Afghanistan’s rugged terrain is pushing the Army consider some exotic alternatives for long-endurance aircraft that carry sensors and communications nodes, several officials said recently.
“We have conducted several analyses on what types of platforms are needed to carry the sensors essential to the current mission,” said Terry Mitchell, the Army’s director of intelligence futures. “Those sensor packages needed for mission overwatch, persistent hover, persistent stare–that is what is driving us toward certain platforms.”
Mitchell was speaking at the Army Aviation Association of America’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Forum in Arlington, Va.
He said the Army is working on at least two hybrid airship programs, with one optionally piloted platform set to deploy late next year or early in 2012.
“The capability of staying up for 21 days and providing that persistent view…is going to be a paradigm shift if it’s successful,” he said.
The Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command is planning to deploy an autonomous, free-flying, surveillance dirigible over Afghanistan in December 2011 or very early in 2012. The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) is a 250-foot long dirigible that can float at an altitude of 20,000 feet for up to three weeks at a time. The aircraft is not technically a blimp because it is heavier than air–it has diesel-powered engines. Northrop Grumman [NOC] is working under a $517 million Army contract to build three airships with a 21-day persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) ability. The platform has 18 sensor bays, according to Mitchell.
In the mean time, the Army is using aerostats for surveillance at forward operating bases (FOB). Mitchell said the military is on course to field over 100 aerostats to that country.
“It’s become the poor man’s capability because a lot of these FOBs can’t get what they need,” he explained.
Mitchell said a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone capability is also being studied. He said the Joint Staff has been pushing the idea of a “VTOL with long legs” that can stay up for eight to nine hours, hover at 20,000 feet and carry about a thousand pounds.
Col. Gary Toney, the Army’s acting director of operations and logistics readiness, said the service would also like to field a large cargo drone. Naval Air Systems Command recently awarded two contracts for small cargo UAS on behalf of the Marine Corps, but Toney said the Army could use something larger so that fewer ground supply convoys would be forced to pass through rugged terrain and potential ambushes.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to increase that capacity,” he said. “The capacity of the UAV you have right now is great for the Marine-size element, great for a FOB in a remote location. But you haven’t really helped me take one truck off the road.”
Meanwhile, Byron Browning, the Army’s chief of space and airborne systems, said the Army is looking to mitigate for the loss of an important military communications satellite program. The Air Force’s multibillion-dollar Transformational Satellite (TSAT) system was terminated last year due to cost growth and developmental delays. TSAT was expected to support ground forces’ communications on the move.
“That program’s cancellation has now caused us to look at other ways to provide comms on the move,” said Browning. “We see aerial as one of a number of options for us to provide that network connectivity on the battlefield.”