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Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 2/98 US STUDIES UNMANNED COMBAT AIRCRAFT by Karl Schwarz Unmanned air vehicles (UAV) are not new to the military. Numerous systems were developed in the past decades, reaching from the hand-launched mini-drone up to the large, high-flying Boeing Condor with a wingspan of 61 meters. However, only few reached an operational status and even the newest DARO programs (Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office) of the Pentagon are not advancing flawless. Still, the US Air Force and US Navy are increasingly believing in the future role of the UAVs. While this concerns battlefield and long-distance reconnaissance for the time being, the considerations start to focus already on using UAVs for complex fighting tasks. Companies, such as Lockheed Martin, are intensively working on the new category UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles). However, it is obvious that an operational use of these vehicles is not imminent. While the technologies, which are necessary for the UCAV development, have made good progress, several questions are still unanswered. Due to this, Lockheed Martin favors a stepwise approach, for example with test vehicles on the basis of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. This would allow them to make experiences and evaluate tactical concepts. The next step would involve first operational systems, for example modified F-16s. Sketches show the aircraft with a new wing with a span of 18,3 meters and an area of 49,5 square meters, equipped with seven external stations for one 910 kg bomb each. From the Navy's point of view, the F-18 would also be suitable for such tests. There have already been talks with Boeing about this issue. The company is considering the omission of the vertical stabilizers and to install thrust vectoring nozzles to minimize the radar signature. Many experts are raising the question as to whether the modification of surplus manned fighters is the most cost-efficient solution. Their point is that only new designs would use the UCAV potential to the full extent. Without a pilot in the cockpit, it would be possible to reduce the airframe size by 40 percent. Also, the maneuverability can be increased if the airframe is not limited to 9 g's any more. However, according to the UCAV manufacturers, the smaller size and omitting the pilot would not automatically make the system an inexpensive one, the system complexity and redundancy only being very little below the requirements for manned aircraft. Still, looking at the systems in respect to its entire service-life, they do offer a considerable cost saving potential. Once built, they will only rarely be flown, unlike today's manned fighters. Except for a small part of the fleet, the aircraft would be mothballed until they are really needed. The operator training would be accomplished mainly in simulators. The squadrons would probably only have 10 to 20 percent of the size of today's fighter squadrons. While the development and production of the UCAVs is not considered to be a real problem, there are currently only very diffuse ideas of how they would be integrated into the entire spectrum of military operations. In the view of Lockheed Martin, the jets would be especially suited for the following missions: 1. Suppression of Enemy Air Defence; 2. Attacks on the important strategic targets which are heavily defended, for example airfields; 3. Attacks at hostile formations way back behind the frontline, under close control for example from JointSTARS; 4. To fight tactical ballistic missiles shortly after their launch. UCAVs have the advantage of being able to stay in the target area for a long time; 5. Tactical reconnaissance. UCAVs would not be ideal for operations at the front line where their own and hostile troops are close together. Also, aerial combat will be left to manned fighters for a long time due to its complexity. Unmanned does not mean that the aircraft are working entirely on their own. The mission planning would still be done by man, even though computers will be able to accomplish a lot of the detailed work. In flight there will always be a communication link, either direct or via satellite. The intensity of the data exchange will depend on the UCAV's capabilities. While autonomous navigation and threat reactions are self-explanatory, target identification and weapon release are still a matter of discussion. In the end, the "pilot" on the ground, who may be controlling an entire group of UCAVs, will have the final decision. It is also being considered that a UCAV unit will bring the aircraft into the target area where the control is handed over to operators on board of JointSTARS or AWACS. Flying in single units, the unmanned jets will probably either fly at extremely low levels or climb to altitudes above 50000 feet. Released up there, GPS precision guided standoff bombs would have considerable range. All operational scenarios are based on sophisticated and interference-resistant communication networks. This is considered by experts to be the main problem for an extensive use of UCAVs. There is much work ahead. Lockheed Martin's recently signed contract with the Naval Air Systems Command, with the task of defining UCAV concepts, is only a first step. The matter could become more serious once the DARPA and the US Air Force are contracting pre-design studies, leading to a test bed in the year 2001/2002. However, it will then take almost another 20 years until unmanned fighters dominate the skies. From page 46 of FLUG REVUE 2/98 Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 2/98 Copyright 1998 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated January 9, 1998 FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany