hyland, 703/264-7558; [email protected]

MARCH 21-23Ninth Annual U.S. Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit(SECRET/U.S. only), Washington, D.C.Contact: 703/264-7500

MARCH 28-30

3AF 46th Symposium of Applied Aerodynamics, Orleans, France.Contact: Anne Venables, [email protected]; www.aaaf.asso.fr

MARCH 29-31

Infotech@Aerospace 2011 Conference, St. Louis, Mo.Contact: 703/264-7500

APRIL 4-7

Fifty-second AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics,

and Materials Conference; 19th AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive StructuresConference; 13th AIAA Nondeterministic Approaches Conferences;12th AIAA Gossamer Systems Forum; Seventh AIAA MultidisciplinaryDesign Optimization Specialist Conference; including AIAA DynamicsSpecialists Conference. Denver, Colo.Contact: 703/264-7500

APRIL 11-14

Seventeenth AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systemsand Technologies Conference, San Francisco, Calif.Contact: 703/264-7500

APRIL 13-15

First CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation, and Control,

Munich, Germany.Contact: DGLR, +49 228 30 80 5-0; [email protected]

ment, the age of some of theairframes and engines in-

volved makes further delaysdifficult to contemplate.There will also be a muchcloser realignment of intelli-gence gathering and dissemi-nation agreements amongNATO, the EU, and individualstates. In the meantime, Eu-rope still risks the technologygap between the continentand the U.S. growing if theappropriate agreements arenot reached soon.

Philip Butterworth-Hayes

Brighton, [email protected]

The Northrop Grumman-built Euro Hawk to be delivered to Germany will be equipped with a SIGINT suite built by EADS.


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Space, stealth, and Spartans


Republicans, whotook control of theHouse of Representa-tives last Novemberin part by promisingto rein in spending,are now saying they will seek to trim as

much as $1.4 billionfrom NASAs budgetbefore an overdueappropriations bill ispassed. A cut this size would take theagency below FY10levels and wouldroughly equal the en-tire cost of the HLV.Such cuts probablywould not survive inthe Democratic-con-trolled Senate, but a

standoff could meanthat no spending billis enacted at all. That,too, would threatenthe HLV.

Critics in Wash-ington see a disconnect betweenspaceflight goals and hometown jobs,with lawmakers focused more on thelatter than the former. Some critics ac-cuse NASAs administrator, CharlesBolden, of not playing a large enoughrole in representing his agency on

Capitol Hill, and even of failing toenunciate a vision for the agencysfuture.

While struggling to look ahead,NASA workers are also looking towardthe end of the spectacularly successfulshuttle program. The first of three finalshuttle flights, the STS-133 mission byDiscovery to the ISS, has experiencedsignificant delays. The mission, as ofthis writing, was scheduled for Febru-ary 24, to deliver the permanent mul-tipurpose module, an external plat-

form that holds large equipment andcritical spare components for the sta-

effect, drive the final nail into Constel-lations coffin. Meanwhile, NASA hashad to publicly acknowledge that itsgoal of fielding a new heavy-liftlaunch vehicle (HLV) by 2016 is nowout of reach.

A NASA document, Preliminary

Report Regarding NASAs Space LaunchSystem and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehi-

cle, delivered to Congress on January11, asserts that because of budget con-

straints, a first flight by theHLV this early does notrealistically appear to bepossible. With respect toa crew vehicle to replacethe canceled Orion, thereport says, none of thedesign options studiedthus far appeared to be af-

fordable in our present fis-cal conditions.

WITH MIXED SIGNALS AND MICRO-managing, Congress is making a messof the U.S. space program, reads aneditorial in the January 20 OrlandoSentinel. Observers of the aerospacescene fear that NASA is imprisoned ina kind of limbo; but the administrationis as likely as Congress to catch the

heat for what one NASA scientist callsconfusion in terms of projects andpriorities, and where were heading.

Across the globe, China was mak-ing headlines as well, as it introduceda new fighter, just when the U.S. sec-retary of defense was paying a visit.

NASA faces fiscal woes

Like most of the U.S. government,NASA has been operating under acontinuing resolution (CR) since Octo-ber 1, without an appropriations lawthat covers FY11. But NASA is under

greater constraints than other govern-ment agencies. The administration an-nounced it would abandon Constella-tion, the Bush administrationsMoon-Mars program, and develop anew rocket for human space explo-ration. But Congressprompted bySen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who hasmany Constellation jobs in his homestateinserted into the FY10 budget asentence requiring the agency to con-tinue spending on the program.

Because the FY10 budget still ap-

plies as long as a CR remains in effect,NASA would be allowed to spend asmuch as $215 million on Constellationby the end of February, even thoughthe program had been offi-cially canceled and the termConstellation banished fromthe agencys Washington,D.C., headquarters.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.),who will face a difficult re-election campaign next year,is introducing legislation to

repeal the 2010 requirement.Nelsons measure would, in

The space shuttle Discoverys final flight was originally scheduledfor last October. It was on the launch pad when the first of itsproblems was detected.

Sen. Richard Shelby



tion, as well as Robonaut 2, the firsthuman-like robot in space.

For the penultimate launch, NASAnamed Marine Col. Frederick W. RickSturckow as backup to Navy Capt.Mark Kelly to command the planned

April 19 Endeavour STS-134 mission.Kellys wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords(D-Ariz.) was gravely wounded in aTucson shooting that killed six and in-jured 14. However, after several daysof discussion and deliberation, Capt.Kelly decided to carry out his mission.

Kellys twin brother, Scott, was servingon the space station as commander atthe time of the shooting.

For the really, truly very last shut-tle flight, as one observer put itbut

with no FY11 budget yet, and henceno way to fund the missionNASA an-nounced in January that it has set atarget launch date of June 28 for theshuttle Atlantis to embark on the finalmission of the program. The newlyscheduled Atlantis STS-135 flight, ledby Navy Capt. Christopher Fergusonand with a crew of just four, will carry

the Raffaello multipurpose logisticsmodule, supplies, and spare parts tothe ISS and return a faulty pump.

Chinese technologyTwo high-profile January visitsbyU.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates toBeijing and Chinese President Hu Jin-tao to Washingtonhave promptedmany in the nations capital to take acloser look at Chinas trade advan-tages, technological competitiveness,and aerospace progress. Always thebeneficiary of a distorted trade bal-ance, China until recently was hugelydependent on the outside world whendeveloping and producing aircraft.

Now, however, the U.S. may be

losing the influence it was able towield on Chinese activities in the aero-space field. Already widely seen by

the outside world incontrolled leaks of stillphotography, the proto-type of the Chengdu J-

XX or J-20 Black Eaglevery-low-observable su-perfighter made its firstflight on January 11 dur-ing the secretarys visit toChina.

A Chinese Internetsource reported that the

J-XX combines the inno-vative harmonization ofextreme plus agility, su-personic cruise, longrange and persistence,and stealth. Hu assuredGates that the maidenflight of the fifth-genera-tion competitor to the F-22 Raptor during his visit

was coincidence. Some

U.S. officials hastened toplay down both the tim-

ing and capabilities of the J-XX, al-though Gates acknowledged that theChinese may be somewhat furtheralong than U.S. intelligence previ-ously believed.

Several China experts wrote thatthere are no coincidences in that coun-try, dismissing the notion that the tim-ing of the flight resulted from miscom-munication between Beijings civilianand military leaders. The Chinese

wanted that plane to fly while Gateswas in town, said a former State Dept.China analyst.

Some defense analysts dismissedthe J-XX by saying the Chinese super-fighter is using heisted U.S. technol-ogy. China, they wrote, gained accessto the U.S. F-117 Nighthawk stealthfighter that was shot down in Serbiaduring fighting over Kosovo in 1999.But the kind of stealth used by theF-117 was entirely different from thatof the J-XX and F-22. House ArmedServices Committee chairman BuckMcKeon (R-Calif.) charged the Chinese

with copying foreign technology but

said it was Russian rather than U.S.know-how they had lifted.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates shakes hands with ChinesePresident and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Hu Jintaoat the Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on January. 11. DOD photoby Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison, USAF.

The prototype of the Chengdu J-XX made its first flight on January 11.

Although the C919 has so far been purchased onlyby domestic carriers, it is expected to do well onthe world market.


12/5210 AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011

Italian manufacturer Alenia pledged to

build an assembly plant in Jack-sonville, Florida.

The buy of JCAs has since beencut to 38 aircraft, and the Florida facil-ity is no longer part of the plan. TheAir National Guard will operate theplanes, the first time guardsmen haveflown an aircraft not used by the ac-tive-duty force. An operational Guardunit will have just four C-27Js, a totalsome critics say is too small to justifykeeping a squadron in service. Home-town Guard units enjoy tremendous

support on Capitol Hill, and many leg-islators have sought to get C-27Js intheir constituencies.

The C-27J fleet was grounded atthe end of December 2010 after main-tainers discovered metal shavings in-side the fuel cells of all eight aircraftcurrently in inventory. The on-linetrade journal airforce-magazine.comreported that officials believe theproblem was caused during manufac-ture. Following the grounding, threeC-27Js at a temporary joint Army/AirForce training facility at Warner Rob-

ins, Georgia, were returned to flight.But three at the Guards 179th Airlift Wing at Mansfield Lahm Airport inOhio and two aircraft undergoing pre-delivery modifications in Waco, Texas,remained grounded while workerswaited for spare parts.

The commander of the 179th, Col.Gary McCue, said in an interview lastfall that he was being tasked, paradox-ically, to achieve initial operating ca-pability in 2012 but to deploy C-27Jsto Afghanistan this year. McCue and

other officials say they are still plan-ning to take the C-27J to the war zonein March, but the grounding clearlydelayed much-needed training timefor the Air National Guard crews.Changes in the JCA program have oc-curred so rapidly that many of the C-27Js now in inventory are still paintedin obsolete Army colors.

Robert F. Dorr

[email protected]

Robert F. Dorrs bookMission to Berlin,about B-17 Flying Fortress crews in

WW II, will be published this month byZenith Press.

pects much time to pass before thecompany sells C919s overseas.

Chinas grand ambitions extendliterally to the Moon, wrote KeithRichburg in the Washington PostonJanuary 23. At the time of Hus Wash-ington tripagain, say observers, there was no coincidenceChinese news

media reported a new program to trainastronauts, or taikonauts, for missionsto an orbiting Chinese space stationplanned for 2015. China is also ac-tively working toward its first mannedMoon landing.

Joint cargo aircraftThe Pentagon continues to confrontproblems with the C-27J Spartan JointCargo Aircraft (JCA), the twin-turbo-prop airlifter meant to supply troopsnear the front lines by carrying small

payloads to unprepared airstrips.The JCA, originally

known as the FutureCargo Aircraft, beganas an all-Army programto replace that servicebranchs fleet of agingC-23 Sherpa transports.Following interservicedebate and, ultimately,agreement, the AirForce took over theprogram in 2007. At

that time, the plan wasto acquire 78 airframes.

The charge that China lacks theengineering and scientific skills to de-velop its own stealth fighter remindedsome observers of a popular myth:that Japanese aircraft designer JiroHorikoshi had stolen from the U.S. when he created the incomparableMitsubishi A6M Zero fighter in the late

1930s. Very much homegrown, theZero outperformed even the best U.S.fighters in the early part of the Pacificwar. A Communist Party newspaperin China insisted the J-XX is an indige-nous design and quoted test pilot XuYongling as calling it a masterpieceof Chinas technological innovation.

Long dependent on U.S. and Euro-pean industry in the commercial aero-space field, China is now developingits own domestically built large pas-senger jet. The Commercial Aircraft

Corporation of China (COMAC) C919will compete head-to-headwith the Boeing 737 andAirbus A320/321the twomost successful and nu-merous airliners in theworld. The Chinese plane-maker announced last No-vember that it has signedorders to sell more than100 C919s to three domes-tic carriers Air China,China Southern Airlines,

and China Eastern Airlines.No one in Washington ex-

A C-27J Spartan Joint Cargo Aircraft waits at the 179th Airlift Wing at Mansfield Lahm Airport in Ohio.Credit: Ohio ANG/SrA Joseph D. Harwood.

Col. Gary McCue


13/52

With NeW rprsntativs, NeW goals, and NeW prioritis inWashington, D.C., taking part in th 2011 Congressional Visits DayProgram

is mor important than vr. Com to D.C., and shar your passion for arospac.Lt your rprsntativs har how vital our community is to our national and

conomic scurity, and tak an activ rol in hlping shap th futurof that community.

OnWednesday, 16 March, AIAA mmbrs will shar thir passion aboutarospac issus on Capitol Hill.

Join us as w mt with lgislators to discuss th importanc of scinc,

nginring, and tchnology to our national scurity and prosprity.

AIAA Congressional Visits Day 2011

To rgistr for AIAA Congrssional Visits Day 2011plas visitwww.aiaa.org/events/cvd, or contactDuane Hyland

[email protected] or 703.264.7558

10-0527


14/52

Mapping a course to the asteroids


To propose a way forward, NASAsExploration Systems Mission Direc-torate (ESMD) has for nearly a yearbeen evaluating possible combina-tions of technologies, schedules, andbudgets that might produce a nationalcapability to reach the asteroids,Moon, and eventually Mars. HEFT, theHuman Exploration Framework Team,

issued a status report in January, to befollowed by a full report this spring.

The January HEFT results were notencouraging, with the NASA team not-ing that no combination of heavy-liftboosters, deep-space craft, in-spacepropulsion, and projected technolo-gies enabling beyond-LEO explorationcould be produced by the 2016 con-gressional deadline or within long-term budget projections. At best, NASAcould achieve a solution that satisfiedonly two of the three specified high-

level constraints, traded among per-formance, schedule, or budget.The agencys sobering assessment

echoes the Augustine committees 2009conclusion that relatively static fundinglevels and traditional procurementpractices would doom Constellationslunar return plans.

Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) andKay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) re-sponded quickly that NASA should geton with producing both the heavylifter and Orion. Nelson told Adminis-trator Charles F. Bolden that he has tofollow the law, which requires a newrocket by 2016, adding, and NASAhas to do it within the budget the lawrequires. The HEFT stated it will con-tinue to study combinations of vehiclearchitecture, systems, propulsion, andtechnology that can deliver a humandeep space exploration capability.

Asteroid reconIf NASA aims for a human NEA capa-bility, it will need much more informa-tion about possible asteroid destina-

tions. To date, just two spacecraft haveexplored NEAs in detail: NASAs NEAR-

Budget barriersPresident Obama declared last Aprilthat the U.S. would launch an astro-naut expedition toward a near-Earth

asteroid by 2025. Specifics were few,however. Now, with the Constellationprogram effectively ended by the pres-ident and Congress, asteroid explora-tion appears to be the only long-rangehuman deep-space activity NASA hasapproval to pursue. Yet with the FY11budget still in limbo, and talk circulat-ing that NASAs exploration office willsoon merge with its space operationsmission directorate, an asteroid pro-gram has yet to take shape.

Although last Octobers authoriza-tion bill terminated Constellation, re-lease of funds to other exploration ac-tivities, such as NEA missions, awaitsfinal appropriation action by the Con-gress. The authorization also directedNASA to develop and fly a heavy-liftrocket by 2016. Such a booster, basedon shuttle and Constellation heritage,is a key requirement for human explo-ration beyond the space station.

The heavy lifter will presumablycarry an Orion spacecraft, but neitherthe White House nor Congress has ap-proved any hardware architecture or

schedule for a true deep-space mis-sion capability.

LAST DECEMBER, TUMBLING SILENTLYin its endless fall around the Sun, as-teroid 2010 JL33 swept to within 8.5million km of Earth, about 22 timesthe Moons orbital distance. Discov-ered by the Catalina Sky Survey inTucson on May 6, 2010, the 1.8-km-wide JL33 is one of millions of smallasteroids and comets that cruise the

inner solar system. During its close ap-proach, JL33 came within range of theGoldstone solar system radar, whichbounced a tightly focused radar beamoff the asteroid. A JPL team recorded aseries of images covering nearly a full,9-hr rotation of JL33s impact-scarredsurface, revealing its irregular topogra-phy, precise orbit, and axis of rotation.

Ghostly JPL/Goldstone images re-veal a prominent impact crater gougedfrom the pebble-shaped asteroid. Theportrait adds to our small but growing

body of knowledge of these ancient,enigmatic near-Earth objects (NEOs).Comprised of near-Earth asteroids(NEAs) and the much rarer near-Earthcomets, they represent a long-termhazard to Earth, a rich source of scien-tific information on the solar systemsformation, and a source of potentiallyvaluable space materials. And last yearthey rose to prominence in NASAsplans for future human exploration.

This 2003-2004 Hubble image of asteroid 1 Ceressuggests surface material variations on this980-km-wide NEO. Ceres probably has a layeredinterior of rocky inner core, an icy mantle, and athin, dusty outer crust.

NASAs Goldstone solar system radar capturedthese images of asteroid 2010 JL33, obtained on

December 11 and 12, 2010. The Goldstone andArecibo radars perform important follow-upinvestigations of NEOs discovered by otherground-based facilities. Image courtesyNASA/JPL CalTech.



Shoemaker probe landed on 433 Erosin 2001, and Japans Hayabusa missionreturned a microsample of asteroid25143 Itokawa to Earth last June.

New asteroid data should arrivethis summer from NASAs Dawn mis-sion. The ion-driven Dawn spacecraftwill visit the two most massive proto-planets in the main asteroid belt be-tween Mars and Jupiter, the source ofthe Earth-approaching population. Thespacecraft will thrust into orbit aroundasteroid 4 Vesta this August, map its

surface in detail, then depart for a ren-dezvous with the largest asteroid, 1Ceres, in February 2015.

Spectroscopic observations andmeteorite studies suggest that 580-km- wide Vesta is a dry, differentiatedbody surfaced with lava flows. Mineralcomposition varies across Vestas sur-face, suggesting interior layers are ex-posed; an apparent impact crater 460km in diameter lies near the southpole. Fragments excavated by that im-pact may have arrived on Earth in the

form of once-molten igneous mete-orites called HED achondrites. Dawnsorbital survey should yield clues aboutwhat heat source and style of volcan-ism produced these impact-welded as-semblages of lavas.

Ceres, some 980 km across andonly slightly farther from the Sun thanVesta, appears radically different. Itssurface exhibits the spectroscopic sig-nature of water-bearing clays. Ceresnorth pole may host a thin cap of wa-ter frost, fed from a subsurface reser-voir of ice incorporated during its for-

mation 4.5 billion years ago.Large asteroids like Ceres and

Vesta are probably the parent bodiesof many smaller objects fed into theinner solar system by collisions andgravitational nudges from massiveJupiter. NEAs are objects whose peri-helion distances are less than 1.3 AU;a subset with Earth-approaching orbitsare potential targets for robotic andhuman exploration.

Both NASAs Science Mission Di-rectorate (SMD) and ESMD may pur-

sue missions to NEAs in the comingdecade, to learn more about their var-ied properties, compositions, and ori-gins. NASA is studying the Osiris Re-golith Explorer, aimed at returning a150-g sample from the volatile-richNEA 1999 RQ36. JAXAs Hayabusa IIsample return mission, just approved,will complement NASA efforts.

I serve as principal investigator ona new NEA mission concept calledAmor, currently under evaluation forNASAs Discovery robotic exploration

program. The Amor mission is de-signed to address NASAs solar systemscience priorities and obtain physicalmeasurements vital to human explo-ration plans and future efforts to de-flect a rogue asteroid.

Amor will rendezvous with, landon, and explore a remarkable tripleasteroid system. The C-type (carbona-ceous) NEA 2001 SN263 is accompa-nied by two small moonlets. The pri-mary object, Alpha, is 2.8 km wide.Satellites Beta and Gamma are 1.1 and0.4 km across, respectively. Beta is out-ermost, its orbit around Alpha span-ning some 30-35 km.

The SN263 systems elliptical orbitcircles the Sun once every 2.8 years,inclined about 7 deg from the ecliptic.The orbit crosses that of Mars andswings deep into the main asteroidbelt. At its inward reach, the systemcomes as close as 0.06 AU to Earth.

Ground-based spectra classify SN-263 as a C-type asteroid, the dominanttype in the main belt; the C-types arethought to be volatile and organic-rich

objects relatively unaltered since for-mation 4.5 billion years ago. Their low

albedo (about 5% reflectivity) makes

them difficult to study from Earth, andspacecraft have provided only distantglimpses of two main belt C-types.The Amor spacecraft is designed tostudy this enigmatic C-type system atextremely close range, taking scienceto the surface.

Amor will launch aboard an AtlasV booster in January 2017 to begin itsnearly five-year journey to SN263. Fol-lowing an Earth gravity assist and sev-eral asteroid flybys, the spacecraft ar-rives at the triple system in November

2021. Eight months of detailed studyfollow, including high-resolution map-ping and landings on at least two ofthe asteroid components. Amor willreturn answers to questions high onNASAs list of science priorities:

What are C-type asteroids?Are these asteroids truly linked to

the primitive, carbonaceous chondritemeteorites?

Are C-types truly rich in water andorganic compounds?

How do multiple asteroid systemsform?

How could we avert an impactfrom a C-type NEA?

What resources do C-types offer tofuture human exploration?

As it stationkeeps with the SN263system, Amor will use the NEOCamcolor imager to map the three compo-nents, develop a detailed shape modelof each body, and choose landing siteson Alpha and one of the two satellites.After several practice approaches en-abling a detailed look at the landingterrain, Amor will maneuver onto a tra-

jectory that matches asteroid rotation

NASAs Dawn will orbit around asteroid 4 Vesta,then depart for a rendezvous with 1 Ceres.

The Sioux City eucrite meteorite, an amalgam ofpulverized silicate fragments and dark basaltlava, is linked to melting, differentiation, and

impact processes experienced on Vesta. Imagecourtesy Arizona State University, J. Kurtzmen.

(Continued on page 17)


16/52

MPAs: Statements of global power


Emerging powersThe P-8 program received a majorboost in December 2008, when the In-dian navy placed the first export or-dereight P-8s for delivery by 2016.Cost of the deal was estimated at $2.13billion. In December 2010, Boeing be-gan fabricating parts for the first In-dian P-8.

After the P-8 order established In-

dias intention to create a robust MPAforce, the country abandoned plans tobuy a select adjunct force of small tur-boprop MPAs. Instead, in October2010 the country announced plans tobuy four more P-8s. Clearly, India hasmade blue water MPA capability a keypart of its strategic ambitions.

In contrast with Indias blue waterMPA ambitions, China, Asias otherkey emerging power, fields a remark-ably small fixed-wing patrol force. ThePeoples Liberation Army Naval AirForce (PLANAF) uses the ShaanxiY-8X MPA (X is for Xunsurveillance).A Chinese copy of the Soviet/Russian

Antonov An-12 transport, the Y-8 is afour-turboprop design. In its MPA in-

procurement hiatus and abadly aging P-3 fleet. ButBoeings P-8 Poseidon,chosen in June 2004 as theP-3s second replacementunder the MMA (Multimis-sion Maritime Aircraft) pro-gram, has had a relatively

successful development.The P-8 made its first flightin April 2009; the first testplane arrived at PatuxentRiver in April 2010.

Current plans call for the Navy topurchase 117 P-8As, to be used forASW, anti-surface warfare, intelligence,surveillance, and reconnaissance mis-sions. Initial operational capability isplanned for 2013.

Notably, the Navys MMA Analysisof Alternatives clearly ruled out a UAV-based approach; however, it did state

that UAVs should be part of a long-term MMA architecture. This has led tothe BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Sur-veillance) effort, a P-8 adjunct. North-rop Grummans Global Hawk wonthis contract in April 2008. The firsttwo BAMS test aircraft and a groundstation will be delivered in 2012. TheNavy has plans to procure about 40aircraft.

IN THE U.S. AND ELSEWHERE, THEfixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft(MPA) market has recently made acomeback. Spurred by the availabilityof new equipment and a growingawareness of MPA utility in projectingforce in contested waters, the markethas returned to life. Until Indias early

2009 P-8 buy, the high-end MPA mar-ket had seen no new orders in almosttwo decades.

Yet while the P-8 represents a newcatalyst for market growth, the twobiggest markets outside the U.S. havetaken widely divergent paths. AndChinas minimal MPA force representsthe biggest mystery on the market.

The U.S. finally gets it rightDuring the Cold War, the U.S. Navyacknowledged that Lockheed MartinsP-3 Orion was indeed the optimal

MPA design. In fact, the long-range airanti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capa-ble aircraft P-3 replacement programresulted in Lockheeds P-7, which, ineffect, was a rejuvenated P-3. Unfor-tunately, serious technical problemsand the end of the Cold War resultedin a decision to cancel the P-7 in Julyof 1990.

This led to a multidecade MPA

P-8

Y-8X

P3



carnation it is unarmed, but carries acapable array of avionics and sensors.Some of this equipment is Western, in-cluding a Litton Canada AN/APS-504search radar. It has been in servicewith the PLANAF since 1985.

The PLANAF also uses the HarbinSH-5 maritime bomber, an amphibiousdesign capable of ASW and searchand rescue operations. It, too, hasbeen in service for about 25 years.Chinas only other MPA is Harbins Y-12, a small twin turboprop with mini-

mal sensors and no weaponry. It isprimarily used for observation duties.Chinas MPA fleet has received re-

markably scant resources. The twoprimary fixed-wing aircraft have cer-tainly been in service long enough tobe described as mature systems, yetjust a handful have been deployed.Just four Y-8s and another four SH-5sconstitute the entire MPA fleet, andone of the SH-5s has been fitted as anaerial firefighter.

There are also no new ChineseMPA programs currently in develop-

ment. While there have been rumorsover the past decade of a PLANAFdeal to buy 20 Beriev Be-200 amphibi-ous jets for search and rescue duties,nothing firm has materialized. Fewerthan 10 Be-200s have been built sincethe type made its first flight in Septem-ber 1998.

In short, for all the chatter aboutChinas intentions to become a seriousmaritime power, there is no evidenceof this in its MPA force. The 2001Hainan Island incident, which saw the

collision between a U.S. EP-3 surveil-lance plane flying near several keyChinese military bases and a Chinesefighter jet highlighted a significant dif-ference between the two countries interms of global reach. Notably, SouthKorea and Taiwan both field P-3Cfleets that are considerably more capa-ble than Chinas MPAs.

Japan goes it aloneThe Japan Maritime Self-DefenseForce (JMSDF) is historically the sec-

ond largest MPA fleet operator, afterthe U.S. The country procured 110 P-

3s and P-3 variants, with most of thesestill in service with the JMSDF.

As a follow-on to the P-3, the

JMSDF plans to procure KawasakisP-1 (formerly P-X), a four-engine jetusing new Ishikawajima-Harima F7-10engines and a Japanese mission con-trol system. Kawasaki Heavy Indus-tries was selected to lead the programin December 2001, and the airplanemade its first flight in September 2007, with flight tests scheduled through2015. The Japanese military wants tobuy 80 P-1s, plus 40 C-2s (formerlyC-Xs), a Kawasaki-built transport air-plane that will be designed with somecommonality with the P-1. Develop-

ment costs are estimated at $3 billionin 2007 dollars.

Four XP-1 test aircraft were built

through late 2009, with another twobuilt in 2010. There has been a relativeabsence of news about the flight test

program, and there is no denying thatthis is a very ambitious effort. Not onlyis it one of the largest aircraft ever

built in Japan, but it also has a highlevel of concurrency, with all-new en-gines and a new mission control sys-tem being developed alongside an all-new airframe. There are a number oftechnologically advanced new fea-tures being developed for the plane,including a Toshiba active electron-ically scanned array radar and a fly-by-light control system, the first such con-trol system for a production aircraft.All of this adds a great deal of techni-cal risk to the program.

Still, the FY11 Japan defense

budget provides 5.5 billion for threeP-1s, up from the one aircraft fundedin FY10. That first plane is scheduledto be delivered in March 2012.

Japans FY11 budget also calls fora life extension program for the cur-rent P-3 fleet, with 600 million infunding for the first aircraft modifica-tion. This reflects a commitment tomaintaining a strong MPA fleet, as wellas a hedge against a P-1 program fail-ure or any program delays. Since the Japanese constitution prohibits de-

fense exports, all P-1 program ex-penses will be borne by the Japanesegovernment.

Nimrod

Sh-5

P-1



7000 program, with likely procure-ment of 8-9 P-8s. Canada, too, willlikely replace its P-3s with P-8s. Italyhas also expressed strong interest in aP-8 acquisition, but budget cuts meanthis will likely need to wait a fewyears, at least.

For countries without an Atlan-tique or a P-8, there are many less ca-pable choices. UAVs and adaptations

of twin turboprop aircraft and smallerregional jets (such as Embraers ERJ145) have a strong utility for adjunctMPA duties, such as search and res-cue, fisheries protection, and maritimezone surveillance. They are also usefulfor operations in the shallower coastalregions that do not need the deep wa-ter sensors and long range of a P-8 orits equivalent. And of course they areuseful for countries that cannot afforda high-end blue water MPA fleet. Inlate 2008 the Italian government ap-

proved the purchase of four firm andone option ATR 72 MPAs. These mightbe an interim force until funds be-come available for the P-8, or theymight become an adjunct force.

But because of the MPA4 cancella-tion, we cannot rule out the prospectof the U.K. winding up with a force ofthese smaller planes. Compared withthe Royal Navy and RAFs historicallystrong naval presence, that would bethe saddest MPA market change of all.

Richard Aboulafia

Teal [email protected]

alternative for the MPA future force.SDSR also scrapped the RAFs airbornestand-off radar (ASTOR) force, a fleetof five Bombardier Global Expressbusiness jets used for surveillance.Since these had just entered service inJune 2007, the clear implication hasbeen that intelligence and surveillanceaircraft of all kinds will receive a verylow priority in the U.K. budget.

Other markets, other possibilitiesMost other countries have a more co-herent vision for their MPA fleet fu-ture. For example, France has an-nounced a new upgrade program forits fleet of Dassault Atlantique 2 MPAs,and a plan to procure a force of Das-sault Falcon 2000 business jets modi-fied for MPA duties as an adjunctforce. Since the SDSR was announcedin conjunction with a U.K. govern-ment plan to cooperate on certain de-

fense missions and roles with Franceas an austerity measure, it is conceiv-able that the Atlantique/Falcon force

may become a shared fleet.The other key MPA mar-

kets will likely wind upprocuring P-8s. Even NewZealand, a small power butone with a key maritimerole, has discussed procure-ment of four P-8s, and thecountry is upgrading itspresent P-3C fleet. Australia

is leaning toward a P-8/BAMS solution under its AIR

The U.K.s shortfallBy contrast with Japans decision to

prioritize maritime patrol, the U.K.,historically the third biggest MPA mar-ket, has basically announced plans toeliminate its fixed-wing MPA force.There is considerable uncertainty sur-rounding this move, and no way oftelling whether it represents a perma-nent decision or merely a temporarydeferral of fleet recapitalization needs.

In October, the U.K.s Strategic De-fence and Security Review (SDSR)killed the Nimrod MRA4 MPA project.This rather extraordinary decision

capped a long and unpleasant effort todevelop a follow-on to the originalNimrod MPA, which had served in theRoyal Air Force since the late 1960s.

BAE Systems won this contract inJuly 1996 with its Nimrod 2000 design,using new Rolls-Royce engines, newsystems, and a new Boeing-designedmission control system. This locallycreated alternative won against a newversion of Lockheeds P-3. The U.K.planned to remanufacture 21 olderNimrods to this modern configuration,designated MRA4.

Due to problems with the existingairframes and the need to maintaincommonality, this quickly became alargely new-build program. By thetime the SDSR killed it, the MRA4 was10 years late. Also, there was about$1.5 billion in projected cost overruns,and the procurement objective hadbeen slashed to just nine productionaircraft, plus three prototypes.

Immediately after the SDSR deci-sion, the existing MRA4s were de-stroyed, removing any hope of a re-

versal. Also, the decision was notaccompanied by any discussion of an

ATR-72

Atlantique


19/52AEROSPACE AMERICA MARCH 2011 17

and brings the spacecraft to a point

just 10 m above the surface. The 3-axis-stabilized vehicle, built by OrbitalSciences, then free falls to the surfaceunder the few micro-gs of local gravi-tational acceleration.

Once on the surface, held fast by aset of auger-like anchors, Amor beginsa week of intensive surface investiga-tion. Operations and science teams atNASA Ames deploy both the NEONS(neo spectrometer package) for majorelement composition and the CHAMP(camera hand-lens and microscopic

probe) macro/microscopic imager.The articulating, 2-m-long robot armcarries CHAMP into close contact withthe surface to characterize surfacemineral texture and structure down tosubmillimeter scales. CHAMPs strobe-lit color images, along with bulk ele-mental composition from NEONS, willtest the suspected link between the C-type surface and carbonaceous chon-drite meteorites. If confirmed, the linkwill enable us to use terrestrial mete-orite samples to assess the mineralogy,

thermal history, and practical re-sources of C-type asteroids.

Astronauts to asteroidsMissions like Amor, Hayabusa II, andothers would scout the properties of avariety of NEAs and assess techniquesfor proximity operations, resourceprospecting, and anchoring to variedasteroid surfaces. A series of roboticmissions over a decade should be suf-ficient to inform the details of an as-tronaut expedition. Constellation pro-gram studies and industry conceptslike Lockheed Martins Plymouth Rockhave outlined how an early NEO mis-sion might be conducted.

A piloted asteroid mission capabil-ity would have at its core a heavylaunch system and a beyond-LEOspacecraft (Orion). Following a flexi-ble path toward deep space, NASAcould add the hardware componentsneeded to enable visits to asteroids,Lagrange points, or the Moons sur-face, depending on national priorities.

Asteroid missions could do with-

out the expensive lander or habitatssited on the lunar surface, but they do

require more crew consumables andhabitation space than sortie-class lunarmissions lasting just a few weeks. A

hab module, either derived from ISSexperience or a TransHab-style inflat-able design, would be added to pro-pulsion and crew reentry modules as-sembled in LEO or at a Lagrange point.Together the reentry, propulsion, andhab components would form a space-craft capable of multimonth asteroidexpeditions.

A few known asteroids offerround-trip delta-V requirements equalto or less than a lunar expedition, butpropulsion for a crewed NEA mission

might call for refueling from an orbitaldepot or multiple propellant tanklaunches. Minimizing required propel-lant costs creates a large incentive tostart a thorough search for accessibleasteroids as soon as possible.

Last fall, a NASA Advisory Counciltask force on planetary defense recom-mended that NASA launch a space-based search telescope into a Venus-like orbit to catalog NEOs. Thehundreds of thousands of asteroidsand comets discovered would greatlyaid NASAs science, exploration, andplanetary defense programs.

EncounterThe hab module would house con-sumables, radiation shielding, exercisegear, and docking ports for EVA suitsor small exploration craft. FollowingEarth departure and several months ofcruise, a three- or four-person crewwould rendezvous with the chosen as-teroid, already scouted by a roboticexplorer. Following a few days of sur-face reconnaissance using a small tele-

operated probe, a pair of astronautswould translate to the asteroid surface

in personal spacecraft whose handlingqualities had been checked out yearsearlier at the ISS.

These multimission explorationvehicles, or MMEVs, would ease thejobs of surface anchoring and asteroidsampling. Should science require-ments or problems on the surface de-mand it, astronauts could conductspace-suited EVAs, but mobility, pro-ductivity, and reduced fatigue favoruse of the MMEV, with its shirt-sleeveenvironment and stationkeeping auto-pilot. ESMD has been studying MMEVconcepts derived from work on its lu-nar electric rover.

During a two-week explorationphase, the MMEVs should enablemore wide-ranging, sustained surfaceinvestigations than spacesuits alone. Amajor activity would be physical prop-erties measurements aimed at devel-oping deflection techniques. Afterstowing NEA samples totaling tens ofkilograms aboard the reentry vehicle,and deploying science packages andresource extraction demonstrators, thecrew would prepare the cruise vehiclefor Earth return.

Sustained explorationAfter a multimonth cruise to Earth, theastronauts would undock their reentrymodule for a direct entry into the at-mosphere, while the deep space vehi-cle maneuvers into a high Earth orbitfor refueling and refurbishment. Thisconcept preserves the hab, personalexploration craft, and propulsionmodules for reuse. Later asteroid ex-plorers might return with their cruisevehicle to a Lagrange point, transfer-ring with their samples to a waitingreentry transport.

Although more costly initially thana minimalist approach using, for ex-ample, coupled Orion spacecraft, re-usable exploration vehicles can beadapted for repeated use throughoutthe Earth-Moon system, to nearby as-teroids, and eventually to the Martianmoons. Addition of a lander for lunarsurface sorties or descent to Mars itselfis a natural evolution of this sustainedapproach to exploring deep space.

Thomas D. Jones

[email protected]

Lockheed Martins Plymouth Rock mission conceptwould use a pair of Orion spacecraft to take anastronaut crew to a nearby asteroid. The vehiclewould support a crew for about 6 months,including a two-week exploration phase at theasteroid. Image courtesy Lockheed Martin.

Asteroids

(Continued from page 13)


20/52

ICESat 2: Laser eyes on Earthschanging ice


WHEN CLIMATE SCIENTISTS BEGAN US-ing the laser-equipped ICESat space-craft to measure the thickness of theEarths ice sheets in 2003, they en-countered a series of technical and sci-entific problems. Engineers hope toovercome these by shifting to a com-pletely new design for ICESat 2.

That mission is now in its defini-

tion phase for a January 2016 launchand is one of NASAs top Earth sciencepriorities.

ICESat was equipped with threelasers that were turned on in succes-sion as each wore out. Forty times asecond, ICESat bounced lasers off theice, received the reflections through itstelescope, and used the transit time tocalculate the height of ice sheets inGreenland, the Arctic, and Antarctica.Formally known as the Ice,Cloud, and Land Elevation

Satellite, it took atmo-spheric readings and stud-ied forests. But its primarymission was to help deter-mine whether the planet isin fact losing ice due toglobal warming, informa-tion that could improvepredictions of sea level rise.

With ICESat, scientistsknew that they would needabout 12 passes over a lo-cation to assure themselves

they were measuring actualchanges caused by meltingor accumulating ice. Icesheets are often sloped, and when the lasers landed afew meters uphill or down-hill on subsequent passesas is inevitable when a laseris pointed earthward from600 km in orbitreadingscould look like changes inthickness. The only way tosubtract the changes wouldbe to determine the slope

first by making multiplepasses.

ICESat data swath over Antarctica shows ice sheet elevation and clouds.

Accomplishing the required passesturned out to be harder than ex-pected. The first ICESat laser fizzled injust 37 days because of what engi-neers suspect was electronic erosioncaused by solder. Because ICESatsgoal was to look for changes overtime, NASA was forced to conserveICESats laser power by turning the in-

strument on just three times a yeartypically February, June, and October.The device was operated on 33-daycollection campaigns and at lowertemperatures to slow the erosion.

We had to collect five years ofdata to get good solutions, lamentsNASA glaciologist Jay Zwally, whocame up with the basic concept be-hind ICESat in the 1980s. Even with itsshortcomings, ICESat delivered valu-able data before losing laser power in

2009 and reentering the atmosphere inAugust 2010. ICESat depicted the sub-sidence and uplift that occurs whenwater flows beneath glaciers, and itmeasured sea ice freeboard, the dis-tance between the surface of the iceand the water.

Fresh start

At an instrument science requirementsreview in December 2010, NASA engi-neers finalized the basic outline oftheir plan to avoid the pitfalls encoun-tered during the first ICESat effort. Justabout everything will be different onthe follow-on mission, from the fre-quency of the laser signals to the num-ber of beams.

Were using a completely differentkind of laser, says NASA Goddardsystems engineer Tony Martino, the


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architect for ICESat 2s advanced topo-graphic laser altimeter system, or AT-LAS. The big challenge is, weve neverflown an instrument like this in spacebefore, he says.

The original ICESat made altimetrymeasurements by transmitting pulsesof laser energy 40 times a second in asingle beam, with a power of 75 mJfor each pulse. For ICESat 2, engineersplan to transmit not one but sixbeams. The pulses will be rapid-fire,bouncing off Earth at a rate of 10,000/sec, which is what makes the effort

unique for a space mission, Martinosays. To make the overall power de-mands achievable, the pulses will be1,000 times weaker than ICESats al-timetry pulses, creating a need forhighly sensitive detectors in the craftstelescope. Three of the six beams willhave an energy of 150 J per pulse,and the others about a quarter of thatenergy, with the exact value to be de-termined, he says .

Engineers are banking that send-ing thousands of lower energy pulses

every second will be less taxing on thelaser system than sending dozens ofmore powerful ones.

Since theres less stress on thecomponents, these lasers should lastlonger, explains Tom Neumann, theICESat 2 deputy project scientist.

Although the measurement ap-proach is new for a space instrument,the technologies behind it are not con-sidered to be particularly risky. Thereis very little that is incredibly new,says Matthew McGill, the principal in-

vestigator for the ICESat 2s ATLAS in-strument. Using all the componentstogether may be new (or not), headds by e-mail. He says the Dept. ofDefense has used the approach.

Multiple beamsPrimarily, the switch to six beams ismeant to improve the science read-ings. When a new measurement landsfrom a single beam, you dont knowwhether its because you hit a differ-ent place, or whether the ice hasgrown or shrunk, Martino says.

In the new approach, six beamswill land perpendicular to the orbital

path and track along the surface like apush broom. Originally, the scientistswanted 16 beams, but in 2009 they re-duced the number to nine, then to sixlast year. In order to get cost down,we had to do a number of descopes,and that was one of themreducingthe number of beams, Neumann says.

The missions $650-million targetcost includes three years of operation.It far exceeds the $300-million roughcost estimate envisioned for ICESat 2in 2007 by NASAs first decadal surveyof Earth science priorities. The deca-

dal survey numbers were a challengeto a lot of folks because they didnt in-clude things like launch vehicle costs,which are large and growing, he adds.

Even with the six-beam compro-mise, scientists expect ICESat 2 to de-liver more and better readings. Withthe original satellite, measuring theslope of an area took years, but withICESat 2, well be able to measure theslope on each pass, says Neumann.Scientists would be able to devotemore time to looking for changes in

ice cover.We are hoping from this ap-

proach we can take care of the prob-lems on ICESat, adds laser physicistAnthony Yu, a member of the laserteam at Goddard.

Technical solutionsAs for workmanship issues, NASA en-gineers plan to build the instrumentthemselves with lasers procured com-mercially. In the case of ICESat, inves-tigators concluded that excessive in-

dium solder was used to attach thelasers heat sink, the device that wassupposed to protect the laser electron-ics by absorbing excess heat. The in-dium caused a metallurgic reactionthat eroded the gold wires that fedcurrent to the laser diodes. Thosediodes were critical, because theypumped energy to the laser sourceknown as yttrium aluminum garnet, orYAG. After the first laser failed, engi-neers theorized that the gold woulderode faster at higher temperatures, soICESat managers lowered the operat-

ing temperature.To avoid something like that on

ICESat 2, engineers plan to capitalizeon improvements made in the tele-communications industry, which usesdiodes to help transmit data throughfiber optic cables. The telecommuni-cations industry is helping out herebecause they have developed highlyreliable pump modules that have es-sentially zero failure rate in the field,Yu says. The workmanship and qual-ity are much better.

Engineers also think they have asolution to a separate problem thatcropped up when scientists began

running ICESats second laser. The en-gineers suspect this laser lost powerrapidly, because hydrocarbons in ad-hesives vaporized in the vacuum ofspace and accumulated on the lasercrystal, darkening it.

On ICESat 2, that module is goingto be pressurized with clean, dry air tomitigate that problem, Yu says.

New challengesThe decision to turn to a rapid-rate,low-energy approach solves some en-

gineering issues but creates others. OnICESat 2, the detectors that receive thereflected energy via the spacecraftstelescope must be extremely sensitivebecause of the low energy.

The problem is, the most sensitivedetector materials are designed for thegreen portion of the spectrum, butlaser light is easiest to generate in theinfrared. You end up with this mis-match between what the lasers aregood at and what the detectors aregood at, Neumann explains.

The solution will be to generateinfrared laser energy but use a set ofoptics called a frequency doubler that

will shift the 1,064-nm IR wavelengthsto higher frequency 532-nm greenwavelengths. The first ICESat space-crafts signals were strong enough thatengineers had the luxury of makingthe altimetry readings in the infrared.The main purpose of that satellitesfrequency doubler was to create greenlight for atmospheric measurements,Yu says.

With 10,000 pulses arriving at the

detectors every second, the detectormaterial will have little time for elec-

AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011 19


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ity. Were looking at asmaller spot, a 10-m foot-print compared to 70 mfor the original ICESat, soadjustment is more criticalfor us, Martino says.

Looking aheadTo test ICESat 2s multi-beam concept, NASA hasput together an airborneinstrument called the mul-tiple altimeter beam ex-perimental lidar, or MA-BEL. It is not a prototypeof ICESat 2, Martino cau-

tions, but its going to bevery useful for characteriz-ing what the surface and

atmosphere look like when were us-ing this technique.

In December, NASA installed theinstrument in the nose of its high-fly-ing ER-2 and flew it over five targets inthe Southwest to collect elevation datasimilar to what they expect to receivefrom ICESat 2.

With the instrument science reviewbehind them and the MABEL flights

under way, ICESat 2 engineers haveplenty of work ahead. Size, power,and mass are extremely important onany satellite, but at the moment, engi-neers do not know how big to makeICESat 2 because they do not yetknow which rocket will launch thesatellite. We have made some alloca-tions, but theyre somewhat arbitrarybecause we dont have a launch vehi-cle, Martino says.

Few Delta 2 rockets are left in theinventory, and NASAs satellite builders

do not yet have permission from theagency to consider a SpaceX Falcon 9or an Orbital Sciences Taurus 2. Atlas-class rockets would be too large tolaunch ICESat 2 alone, so engineersare discussing the possibility oflaunching it into orbit in tandem withanother satellite.

Scientists expect todays engineer-ing work to pay off in the years after2016. With ICESat 2, knock on wood,all will go well, and well run it contin-uously. We wont turn it off for half theyear, says Neumann.

Ben [email protected]

tromagnetic recovery be-tween pulses. The light ar-rives so quickly that ICESat2 must measure the transittime of individual photons.By contrast, the originalICESat received lots of pho-tons measured as voltage.

The detection systemgets a little more compli-cated because were re-sponding to individual pho-tons rather than the higherlight levels, Martino says.The bottom line is that ICE-Sat 2 will require detectors

that are sensitive, with ashort dead time. That wasmost of the trade right there.

The rapid-fire speed-of-light pulsesalso create a data-handling issue forthe instruments processor. Becauseof the 4-msec transit time, you will

have 40 pulses in flight at any giventime. So you have to keep track of thatmany. This will be a major hardwareand software challenge. Its not likeits intrinsically hard, but it is new,Martino says.

As for the multiple beams, the ba-sic approach is nothing new for aspace instrument. The Lunar Recon-naissance Orbiter is equipped with a

five-beam instrument called the lunarorbiter laser altimeter, or LOLA, whosedata are turned into 3D maps of theMoon. A single beam is transmittedthrough a diffractive optical elementconsisting of a flat piece of glass witha hologram. The hologram divides thelight into separate beams.

LOLA is far from a precursor toICESat 2, however. It sends pulses 28times a second, each with an energyof 3 mJ. Engineers also do not have tocope with atmospheric distortions.

A more accurate pointing mecha-nism for the laser was not considereda viable option. The original ICESathad a 30-m control accuracy, and sowill ICESat 2. That is about the bestthat can be done for a reasonable cost,Yu says. Martino cautions that controlaccuracy is not the same as knowingwhere the laser landed. The knowl-edge accuracy will be about 6 m forICESat 2, he says.

One planned improvement will bethe ability to adjust the direction of theoutgoing beam after launch to ensure

the telescope catches the reflectedlight. ICESat did not have that capabil-

Mike Kapitzke, ER-2 lead engineer, inspects the MABEL installation in preparationfor the initial flight.


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Roundup 2011

J.R. WilsonContributing writer

22 AEROSPACE AMERICA/MARCH 2011 Copyright 2011 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Today, companies in nationsaround the globe are buildingor at least designingsome typeof UAV, both for their own mili-taries and for a fast-growing

worldwide market. Their many benefitsmultiple suppliers, relatively low cost, and

demonstrated abilities for widely varyingapplications (persistent ISR, command andcontrol, communications relay, and hunter-killer)have made most nations eager toadd UAVs to their military fleets.

TechnologyOperational experience and tighter defensebudgets have reduced warfighter and ser-

vice chief wish lists to what is most needed,

most quickly attainable, affordable, mostversatile, able to use an integrated groundcontrol station (one that can control multi-ple UAVs and/or types of aircraft), and ableto be easily integrated into a multiservice,multination networked battlespace.

The past two decades have seen almost

every conceivable type of craft and propul-sion system thrown into the air in hopes ofbeing ordered. UAVs have gained enoughtechnological maturity and user acceptanceto move from revolutionary concept to evo-lutionary development.

This is not to say that DARPA and itscounterparts around the world will not con-tinue to push the envelope on every aspectof UAVsmaterials, shape, propulsion sys-

Because UAVs are inexpensive, easy to maintain and, most important,eliminate risk to human pilots, they are now on the wish lists of

many nations. Although many countries are building

their own systems or seeking such capability, some

nd it more efficient to buy UAVs from the

world's leading manufacturers.

Either way, the growth in sales

of these aircraft is projected

to continue at a brisk

pace worldwide.



tems, sensors, artificial intelligence, scalablelethality (including the ability to change inmid-mission), guidance, operating environ-ment), and size.

The past two years, for example, have

seen new efforts in the development of un-manned helicopters. These aim at meetinga Marine Corps requirement for a system toresupply forward units (especially with wa-ter) while relieving manned rotorcraft forother missions, without increasing the de-mand onand dangers toground convoys.

At the same time, the MQ-1 Predator hasseen its last procurement, with future acqui-sition going to the MQ-9 Reaper. It has astrong Predator lineage (it was once calledPredator B), but was designed from scratchto be a true hunter-killer, using an ex-

panded weapons set and advanced sensors.Some consider the Reaper the first true

UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle), be-cause its size, flight envelope, and weaponscapabilityincluding GPS-guided joint di-rect attack munitions, Paveway laser-guidedbombs, and Sidewinder air-to-air/air-to-ground missilesgive it precision-strike andground-support capabilities far exceedingthose of the Predator.

Designated UCAV projects now includethe Northrop Grumman/USN X-47B navalunmanned combat air system, which madeits first test flight on February 4, BAE Sys-tems/U.K. Taranis, the six-nation European

nEUROn, Russias MiG Skat, and multiple(but unverified) Chinese programs.

Interest in UCAVs has grown as thelikelihood of a non-U.S. near-term fifth-gen-eration manned fighter remains remote, de-spite Russian and Chinese claims to be onthe verge of producing such aircraft. A fleetof UCAVs would be far easierand less ex-pensiveto acquire. But they also havegrown more important to the U.S., espe-cially given predictions the combined U.S.air fleet will fall short of requirements be-cause of delays in the F-35 and a signifi-

cantly reduced buy of F-22s. The Navy, forexample, sees UCAVs as a way to put morestrike aircraft with longer range and en-durance to sea in less time.

Manufacturers

The numbers in the accompanying charthave changed significantly with each bien-nial edition. The last one, in 2009, showedfar more companies in far more countries

MQ-9 Reaper (USAF photo byTech. Sgt. Efren Lopez.)



on the legitimate major players, both na-tions and companies

These will be UAVs built for their ownmilitaries, for allies and alliances, and forgeneral sale. It also will include as much in-

formation as possible on black programsthe DARPA-level efforts that continue theUAV revolution. In some cases, little morethan a name is knownand, often, eventhat may not be real. In this category, spe-cial care has been taken to verify, validate,and confirm the information presented.

We will also look at end usersnationsthat plan to buy and use one or more typesof UAV, or have already done so, ratherthan attempting to develop an indigenousmanufacturing capability. Even the mostprolific manufacturers fall into this category,

as do some nations that have sufficientlyadvanced infrastructure to develop theirown UAVs but have decided not to reinventthe wheel, instead spending their scarce de-fense R&D funds on other projects.

Even so, the Teal Groups 2010 UAVmarket study predicts a worldwide demandof more than $80 billion for UAVs and re-lated systems through the coming decade,

with expenditures more than doubling froma current worldwide level of about $4.9 bil-lion per annum to more than $11.5 billion.

And despite increasing global interest in thetechnology, the report also predicts the U.S.

will be responsible for 76% of all RDT&Espending on UAV technology and about58% of all procurement through 2020.

working on many more UAVs than did its

predecessor.But it also reflected the beginning of a

consolidation of design and developmentefforts, a new concentration on specificmission types and capabilities, and a fallingaway of those manufacturers who were of-fering little more than remote-controlledhobby airplanes carrying new small cam-eras and data transmission systems basedon commercial technology (primarily ad-

vances in smartphones).That consolidation has continued, at all

levels. And although this report reveals asmuch information as we could gathersur-prisingly little in response to direct requeststo more than 500 companies, universities,labs, and so onthe discussion will focus

While Israel was the firstto send UAVsinto situations where it was unwise to riska human pilot, the U.S. has becomeafter adecidedly slow and reluctant startthe most

prolific developer, producer, and user ofUAVs of all types and sizes.Although budget constraints have sent

some early concepts back to the drawingboard and many companies have droppedaway, the number of manufacturers andUAVs remains high. Perhaps more impor-tant for the future is the continued growthin academic involvement, not only in train-ing the next generation of scientists and en-gineers, but also in pushing the envelopeon such areas as nano- and pico-UAVs.

One area that has progressed far more

slowly than some had expected is UCAVprograms, although RDT&E continues. The

most public of thoseand black programsin this area are a givenis the X-47B. Boe-ing and Lockheed Martin also continue topursue the technology, while companiessuch as Predator/Reaper prime contractor

General Atomics can be expected to buildon existing hunter-killer platforms.

The X-47B is expected todemonstrate carrier-based

launches and landings in the2013 timeframe.

Boeing took the basic designof the X-45A and B to producethe X-45C Phantom Ray.



While the USAF has an official lock onall current, and presumably future, largeUAVs, the Navy is back in the hunt for acarrier-based UCAV. Cancellation of J-UCAStemporarily stalled Navy efforts, but, as

with joint programs in the past, the with-drawal of one service revealed the real de-sire of the other to push forward.

From the ashes of J-UCAS rose UCAS-D(demonstration), with an ultimate down-select to the X-47B, which the Navy sees asprecursor to a strike-fighter-sized, carrier-capable, transformational UAV capable ofISR, target acquisition, and strike missions.

The need for a carrier-based UCAV hasgrown even greater with the decrease inU.S. aircraft carriers and fully equipped air

wings. Also spurring Navy efforts is Chinas

public stance that, in any future armed con-flict with the U.S., its goal would be to de-stroy U.S. military airfields and carriers be-fore they could launch manned aircrafttoward China. Having a fleet of long-range,preferably stealthy UCAVs that could be air-borne long before any such attackandpossibly help thwart itis rapidly becominga Navy urgent need.

The Air Force, while less public in itspursuit of UCAVs than the Navy, nonethe-less did not abandon interest in them withthe end of the J-UCAS. With that in mind,Boeing took the basic design of the X-45A(J-UCAS) and X-45B (its UCAS-D effort) andpushed forward with internal developmentof the X-45Cwhich came out of BoeingsPhantom Works in 2010 as the PhantomRay. In response to one major UCAV con-cernaerial refueling for extended rangeand enduranceBoeing is under contracton several key R&D programs.

Documents

UAV Roundup 2011