Unmanned aerial vehicles | UAVs

[Khafee]

US Coast Guard to deploy Insitu Scan Eagles on cutters in 2019

• 08 MAY, 2019
• SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
• BY: GARRETT REIM
• WASHINGTON DC

The US Coast Guard will significantly expand its use of Insitu Scan Eagles when it deploys the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) aboard four National Security Cutters by the end of 2019.

While one cutter, USCGC Stratton, has hosted Scan Eagles for about a year and a half, the 2019 deployment represents the beginning of the service’s effort to expand the use of the small drone. Three UAVs will be deployed per cutter, with a staff of Insitu operators on a service contract to fly the aircraft up to 200h per month for the service. The USCG anticipates deploying Scan Eagles aboard all of its 11 National Security Cutters, once the fleet of ships have been built.

Insitu Scan Eagle US Coast Guard
Insitu

The Scan Eagle has a range up to 80nm (148km) and an endurance of up to 18h. It is launched from the cutter deck using a catapult and recovered with a skyhook. The UAVs will carry a variety of payloads for the USCG, including electro-optical, mid-wave infrared, and visual detection and ranging sensors, as well as a laser pointer and communications relay hardware.

The UAVs will help extend the range of the USCG’s cutters, says Captain Carl Riedlin, USCG chief of aviation.
“It’s a chance for the cutter to be able to push away from their immediate area, not necessarily have to launch a helicopter to be able to see further out,” he says.

The UAVs will be used to assist in search and rescue, stopping drug smuggling and ice-breaking missions, among other applications.

US Coast Guard to deploy Insitu Scan Eagles on cutters in 2019

The US Coast Guard will significantly expand its use of Insitu Scan Eagles when it deploys the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) aboard four National Security Cutters by the end of 2019.

www.flightglobal.com

 

[Khafee]

US Navy sharpens algorithm for missile and drone swarm attacks

• 08 MAY, 2019

• SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
• BY: GARRETT REIM
• WASHINGTON DC

The US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Center (NAWC WD) enhanced a prototype algorithm, which could coordinate missile and drone swarm attacks, to the point where it can now can ensure several vehicles arrive from different directions on a single target within 250 milliseconds of each other.

By converging on a single target from all sides, a swarm of missiles or loitering munitions could overwhelm an adversary and ensure that an objective is destroyed.

The so-called multi-agent trajectory planner was funded by the Office of Naval Research and NAWC WD.

“It’s really a one-of-a kind algorithm,” said Joan Johnson, executive director of NAWC WD at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space conference in National Harbor on 8 May. The algorithm is designed to direct unmanned air vehicles on a realistic flight path, she says.

“We see a lot of trajectory planners that can do obstacle avoidance and other types of things, but they haven’t taken into account the actual aero-characteristics of agents that have to fly. Getting some small thing to do a 9g turn with your algorithm is not realistic,” says Johnson. “They built in all of the aero-characteristics of the agents [into this algorithm]. You can optimise these trajectories for coordinated time of arrival. You can optimise for minimum time or minimum fuel.”

The algorithm was tested at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona using four Navmar Applied Sciences TigerShark UAVs. The UAVs met all mission objectives, says Johnson.

The algorithm should have broad applications, she says.

“You can consider it for weapons and drones or anything where you’ve got homogeneous or heterogeneous combinations of systems,” Johnson says.

“We are looking ahead to things like autonomy and how we can leverage the algorithm for things like that. What we are trying to do is build something that is agnostic to how you want to apply it.”

NAWC WD’s trajectory planner algorithm dovetails with autonomy swarm work that is being done by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). The lab is experimenting with flight control software programs that autonomously coordinate swarms of small unmanned blimps.

NRL UAV blimp swarm tests
NRL

The NRL’s work is inspired by the swarm behaviour of animals. Possible applications include using swarms for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, search and rescue, and perimeter defence, says Don Sofge, computer scientist and roboticist with the lab.

“We’ll have a behavior where the agents will respond to one another, such that they stay fairly close, but they avoid colliding with one another,” he says. “They’ll respond to an intruder by surrounding the intruder. This behaviour allows us to use them to protect assets.”

To improve the UAV’s functionality, the lab is looking at adding ultrasonic range, camera and acoustic sensors, as well as inertial measurement units.

Autonomy offers advantages to a swarm, especially in a war zone where UAVs could be lost to enemy fire.

“The nice thing is you can have a variable number of agents. And if you lose some of them the overall behavior of the swarm stays the same,” says Sofge. “Or, if you double the number, the behaviour stays the same.”

US Navy sharpens algorithm for missile and drone swarm attacks

The US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Center (NAWC WD) enhanced a prototype algorithm, which could coordinate missile and drone swarm attacks, to the point where it can now can ensure several vehicles arrive from different directions on a single target within 250 milliseconds of each ...

www.flightglobal.com

 

[Khafee]

Sikorsky Flies Black Hawk with Optionally Piloted Vehicle Technology
Kit developed by Sikorsky gives UH-60A helicopter full-authority fly-by-wire flight controls, marking the first step toward transforming the aircraft into an Optionally Piloted Vehicle

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 6, 2019 -- A technology kit developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), was used for the first time to operate a Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls. The May 29 flight marked the official start to the flight test program for the soon-to-be optionally piloted aircraft. Follow-on flight testing aims to include envelope expansion throughout the summer leading to fully autonomous flight (zero pilots) in 2020.

OPV Black Hawk First Flight 2019-Sikorsky


"This technology brings a whole new dimension of safety, reliability and capability to existing and future helicopters and to those who depend on them to complete their missions," said Chris Van Buiten, Vice President, Sikorsky Innovations. "We're excited to be transforming a once mechanically controlled aircraft into one with fly-by-wire controls. This flight demonstrates the next step in making optionally piloted – and optimally piloted – aircraft, a reality."

This is the first full authority fly-by-wire retrofit kit developed by Sikorsky that has completely removed mechanical flight controls from the aircraft.

Through DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, Sikorsky is developing an OPV approach it describes as pilot directed autonomy to give operators the confidence to fly aircraft safely, reliably and affordably in optimally piloted modes enabling flight with two, one or zero crew. The program aims to improve operator decision aiding for manned operations while also enabling both unmanned and reduced crew operations.

Sikorsky has been demonstrating its MATRIX™ Technology on a modified S-76B™ called the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA). The aircraft, which has been in test since 2013, has more than 300 hours of autonomous flight.

Sikorsky announced in March that its S-92® helicopter fleet update will include the introduction of phase one MATRIX Technology that will bring advanced computing power to the platform. This foundation enables adoption of autonomous landing technology.

For more information about Sikorsky MATRIX Technology, which won an Edison award in 2018, visit https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/sikorsky-matrix-technology.html.

Sikorsky Flies Black Hawk with Optionally Piloted Vehicle Technology

A technology kit developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), was used for the first time to operate a Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls. The...

news.lockheedmartin.com

 

[Khafee]

Sikorsky Flies Black Hawk with Optionally Piloted Vehicle Technology
Kit developed by Sikorsky gives UH-60A helicopter full-authority fly-by-wire flight controls, marking the first step toward transforming the aircraft into an Optionally Piloted Vehicle

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 6, 2019 -- A technology kit developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), was used for the first time to operate a Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls. The May 29 flight marked the official start to the flight test program for the soon-to-be optionally piloted aircraft. Follow-on flight testing aims to include envelope expansion throughout the summer leading to fully autonomous flight (zero pilots) in 2020.

OPV Black Hawk First Flight 2019-Sikorsky


"This technology brings a whole new dimension of safety, reliability and capability to existing and future helicopters and to those who depend on them to complete their missions," said Chris Van Buiten, Vice President, Sikorsky Innovations. "We're excited to be transforming a once mechanically controlled aircraft into one with fly-by-wire controls. This flight demonstrates the next step in making optionally piloted – and optimally piloted – aircraft, a reality."

This is the first full authority fly-by-wire retrofit kit developed by Sikorsky that has completely removed mechanical flight controls from the aircraft.

Through DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, Sikorsky is developing an OPV approach it describes as pilot directed autonomy to give operators the confidence to fly aircraft safely, reliably and affordably in optimally piloted modes enabling flight with two, one or zero crew. The program aims to improve operator decision aiding for manned operations while also enabling both unmanned and reduced crew operations.

Sikorsky has been demonstrating its MATRIX™ Technology on a modified S-76B™ called the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA). The aircraft, which has been in test since 2013, has more than 300 hours of autonomous flight.

Sikorsky announced in March that its S-92® helicopter fleet update will include the introduction of phase one MATRIX Technology that will bring advanced computing power to the platform. This foundation enables adoption of autonomous landing technology.

For more information about Sikorsky MATRIX Technology, which won an Edison award in 2018, visit https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/sikorsky-matrix-technology.html.

Sikorsky Flies Black Hawk with Optionally Piloted Vehicle Technology

A technology kit developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), was used for the first time to operate a Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls. The...

news.lockheedmartin.com

 

[Khafee]

Penguin C UAS

The Penguin C is a long endurance, long range unmanned aircraft system designed for a professional use.

AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS	VALUE
Wingspan	3.3 m/ 10.8 ft
MTOW	22.5 kg / 49.6lbs.
Endurance	20 hours
Range	100 km/ 60 miles
Cruise speed	19-22 m/s / 37-43 knots
Max level speed	32 m/s / 62.2 knots
Ceiling	4500 m / 15 000 ft MSL
Takeoff	Pneumatic Catapult, fully autonomous
Maximum takeoff altitude	3000m /10 000 ft AMSL
Recovery	Parachute recovery, airbag
Operational temperature	-25° C to +50° C
Anti- icing measures	Heated Pitot- static tube. Flight in icing conditions is not approved.
Environmental protection	< 5 millimeters/hour rain. Pitot with drain.
PROPULSION SYSTEM	VALUE
Engine Type	28 cc, fuel injected
Temperature control system	Automatically controlled via mechanical flap
Fuel type	98 Octane, oil mix
Generator system	100W onboard generator system
PAYLOAD SPECIFICATIONS	VALUE
Payload type	Day/night gyro stabilized Epsilon range of payloads
Advanced features	Target Tracking, Electronic Stabilization, Moving Target Indicator
Mounting	Motorized retract with anti-vibration damping
DATA LINK SPECIFICATION	VALUE
Frequency	2.304-2.364 GHz, 2.405-2.470 GHz, 5.00-5.800 GHz
Link Rate	Up to 12 Mbps
Encryption	128 bit AES / 256 bit AES
FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM	VALUE
Autopilot type	Piccolo, Cloud Cap Technology
GROUND CONTROL STATION	VALUE
Type	Portable, Dual touchscreen displays
GROUND DATA TERMINAL	VALUE
Type	Tracking high gain directional antenna
CATAPULT SYSTEM	VALUE
Type	Portable pneumatic, 6000 J launch energy
Packed Size	1313 x 704 x 543 mm

UAV Factory | Penguin C UAS

Edge Autonomy | High-performance composite airframe design and manufacture for the unmanned industry

www.uavfactory.com

 

[Khafee]

Penguin C UAS

View attachment 7561

Details:

Unmanned aerial vehicles | UAVs

Air Force eyes inexpensive Skyborg unmanned combat aircraft that pushes bounds of artificial intelligence (AI) Author John Keller Mar 20th, 2019 Air Force eyes inexpensive Skyborg unmanned combat aircraft that pushes bounds of artificial intelligence (AI) WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio – U.S. Air...

world-defense.com

 

[Khafee]

US Air Force to Begin First Tests on New AI Algorithms For Skyborg Program


View attachment 9326
©Air Force Research Laboratory artwork

The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Skyborg program is getting its first flight test this summer, with officials focusing their attention on autonomy algorithms and artificial intelligence.

The tests, set to take place at Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California, are expected to be conducted on a “small, but representative high-speed surrogate aircraft,” Cara Bousie, the service’s spokesperson, told Aviation Week.

Although Bousie steered clear of offering any additional details regarding the looming tests, she did indicate that the move is part of a two-year campaign for the department to determine just how the technology will perform in a controlled setting.

Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, previously revealed in a March interview that aircraft candidates that may be used during the summer trials include the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, Composite Engineering BQM-167 Skeeter and Boeing QF-16.

Disclosed to the public just in March, the Skyborg program’s objective is to deliver a combat-ready, autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicle prototype by the end of 2023. The aircraft is expected to act as a robotic wingman for service members, using its AI tech to manage combat mission tasks on its own when the need arises.

“Skyborg is a vessel for AI technologies that could range from rather simple algorithms to fly the aircraft and control them in airspace to the introduction of more complicated levels of AI to accomplish certain tasks or subtasks of the mission,” Matt Duquette, an AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate engineer, said in a March release on the program.

“Part of our autonomy development is building assurance into the system. You can either build assurance by using formal methods or approaches where at design time, as you develop these autonomous capabilities, you guarantee certain behaviors, or a more practical approach is to assess the capabilities of these behaviors at run time, meaning while they’re running on the aircraft. So, those are the capabilities that we’re interested in looking at from the experimentation level to see what type of assurance you need in the system so you can mix high and low criticality.”

According to comments Bousie gave to Air Force Magazine, there is a possibility that the department’s technology could slip into various other research programs. One in particular is ACT3, a fellow artificial intelligence team under AFRL whose focus is on developing air-to-air combat algorithms.

The official went on to say that only time will tell on what role humans will play as AI tech continues to advance.

US Air Force to Begin First Tests on New AI Algorithms For Skyborg Program

The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Skyborg program is getting its first flight test this summer, with officials focusing their attention on autonomy algorithms and artificial intelligence.

sputniknews.com

 

[Khafee]

Europeans propose siccing self-learning drone swarms on air defenses
22 Oct 2019
By: Sebastian Sprenger  
2 hours ago

Staff members of the company Airbus launch a group of drones at the Bundeswehr military training area Todendorf in Panker, northern Germany, on Oct. 4, 2018. (Rainer Jensen/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

COLOGNE, Germany — A European consortium has pitched the idea of grooming intelligent drone swarms to confuse, disable and destroy enemy air defenses.

The proposal is part of the Preparatory Action on Defence Research effort by the European Union to improve collaboration on among member states. Under the heading “Emerging Game Changers,” EU officials asked companies earlier this year to submit ideas for “promising breakthrough technologies” in the field of artificial intelligence for defense applications.

The idea behind “SEAD Swarm” is to create the necessary algorithms that would enable a mass of aerial drones to inspect the characteristics of air defense systems, distribute the information within the swarm and derive a plan of attack against weak points. Actions taken could include blinding radar sensors, overwhelming anti-aircraft fire with kamikaze-type tactics, or attacking sites with explosive or electronic-warfare payloads.

The acronym SEAD is short for “suppression of enemy air defenses,” military platforms that often expose pilots of manned aircraft to significant risk of getting shot down.

The proposed project comes in the wake of Finland designating advances in AI a key objective for its six-month term leading the Council of the European Union. The idea is backed by a consortium of 12 private companies, national research institutions and universities from six countries, with Finnish company Insta as the lead.

A decision from European decision-makers on the award of an approximately $2 million grant to start the project is expected in the next few months.

Consortium officials stress that nothing would be built during the initial phase of the project. Instead, the idea is to incubate the necessary “swarm logic” and learning algorithms in a simulation environment, where scenarios can be gamed out and quickly adapted, Ari Kosonen, a senior systems engineer at Insta, told Defense News.

Letting the drone swarm and air defense systems battle it out in a controlled cyberspace environment would yield patterns of problem-solving that can continuously improve both the attackers’ and the defenders’ performance, Kosonen said. In addition, thinking through the idea on a purely theoretical level would allow proper consideration for ethical and legal questions that arise whenever AI is weaponized, he added.

If adopted by the EU, the participating countries of Finland, Germany, Slovenia, Estonia, the Netherlands and Austria would detail military officials to an advisory board to help ensure the planned simulations reflect real-world combat situations.

That includes resisting the urge of crafting scenarios that are too clear-cut in allowing judgments about when to apply force and when to stand down, said Christian Brandlhuber, a senior adviser at consortium member Reply AG in Munich. “Does this work in an environment where our situational awareness is less than perfect?”

Therein lies the novelty of the SEAD Swarm idea, Brandlhuber argued: Working through the rules of engagement first, only later considering requirements and finally establish concrete acquisition plans could help bring AI-enabled military technology into the EU-wide defense conversation.

“There were heated discussions in the consortium about how pronounced the legal and ethical side should be,” Brandlhuber said. Dicey situations could arise, for example, when drones are cut off from communicating with human decision-makers in the final phase of an attack, while the prerequisite is to have a person in the loop for pulling the trigger.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in this,” Brandlhuber said, though he argued analysts should strive to understand the complexity that comes with combining drones and AI in a military context. “You can’t determine any of this a-priori.”

Notably, the consortium includes sensor and hardware manufacturers, like Diehl Defence of Germany and Milrem of Estonia, that could be tapped to build prototypes if the SEAD Swarm project is selected to go forward.

 

[NightWolf]

South Korea has received the first of four Nothrop Grunmman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk high-altitude, long0endurange UAVs ordered in 2014. Several local media outlets quoted a Ministry of National Defense spokesperson as saying that the surveillance UAV arrived at Sacheon Air Base in South Gyeonsang Province in the early morning hours of 23 December.

RQ-4 Global Hawk Block-30 Specifications:

Wingspan - 130,9 ft
Length - 47,6 ft
Height - 15,4 ft
Gross Takeoff Weight - 32 250 lbs
Maximum altitude - 60 000 ft
Payload - 3 000 lbs
Ferry range - 12 300 nm
Loiter Velocity - 310 knots true air speed
On-station Endurance at 1200 nm - 24 hrs
Maximum endurance - 32+hrs

 

[NightWolf]

The Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah claimed on 30 December that it shot down a Turkish-developed Karayel UAV over Al-Hudaydah province. On the website the group cited its millitary spokesman as saying the Karayel was operated by Saudi Arabia and was brought down with a surface-to-air missile near the Red Sea port of Al-Salif. On the video there may be seen a SAM lauched during the night and armed carrying the wreckage of an aircraft that matched a Karayel from the sea the following day. The air defense system used in the engagement was not shown.

 

[safriz]

This UAV was photographed by locals flying over MianWali Pakistan.
What UAV is this?

 

[Scorpion]

Looks like Turkish Anqa UAV.

 

[space cadet]

UAVOS, KACST developing new Saker-1C MALE unmanned aircraft

Janes | The latest defence and security news from Janes - the trusted source for defence intelligence.

www.janes.com

UAVOS, KACST developing new Saker-1C MALE unmanned aircraft

UAVOS and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) of Saudi Arabia are developing a new medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle, the Saker-1C, according to a company statement.

The Saker-1C can carry payloads ranging from synthetic aperture radar (SAR), imagery and coherent change detection, gyro-stabilised electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) gimbal, and digital video datalink. The aircraft is designed to perform long-endurance surveillance, communications relay, and search and rescue missions, among others.

The Saker-1C has a 300 kg payload capacity, which is larger than found on the smaller Saker-1B. Aliaksei Stratsilatau, UAVOS CEO and lead designer, told Janes on 28 May that the company had to make many trades, mostly for safety, to accommodate this larger payload capacity. The tail was modified to aid mass distribution in the fuselage and an increase of inertial moments.

Advanced wing mechanisation, such as flaps, spoilers, and winglets, Stratsilatau said, was also implemented to support flight controls in different aircraft configurations and changes of payload weight. He said one of the Saker-1C’s requirements is to be able to land fully-loaded, just after take-off, in case of emergency.

UAVOS, thus, had to implement emergency fuel drain, improve landing gear capacity, and redesign many safety procedures to be approved to operate in airspace. The increased payload capacity, Stratsilatau said, also made an impact on the power distribution system, which was redesigned.

 

[BATMAN]

Looks like Turkish Anqa UAV.

Could be wingloong!

 

[Khafee]

Looks like Turkish Anqa UAV.

Turkish Anqa were bought by the navy, given the location of this pic, in all probability it is Wing Loong 2