uas digest june 14
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June 14, 2011
UAS NEWS DIGEST
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UAS NEWS DIGEST
DirectorCOL Grant Webb, USA
EditorMr. Patrick Newcomb
The UAS News Digest is a weeklycompilation of published items and
commentary concerning defense-relatedunmanned aircraft systems issues. TheDigest is an internal management toolintended to serve the informational needsof DoD officials in the continuingassessment of defense policies,programs, and actions. Furtherreproduction or redistribution for privateuse or gain is subject to original copyrightrestrictions.
The UAS News Digest is compiled by theJoint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Centerof Excellence (JUAS COE) at Creech AirForce Base, Nevada. The opinions andinformation presented in this digest do notnecessarily reflect the position of theJUAS COE, and should not be taken asendorsement or approval. The JUASCOE is not responsible for the accuracyof any of the information supplied by thecontributors.
SubscriptionsSubscriber requests and comments maybe sent to:[email protected]
WebsiteThe UAS News Digest is also availableon the Creech Air Force Base website:https://wwwmil.nellis.af.mil/creech/
EXSUM
This week‟s edition of the UAS News Digest
contains a featured article provided by the Office of
the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition,
Technology and Logistics, which discusses the
latest developments in the production of UAS
Ground Control Stations.
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Web Articles
1. Northrop Says Working to Fix Global Hawk
(Aviation Week & Space Technology) … Karen Jacobs/Reuters
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman has made improvements to its high-flying
Global Hawk reconnaissance drone since a Pentagon weapons test found shortfalls
with the unmanned aircraft, a company executive said …
2. The Secret History of Boeing’s Killer Drone
(Danger Room/Wired.com) … David Axe
The UCAS development story has all the trappings of a paperback technothriller: secre
technology, a brilliant military scientist, scheming businessmen, and the unseen-but-
decisive hand of the military’s top brass.
3. Welcome to SURVIAC
(Defense Technical Information Center)
SURVIAC is a contractor operated, DoD sponsored service available to all government
and industry users to provide studies, analyses, data gathering, and other operationa
and logistics requirements related to survivability and lethality technologies.
4. U.S. Tests New Export Ideas with UAVs
(Defense News) … Kate Brannen
Anticipating growing demand for U.S. drone technology, the Pentagon has begun
planning how it might respond to foreign military sales requests.
5. When the Ravens met the Sandhill Cranes
(Unmanned Systems Magazine, June 2011 © AUVSI) ... Philip A. Owen
USGS and USFWS Team Turn to Unmanned Aircraft to Count Wildlife.
6. The Year of the Drone
(New America Foundation http://www.Newamerica.net . ) … Peter Bergen and
Katherine Tiedemann
An analysis of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2010.
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Web Articles
7. Money for Drone Training Included in State Budget Proposal
(Wisconsin Public Radio/Superior Telegram) … Gilman Halsted
A statewide coalition of anti war activists is calling on state legislators to cut funding
for a new unmanned drone training center in Wisconsin.
8. U.S . Demand for Unmanned Aircraft “Insatiable”
(Forum Communications Co., INFORUM) … Tu-Uyen Tran
Need extends beyond military use to law enforcement agencies.
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Background:
Over the last decade, the DoD has accruedgreat benefit from the use of UAS for bothpeacetime and wartime operations. These
successes ignited a significant increase in thenumber of UAS planned and procured and thefuture only looks to see an exponential increasein the quantity and diversity of UAS applications.Traditionally, each UAS was procured as a fullyvertically integrated, vendor-proprietary solution,consisting of the air system, ground station,communications channels, and encryptiontechnologies. These single-system variants weretypically “closed” systems utilizing proprietar yinterfaces. Development of the entire systemwas conducted in parallel with close
interdependencies among components, andprocured as a whole through the aircraft primecontractor. As the number of new UASprogrammed in the Service budgets increased,the magnitude of RDT&E requirements fordevelopment skyrocketed.
In addition to cost, this approach resulted in anumber of unfavorable characteristics thatimpeded progress and adoption:
Reliance on large primes and verticalintegrators who have little motivation forcontrolling costs and managingschedule.
Lack of re-usability, resulting in RDT&Edollars being inefficiently utilized onrepeated development of similartechnology for different platforms.
Difficulty of upgrading and enhancingcapability, due to the proprietary natureof UAS.
Inability to leverage research anddevelopment conducted at smallbusinesses, who are often well motivatedto work with the government to developtimely, cost effective, robust solutions.
Article reprinted courtesy of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defensefor Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
Open Architecture Efficiencies in the Development
of DoD UAS Ground Control Stations (GCS)
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Our inability to address these issues listedabove would incur a significant cost. Today, in
order to improve situational awareness or takeadvantage of incremental improvements intechnology, system acquisition programmanagers may have to recapitalize their entireinventory of GCS depending on the requiredchange. This is a significant cost burden. Asingle UAV purchase can require the purchaseof a significant number of GCS, when oneincludes systems integration labs, flight testassets, backup inventory, initial qualificationtraining assets and continuing training assets.Given the potentially large number of GCS‟, the
cost of upgrading these closed systems to addnew capabilities can quickly rise. This isexacerbated given the variety of UAS systemsbeing considered in future Defense planning.
In order to enable future capability upgradesthrough competition without recapitalizing thefleet, we must “break open” GCS componentsinto a modular and scalable architecture that canbe implemented according to individual UASneeds. The architecture needs to be defined tothe level that allows for acquisition flexibility at
system, subsystem, component, application, andservice levels; enables innovation at all levels ofindustry--UAS & non-UAS domains, especiallyat the subsystem and component/ application/ service levels; allows for reuse across Serviceand Joint UAS programs where appropriate; andis scalable from systems such as a Scan Eaglelaptop to a Gray Eagle UGCS to a Global Hawkfixed facility to a ROVER.
UCS Working Group
Under direction from the USD/AT&L Acquisition
Decision Memorandum, 11 February 2009, the
Services and the UAS Task Force are jointlydeveloping and demonstrating a common, open,
and scalable UAS architecture supporting UASGroups 2-5.
A standards body, the UAS Control SegmentWorking Group (UCS-WG), has been formed inresponse to this direction. The near term priorityof the UCS-WG is on Gray Eagle,Predator/Reaper, BAMS, Global Hawk and FireScout. This effort incorporates the best practicesof current Army, Air Force and Navydevelopment efforts to include: definition of acommon functional architecture, interface
standards, business rules, use of open-sourceand government-owned software (asappropriate), competitive acquisition options,and refinement of message sets to support alloperational requirements of the systemspreviously defined. The requirement is todemonstrate the above architecture through asimulated prototype with Predator/Reaper andGray Eagle UAS within 12 months and Reaperwithin 18 months, and to develop a path toincorporate the BAMS UAS and support GlobalHawk.
In this context, the UCS Architecture supportsthese OSD-stated high level businessobjectives:
Acquisition flexibility for control segment
subsystems & components;
Cost control;
Innovation at all levels of industry;
Reduced integration time for new
capabilities;
Reuse across Service and Joint UASprograms where appropriate.
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The UCS Architecture may be employedalongside other Open Architecture initiatives thataddress Common Operating Environments,Networking /Communications and Human-Computer Interfaces, or the UCS Architecturemay be used to „break open‟ previously closedand proprietary systems.
UCS-WG is an open technical standards groupconsisting of over 100+ organizations from themajor UAV primes, the Services, small business,and additional subject matter experts. The UCS-WG is bringing together all the Services to workwith industry to define open standards for GCScomponents.
The UCS-WG will achieve the stated operationaland business objectives by defining anddocumenting:
A Control Segment architecture that is openand common only at the appropriate level;
Standardized, government-owned:o UAV C2, sensor C2, weapons C2 and C4I
to GIG interfaces;o Repository of technologies, applications, &
services;o Certification and Safety process.
The UCS-WG is taking a combined top-down / bottom up approach, to avoid the problems ofarchitecting from 50,000 feet.
From a top-down standpoint, the WG isanalyzing operational needs by UAV, evaluatingPrograms of Record across the Services, anddeveloping a set of Domain Documents thataddress use cases, requirements, andoperational scenarios. These DomainDocuments are primarily mission driven, and tiedirectly to operational needs. This is donethrough a combination of a Technical Society,Steering Group (government only), and industrypartnerships.
Using guidance provided by the DomainAnalysis process, the WG is following abottoms-up approach in parallel, throughdevelopment of a Service Oriented Architecture(SoA) with mappings to Standardized DataBusses. The SoA approach enables
development of capabilities in an interoperablefashion, and by mapping platform independentmodels to various Common Busses. UCSenables these services to be integrated withinexisting and proposed GCSs.
The UCS Architecture has achieved earlysuccess and demonstrated viability through avariety of approaches, including a limited set ofservice development exercises to bring togetherArmy, Navy, and Air Force UAS representativesin a common development effort focused arounddeveloping UCS-compliant GCS softwareservices.
The UCS Architecture is supported by the UCS-WG, which is an enduring organization modeledafter successful technical standards bodies suchas the SAE. There is a process andmethodology in place to develop, evaluate,ballot, and manage product configuration that isnot dependent on any small set of organizationsto maintain viability. Acquisition language isbeing developed that will provide guidance toProgram Managers on how to require UCScompliance within their programs, which willprovide resources and funding for on-goingsupport. In addition, alternative models includerequiring the Services to provide resourcesthrough their general budget.
Near-Term Execution Plan
Version 1.0 of the architecture is complete, withVersion 2.0 in development and set for releasein June 2011. Version 2.1 will be the buildablebaseline finished specification, which will includefinal open architecture specification for thefollowing PoR [Programs of Record, Ed.]: GrayEagle, Predator/Reaper, BAMS, Global Hawkand Fire Scout, and is set for release inNovember 2011. The UCS-WG has restructuredand expanded to include additional SMEs, andhas formed into a formal technical working
group. The output of the UCS-WG, taking intoconsideration past work in standards bodiessuch as STANAG-4586, and other smaller on-going efforts such as UAS C2 Initiative (UCI), willenable a new acquisition model based oncompetition, openness, re-usability, andstandards.
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