Review Of Onr S Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles Program

Joint Vision 20101 addresses the need for achieving military dominance through the application of new operational concepts. For the Department of the Navy, future operational concepts will hinge on a continuance of forward yet unobtrusive presence and the capability to influence events ashore as required. This capability will be enabled by the development and insertion into the forces of new technologies for providing command, control, and surveillance; battlespace dominance; power projection; and force sustainment. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently proven to be valuable operational platforms for providing tactical intelligence by surveillance of the battlefield. To support naval force objectives, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has established a research program within the Strike Technology Division (Code 351) of the Naval Expeditionary Warfare Science and Technology Department aimed at expanding the operational capabilities of UAVs to include not only surveillance and reconnaissance, but strike and logistics missions as well. This new class of autonomous vehicles, known as uninhabited combat air vehicles (UCAVs), is foreseen as being intelligent, recoverable, and highly maneuverable in support of future naval operations. Review of ONR'S Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles Program evaluates ONR's UCAV technology activities, including its vision documents and its science and technology roadmap (in areas of vehicle dynamics, communications, sensors, and autonomous agents) against criteria that would be selected by the committee, such as the relevance for meeting future naval priorities, the cost and time scale for its utilization, duplication of effort, and scientific and technical quality.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) contracted with the Naval Studies Board (NSB) of the National Research Council (NRC) to establish a committee to review ONR's Aircraft Technology Program (ATP). The committee convened on May 15 and 16, 2001, and reviewed some 28 science and technology (S&T) efforts that were presented as constituting the ATP. The committee met separately on May 17, 2001, to formulate its findings and recommendations. This report represents the consensus opinion of the committee and is based on the information presented at the review. The ONR ATP resides within the Strike Technology Division (Code 351) of the Naval Expeditionary Warfare Science and Technology Department (Code 35). In 2001 the ATP is funded at $55.0 million, which is approximately 60 percent of the Strike Technology Division budget. The ATP S&T 2001 budget is further divided into the following categories: (1) 6.1 basic research at $4.3 million, (2) 6.2 exploratory development at $18.1 million, and (3) 6.3 advanced development, including technology demonstrations, at $32.5 million. However, the ATP will be in major transition beginning in FY02. Starting in FY02, all of the 6.3 funding and one-half of the 6.2 funding at the ONR will be dedicated to 12 major program areas referred to as Future Naval Capabilities (FNCs). The purpose of the FNCs is to focus advanced technology development at ONR on naval force capabilities that have been identified as high priority for the future by a cross-functional group of naval operators, naval development and support organizations, and ONR program managers. Plans have been made to integrate several of the Code 351 programs reviewed into FNCs. The ATP was presented to the committee in six thrust areas: integrated avionics, propulsion and power, air vehicle technology, unmanned aerial vehicles/unmanned combat air vehicles (UAVs/UCAVs), survivability, and special aviation projects. Several projects were presented within each thrust area. The committee organized this report in response to these thrust areas, and in several of these areas it also suggests new S&T topics for consideration for the future ATP. The findings and recommendations of the committee are summarized in this report.

First used in military applications, unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming an integral aspect of modern society and are expanding into the commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural, and surveillance sectors. With the increasing use of these drones by government officials, business professionals, and civilians, more research is needed to understand their complexity both in design and function. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is a critical source of academic knowledge on the design, construction, and maintenance of drones, as well as their applications across all aspects of society. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as intelligent systems, artificial intelligence, and situation awareness, this publication is an ideal reference source for military consultants, military personnel, business professionals, operation managers, surveillance companies, agriculturalists, policymakers, government officials, law enforcement, IT professionals, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students.

Technology continues to make great strides in society by providing opportunities for advancement, inclusion, and global competency. As new systems and tools arise, novel applications are created as well. Smart Technology Applications in Business Environments is an essential reference source for the latest scholarly research on the risks and opportunities of utilizing the latest technologies in different aspects of society such as education, healthcare systems, and corporations. Featuring extensive coverage on a broad range of topics and perspectives including virtual reality, robotics, and social media, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, students, and practitioners seeking current research on the improvement and increased productivity from the implementation of smart technologies.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) contracted with the Naval Studies Board (NSB) of the National Research Council (NRC) to establish a committee to review ONR's Air and Surface Weapons Technology (ASWT) program. The committee convened on May 14 and 15, 2002, and reviewed more than 20 science and technology (S&T) efforts that were presented as constituting the ASWT program. The committee then met separately on May 16, 2002, to formulate its findings and recommendations. This report represents the consensus views of the committee and is based on the information presented prior to and at the review, as well as on the committee members' accumulated experience and expertise in military operations, systems, and technologies.

Lessons from recent combat experiences in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that UAVs can provide vastly improved acquisition and more rapid dissemination of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) data. They are one of the principal contributors to successful outcomes for the United States, in these campaigns. The benefits and promise offered by UAVs in surveillance, targeting and attack have captured the attention of senior military and civilian officials in the Defense Department (DoD), members of Congress, and the public alike. Indeed, these recent combat operations appear to indicate that unmanned air systems have at last come of age. There is no longer any question of the technical viability and operational utility of UAVs. The success of UAVs in recent conflicts represents a historic opportunity to exploit the transformational capabilities inherent in UAVs/Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs). Transformation is not a term, it is a philosophy. Transformation is a predisposition to exploring adaptations of existing and new systems, doctrine and organizations. True transformation is not the result of a one-time improvement, but of sustained and determined effort. For example, the American forces used multiple Predator UAVs during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) to provide a far more comprehensive operational perspective across the theater to the Combined Air Operations Center by integrating the Predator common operating picture with the Falcon View mission planning system. There is now another mission imperative and that is distance. During this review the new concept of Global Persistence Surveillance has specifically focused on the contributions of UAVs and UCAVs. During OIF Predator UAVs also enabled time-critical targeting via streaming video to strike platforms. Likewise one Global Hawk in the Iraqi theater from 8 March 03 to 23 April 03 accounted for 55% of the Time Sensitive Targets generated to kill air defense equipment. In 16 missions, Global Hawk located 13 Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) batteries, 50 SAM launchers, over 70 SAM transport vehicles and over 300 tanks. Notwithstanding the success of UAVs in OIF, UAVs have not been fully "embedded" in current Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) or valued with effects driven methodology. Future UAV programs must be conceived with this mix in mind, i.e. predefined operational concepts and effects driven methodology. UAVs are ideal systems to support the emerging joint character and the asymmetric nature of warfare. The Task Force feels it is time for DoD and the Services to move forward and make UAVs and UCAVs an integral part of the force structure, not an "additional asset." To do so requires appropriate planning, appropriate budgeting, and continued management attention of DoD and Service leadership. The DoD and the Services have already started to integrate UAVs into their force structure plans. Currently there are UAV plans and roadmaps within the DoD and Services and the FY 04 budget also shows substantial increases in funding of UAV programs. While progress has been made in planning and funding for UAVs, the Services need to move from deconfliction to integration to interdependence. UAV capabilities should be assessed in the larger context of the Global Persistent Surveillance. UAVs can ideally complement current architectures for Future Imagery Architecture, New Imagery System, and Space Based Radar. This study identifies steps the Department of Defense and Armed Services can take to field a robust UAV and UCAV capability. The recommendations in his executive summary indicate the Task Force's top level recommendations. Additional recommendations can be found in the body of the report. The Task Force's findings and recommendations fall into eight subject areas and are described in this executive summary in order of importance.

Which military missions for unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) appear most promising to pursue in terms of military need, operational and technical risks, alternatives, and cost? To answer this question, the authors assess risks associated with using UUVs for advocated missions, identify non-UUV alternatives that may be more appropriate for such missions, and analyze potential costs associated with UUV development and use. They conclude that seven missions: mine countermeasures, deployment of leave-behind surveillance sensors or sensor arrays, near-land and harbor monitoring, oceanography, monitoring undersea infrastructure, anti-submarine warfare tracking, and inspection/identification - appear most promising. Among other recommendations, the authors suggest that the U.S. Navy consolidate its unmanned system master plans and establish relevant priorities in coordination with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Increased emphasis on the use of surface platforms rather than submarines as host platforms is recommended.