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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1125.PDF
DEFENCE UNMANNED SYSTEMS GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC US Army joins race to fly armed UAV Development contracts due by mid-year, rotorcraft X-vehicle demonstrator set to take to air in 2005 Bidders are lining up for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) un manned combat armed rotorcraft (UCAR) technology demonstra tion programme, with the award of up to four 12-month concept development contracts expected by mid-year. The UCAR is intended to operate autonomously alongside the US Army's manned attack helicopters. The project is modelled on DARPA's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) programmes for the US Air Force and Navy. Win ning Phase 1 bidders will develop a concept for the operational UCAR system. Two teams will be selected in mid-2003 to begin design of the demonstrator system and in early 2004 one will be picked to build and test two X-vehicle demonstra tors. First flight is planned for third quarter 2005. A third, B-model demonstrator incorporat ing lessons learned, is to fly in mid-2008 and the UCAR pro gramme is scheduled to be moved to the US Army at the end of fiscal year 2009. Potential bidders include Bell, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, North rop Grumman, Raytheon and Sikorsky. The UCAR is intended to have performance and operat ing characteristics compatible with manned helicopters, be capable of autonomous low-level flight and provide stand-off target identifi cation at two to three times current ranges. Affordability goals are a flyaway cost 20-40% of the Boeing/ Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche and 50-80% lower operating costs than the Boeing AH-64 Apache. DARPA says the aggressive goals for system performance will require "innova tive applications of technology". Boeing Unmanned Systems president Mike Heinz says the UCAR configuration has yet to be decided. "Phase 1 is about under standing the requirement. We will start with a clean sheet of paper and end up with some definition of what the system could look like." Boeing plans to promote system commonality between the UCAR, its X-45 UCAV-AF for the air force and its proposed naval UCAV-N. The first of two X-45A demon strators is due to fly by mid-year. Multi-vehicle operations are planned for 2003-4, leading to joint exercises with manned air craft in 2005-6. A larger X-45B is expected to fly in 2004-5, leading the way to development of the ini tial Block 10 operational UCAV-AF. The USAF wants 14 vehicles for operational evaluation in 2007-8, when the USN plans to begin development of its UCAV-N. Northrop Grumman, competing with Boeing to demonstrate the UCAV-N in 2005, is preparing its company-funded X-47A Pegasus UCAV for first flight by mid-year. It is proposing a larger X-47B for the UCAV-N demonstration. Northrop Grumman is preparing the X-47A UCAV demonstrator for flight SAFETY UK joint forces body established UK military safety oversight has been overhauled and a joint forces policy, regulating and auditing body has been created to oversee all UK military flying. The Defence Aviation Safety Centre (DASC) replaced the Royal Air Force's Inspectorate of Flight Safety on 1 April. Although DASC oversees safety, overall responsibility remains with sen ior army, navy and RAF officers. A senior Ministry of Defence official says, before DASC, only the RAF had an MoD-level safety organisation with the other two services having command-level groups. The formation of bi- and tri-service formations underlined the need for a single safety regu lation body. ANTI-SHIP MISSILES USN Penguin follow-on draws four proposals The US Navy's recently initiated search for a new helicopter- launched anti-ship missile to replace the Kongsberg AGM-119B Penguin Mk2 has drawn responses from at least four European and US manufacturers. A request for information was issued by the USN earlier this year to arm its Sikorsky MH-60R mar itime helicopters and MH-60S util ity machines. The Penguin arms the earlier SH-60B, but will not be integrated with the new helicopters. The USN requires a weapon with a "man-in-the-loop capability" and the option for autonomous opera tion with strong resistance to electronic jamming. The navy is looking for an essentially off-the- shelf missile, with an initial purchase limited to 300 rounds. It hopes to secure money in the 2004 defence budget to launch an evalu ation, with procurement beginning the following year. MBDA has made two bids, the Marte Mk2 and a proposed heli copter-launched Polyphem variant. Marte is a radar-guided fire-and-for- get missile, while Polyphem uses a fibre-optic guidance system, which is near impossible to jam, but is still in the early stages of development. Boeing, with BAE Systems, is looking at an anti-ship variant of the Brimstone anti-tank missile. Other interested companies include Israel Military Industries offering the Light Defender and Kongsberg with the NSM imaging-infrared guided successor to Penguin. BALLISTIC MISSILES Saudi Arabia updates sites Saudi Arabia has upgraded the launch sites built in the 1990s for its Chinese-built CSS-2 surface- to-surface missiles. Recent satellite images examined by Israeli and US intelligence sources show many new buildings and indications of an improved command and control system at Saudi Arabia's largest CSS-2 facility at Al Sulaiyil, south of Riyadh. In the images, 60 reinforced shelters to store the missiles are seen at Al Sulaiyil, recently visited by Chinese technicians. Saudi Arabia bought 120 CSS-2 (Dong-Feng 3) missiles and 12 fixed launchers from China. The CSS-2 has a 2,500km (1,500 mile) range, is 24m (79ft) long and weighs 64,000kg (140,8001b). www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9-15 APRIL 2002 17
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