U(C)AV ontwikkelingen

[Elzenga]

"Positieve" ontwikkeling en niet geheel onverwachts....

[dudge]

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_05_20_2013_p26-578980.xml&p=1

Italy Looking To Develop Black MALE UAV
By Amy Butler
Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology

Italy is determined to proceed aggressively, with or without its traditional British and French partners, to develop a new armed, medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft, an effort that began in the black world.

The project is proceeding apace in part as a result of U.S. ambivalence about Rome's request to arm its small Predator fleet and also in order to invigorate the domestic industry here. Italy requested permission to weaponize Reaper nearly two years ago, and Washington's silence is "a case that is not very acceptable," Air Force Lt. Gen. Claudio Debertolis, Italy's secretary general of defense and national armaments director, tells Aviation Week. Debertolis says Rome is in talks with potential partners on a "black" MALE project that would field systems in 2017-18.

Built by San Diego-based General Atomics, Italy's Predators are slated to finish service by the end of the decade, and the military wants to get a jump on designing a more advanced replacement, according to senior defense and industry officials here. Six of the UAS were bought without an Italian industrial participation agreement not only because General Atomics was not amenable, but also because they were urgently needed in Afghanistan. Italy lacked the time to build its own system.

Officials at the U.S. State Department say that as a matter of policy they will not comment on Italy's specific request. However, they do note that "the transfer of U.S. defense articles and services to allies like Italy enables us to work together more effectively to meet shared security challenges. . . . Italy is a strong partner and NATO ally that significantly contributes to U.S. and NATO-led coalition operations."

Still, the Predator procurement puts Italy at the whim of the U.S. government in terms of upgrades, a situation the defense establishment here is loath to repeat. Pursuing a weaponized UAV is a "high priority" for Italian forces, says Brig. Gen. Alberto Rosso, logistics branch chief for the Italian air force. "The U.S. is not the only country [that can] provide those capabilities," he says. "If we are unable to meet those requirements, we are already looking for alternatives."

Debertolis notes that even if the U.S. permits the Reaper weaponization now, funding that Italy could have dedicated to project when the request was made has now gone with the economic downturn.

This situation is further soured for Italy because the U.K. has been granted the authority to begin integration of the MBDA Brimstone missile onto the Reaper, using U.S. Air Force assets for the project so as not to interrupt the service of U.K. Reapers for British soldiers in Afghanistan (see page 28). Brimstone is akin to a Hellfire modified with a tandem-charge warhead optimized against armored targets and a millimeter-wave radar. Furthermore, the U.K.'s Reapers already employ the Hellfire and 500-lb. GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb.

Thus, Italy is working with its local industry and soliciting possible foreign partners on the project. It had been in talks with London and Paris on the endeavor, but the Franco-British strategic defense cooperation agreement signed in 2012 has not produced a clear path forward on the MALE UAV. "As far as we know, this [strategic agreement] is not proceeding very well," says Alenia Aermacchi CEO Guiseppe Giordo. "So we won't wait for France and the U.K. We are working with other countries."

As chief of Alenia's top aircraft maker headquartered in Turin, Giordo will be integral to the project. "We have a specification. We are working on the preliminary requirements," he tells Aviation Week. "We want to be engaged on a new generation of MALE applying our technologies and capability that we have developed." Specifically, Alenia will draw on work it has done with the Sky-X and Sky-Y demonstrators as well as the six-nation, stealthy Neuron combat UAV demonstrator.

Italian officials are mum about which partners are being considered, though Giordo says, "we can have partners not only in Europe but outside Europe."

A partnership with Israel, which has extensive experience in UAV work, may be under consideration. Israel agreed to purchase 30 M-346 advanced trainers last year, strengthening the relationship between the two Mediterranean countries. Alenia also has strong ties with Turkey, a possible contender, on various projects, including the U.S.-led F-35.

"We will have a new generation of MALE and we will not stay with the Predator UAV fleet. . . . I am referring to a very coordinated action between the industry and the government," Giordo says. The new MALE "should be more capable than the Predator, [and] we need to have something [so] that we can be independent from American production."

Debertolis refers to the project as a "Super MALE," noting that armed surveillance is a key requirement.

Beyond the MALE project, Giordo agrees with other European executives that there should be a cooperative project in Europe to develop a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) capable of surveillance and strike. Unlike the MALE project, he says, this combat system should be European in nature. "In the case of the UCAV program, European aeronautical industry should [proceed]. Otherwise there is a danger that . . . we will remain completely in the hands of U.S. companies in terms of new-generation systems." Such a system would likely be fielded around 2022 at the earliest.

A stealthy UCAV effort is also underway in China. The most advanced program is proceeding in the U.S., where the U.S. Navy's X-47B, made by Northrop Grumman, achieved the first catapult-launch of a low-observable, tailless UAV from an aircraft carrier last week (see page 16).

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_05_20_2013_p26-578980.xml&p=1

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Europese drone-industrie krijgt harde klap

20 Mei 2013

Frankrijk gaat twee Reapers kopen, Amerikaanse drones (onbemande verkenningsvliegtuigjes) die vóór het einde van het jaar zullen worden ingezet in de oorlog in Mali, bericht Libération. Het dagblad kopt "Drône de guerre", een knipoog naar de uitdrukking 'drôle de guerre' die verwijst naar de schemeroorlog waarmee de Tweede Wereldoorlog begon.

Het dagblad schrijft dat Frankrijk van plan is de komende jaren twaalf drones te kopen en legt uit dat het land:

na de aankoop van de twee Reapers op de middellange termijn ook nog andere toestellen zal moeten aanschaffen. [...] Frankrijk hoopt vooral, tegen het jaar 2035, de drone van de toekomst van de band te kunnen laten rollen, een soort bewapende 'Rafale' zonder piloot. "Met de Britten hebben wij ieder 20 miljoen euro geïnvesteerd om dat programma op gang te brengen", benadrukt men op het ministerie van Defensie. Dit is ongetwijfeld een van de laatste kansen om straks niet definitief afhankelijk te zijn van de Amerikaanse bondgenoot.

"Libération" merkt op dat de Franse minister van Defensie, Jean-Yves Le Drian, bovendien "een eventuele Europese samenwerking" heeft geopperd en "de Britten en de Duitsers, die 'dezelfde behoeften hebben', bij het project wil betrekken". Maar "op dit moment lijkt het proces te haperen", na een aankondiging van zijn Duitse ambtgenoot.

De Duitse minister van Defensie, Thomas de Maizière, heeft namelijk net de aankoop geannuleerd van vier drones van het type Euro Hawk, gebouwd door het Europese defensiebedrijf EADS en het Amerikaanse concern Northrop Grumman. Dit besluit werd wereldkundig gemaakt vlak na onthullingen van de Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung dat "het ministerie van Defensie de aanschaf van de Euro Hawk, waarvan de kosten verscheidene miljarden euro's bedragen, had doorgezet terwijl al jaren bekend is dat [er] geen vergunning zal worden verstrekt voor het gebruik ervan in het Duitse en Europese luchtruim". Er zouden namelijk geen waterdichte garanties zijn dat er geen botsingen zouden plaatsvinden in het luchtruim.

"De waarheid is gênant en betreft niet alleen de huidige minister van Defensie", meent de FAZ, maar ook zijn voorgangers Guttenberg (CSU), Jung (CDU) en Struck (SPD). Zij hebben allemaal verzuimd zich de beslissende vraag te stellen: hoe kan een drone worden toegestaan gebruik te maken van het burgerluchtruim als hij niet beschikt over een betrouwbare voorziening tegen botsingen?

http://www.presseurop.eu/nl/content/news-brief/3791541-europese-drone-industrie-krijgt-harde-klap

[Harald]

X-47B Catapult Launch A Pivotal Milestone In Naval Aviation

USS George H.W. Bush (AT SEA) --- The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator (UCAS-D) completed its first ever carrier-based catapult launch from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) off the coast of Virginia today.

"Today we saw a small, but significant pixel in the future picture of our Navy as we begin integration of unmanned systems into arguably the most complex warfighting environment that exists today: the flight deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier," said Vice Adm. David Buss, commander, Naval Air Forces, the Navy's "Air Boss".

The unmanned aircraft launched from the deck of George H.W. Bush at 11:18 a.m. It executed several planned low approaches to the carrier and safely transited across the Chesapeake Bay to land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., after an approximately 65-minute flight.

Buss called the launch a "watershed event" in naval aviation and said he expects that decades from now, a future "Air Boss" will have a picture of the X-47B launching from Bush behind his or her desk just as he has a picture of aviation pioneer Eugene Ely's first-ever landing on the deck of a ship in 1911 behind his desk today.

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator catapulted from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in the Atlantic off the coast of Vorginia. (NGC photo)USS George H.W. Bush (AT SEA) --- The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator (UCAS-D) completed its first ever carrier-based catapult launch from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) off the coast of Virginia today.

"Today we saw a small, but significant pixel in the future picture of our Navy as we begin integration of unmanned systems into arguably the most complex warfighting environment that exists today: the flight deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier," said Vice Adm. David Buss, commander, Naval Air Forces, the Navy's "Air Boss".

The unmanned aircraft launched from the deck of George H.W. Bush at 11:18 a.m. It executed several planned low approaches to the carrier and safely transited across the Chesapeake Bay to land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., after an approximately 65-minute flight.

Buss called the launch a "watershed event" in naval aviation and said he expects that decades from now, a future "Air Boss" will have a picture of the X-47B launching from Bush behind his or her desk just as he has a picture of aviation pioneer Eugene Ely's first-ever landing on the deck of a ship in 1911 behind his desk today.

Completing another important first for the UCAS-D program, the team demonstrated the ability to precisely navigate the X-47B within the controlled airspace around an aircraft carrier at sea and seamlessly pass control of the air vehicle from a "mission operator" aboard the carrier to one located in the Mission Test Control Center at NAS Patuxent River for landing.

"The flight today demonstrated that the X-47B is capable of operation from a carrier, hand-off from one mission control station to another, flight through the national airspace, and recovery at another location without degradation in safety or precision," said Matt Funk, lead test engineer for the Navy UCAS program.

Prior to the catapult launch on Tuesday, the UCAS test team also conducted deck-handling and ship-integration testing to demonstrate the capability to safely operate the X-47B in the dynamic, unforgiving environment of an aircraft carrier flight deck.

"This event is a testament to the teamwork, professionalism and expertise of everyone involved with X-47B program," said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons. "Their work will positively impact future unmanned aviation development for years to come."

Over the next few weeks, the X-47B aircraft will fly approaches to the ship multiple times and eventually land on the pitching flight deck, said Navy UCAS Program Manager Capt. Jaime Engdahl.

The UCAS team will conduct additional shore-based testing with the X-47B at NAS Patuxent River in the coming months before its final carrier-based arrested landing demonstration later this summer.

"This event is a testament to the teamwork, professionalism and expertise of everyone involved with X-47B program," said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons. "Their work will positively impact future unmanned aviation development for years to come."

Over the next few weeks, the X-47B aircraft will fly approaches to the ship multiple times and eventually land on the pitching flight deck, said Navy UCAS Program Manager Capt. Jaime Engdahl.

The UCAS team will conduct additional shore-based testing with the X-47B at NAS Patuxent River in the coming months before its final carrier-based arrested landing demonstration later this summer.

catapult-start :

landing :

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/145026/x_47b-catapulted-from-us-navy-carrier.html

[Ace1]

Armed drones operated from RAF base in UK, says MoD

Armed drone aircraft have been operated remotely from Britain for the first time, the Ministry of Defence has said.

It said Reaper drones had flown missions controlled from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, where campaign groups are holding a protest rally against the practice.

The MoD said it respected people's rights to protest peacefully.

The drones are mainly used for surveillance, but could use weapons if commanded to by their pilots in the UK.

Campaigners say the switching of control of flights to the UK marks a "critical expansion in the nation's drones programme".

They are calling on the government to abandon the use of drones, claiming they make it easier for politicians to launch military interventions, and have increased civilian casualties.

The MoD has defended their use in Afghanistan, saying it has saved the lives of countless military personnel and civilians.

The 10 Reaper aircraft are all based in Afghanistan to support UK and coalition forces and can carry 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles for strikes on insurgents.

They are piloted remotely, but launched and landed with human help at Kandahar airbase.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the "overwhelming majority" of missions the British drones are used for involve surveillance.

She says the MoD told her British drones are not being used for targeted assassinations, unlike the Predator drones used by the US in places such as Pakistan.

Estimates suggest CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed up to 3,533 people between 2004 and 2013.

About 890 of them were civilians and the vast majority of strikes were carried out under President Barack Obama's administration, according to research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Earlier this year the UN launched an inquiry into the impact on civilians of drone strikes and other targeted killings, saying a proper legal framework was required to provide accountability.

The MoD says that when weapons are used, the same rules of engagement are followed that govern the use of weapons on manned aircraft.

Previously, RAF personnel would control the drones from Creech Air Force Base, in Nevada, US.

In October last year, the RAF created 13 Squadron based at RAF Waddington south of Lincoln, where about 100 personnel include pilots, systems operators and engineers that control missions over Afghanistan.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the RAF said it had commenced supporting the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan ground troops with "armed intelligence and surveillance missions" remotely piloted from RAF Waddington.

Air Vice Marshall Sir John Walker, a former chief of defence intelligence, said "having a capability like the drones on the order of battle can only be a good thing" because they could help troops on the ground who are in trouble, if necessary.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he likened drones to Polaris submarines which, he said, provided an effective nuclear deterrent without being used.

He said terrorists in parts of Afghanistan operate in "a condition of sanctuary", prompting him to ask: "How are you going to get them without something like a drone approach?"

Meanwhile, Kat Craig, legal director of human rights charity Reprieve, said the use of drones was a blight on the communities the drones monitor.

"The nature of drones means they hover above communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said.

She went on: "They present an aerial occupation, almost a form of collective punishment, that causes huge concern and distress to people living in those communities.

"In addition to the terrorising of populations that we see living under drones, there is real concern about the accuracy of the targeting."

Several anti-war groups including CND, War on Want, the Drone Campaign Network, and the Stop the War coalition are holding a march and rally outside RAF Waddington on Saturday.

About 200 people are thought to have attended the demonstration, according to BBC reporters at the scene.



Chris Nineham, vice-chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, said: "I think people feel that there is something sinister and disturbing about the idea that someone can attack a foreign country thousands of miles away with, simply, the push of a button and this technology that is being introduced is giving carte blanche to governments to fight wars behind the backs of people with no public scrutiny or accountability.

"That's the fundamental problem."

The route of the march, from South Common along the A15 to the peace camp site opposite RAF Waddington, involves road closures in phases to limit inconvenience to motorists.

An MoD spokesman said: "We fully respect people's right to protest peacefully and within the law and would do nothing to prevent members of the public exercising their right to peaceful protest.

"Nevertheless, we have a duty to protect public property, and to ensure that we meet our operational needs.

"The MoD has a duty to maintain security at all defence installations and uses all lawful means to do so, including the right to seek injunctions against any person who persists in trespassing on MoD property."

Analysis

Caroline Wyatt
Defence correspondent, BBC News

The RAF is not keen on the term "drone". It prefers the use of "Remotely Piloted Air Systems", RPAS, to make clear that these are not autonomous systems: they still need a human being to fly and command the mission - and crucially, decide whether or not to use weapons, and whether a strike can take place under the UK's rules of engagement.

But drones are playing an increasingly important role in air warfare and air support, with many saying the Joint Strike Fighter - currently being developed in the US - is likely to be the last manned fighter aircraft bought by the UK.

After that, there will be no more "magnificent men in their flying machines".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22320275

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Shhh... It's Vewwy Secret

Posted by Bill Sweetman  on Apr 23, 2013 

How long will it take for the Pentagon to release something official on the ultra-stealthy long-range unmanned air vehicle that (according to intel, and reasonable analysis of the open-source tea-leaves) Northrop Grumman is building and preparing for flight test at Groom Lake (AW&ST December 3, 2012)?

Lt Gen Charles Davis, military deputy in the USAF acquisition office, came close to mentioning the unmentionable in a House Armed Services Committee hearing last Wednesday. Davis was responding to a question from Rep. John Garamendi – a Democrat whose district includes Beale AFB, intended home of the Global Hawk – about the direction of the USAF's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance program and the decision to cut back on Global Hawk acquisition.

"We did not do that without carefully looking at how we cover that with the U-2 and other classified platforms," Davis said, adding that "you'd probably need to go into detail with in another forum", a form of words indicating a classified session.

In a possible indicator as to the timing of procurement of the secret UAV, Davis said that the USAF has no requirement for more Block 30 Global Hawks beyond 2014 and wants to "use that money for much higher priorities".

"We have pretty much heavily funded ISR for a very permissive environment for a couple of decades," Davis continued. "We are in the process of trying to look at all the assets, with our operational requirements and intelligence requirements, to rationalize a program that has operated almost totally uncontested and prepare it for a scenario where it is not going to have that freedom."

The classified UAV is believed to be about the size of a Global Hawk but with Northrop Grumman's trademark "cranked-kite" shape, It has been described as incorporating both a high degree of stealth and a very efficient aerodynamic design.

This was not the only hint about classified programs in the April 17 hearing. RAdm Bill Moran, director of the Navy's air warfare division, noted that as well as funding APG-78 active electronically scanned array radar retrofits to all early Block 2 Super Hornets, "there are several other programs that I'd be happy to come back and talk about in a classified setting. They are very signficant, fully funded in 2014 and will keep the Super Hornet credible through the late 2020s and early 2030s."

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3A04cb672c-f231-439d-812a-33d9c0ce5ea5

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

BAE's superdrone Taranis to be tested at Woomera

April 14, 2013

THE most secretive piece of airspace in Australia - the RAAF-run Woomera flight test range in South Australia - will make history later this year when the world's first unmanned supersonic stealth combat aircraft makes its maiden test flight above the desert. 

http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/baes-superdrone-taranis-to-be-tested-at-woomera/story-fn5fsgyc-1226619892302

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Dan nog niet. Waar leg je de grens, die leg ik eerder bij 2x 500ponders en 4x hellfire o.i.d. Is iets gemaakt voor combat, aanvalsmissies, CAS of niet.

Zo'n camcopter met LMM lijkt me ideaal voor verkenningstaken etc (OPV's?), maar niet voor gevechtsmissies.

Exact, zelfs een Predator wordt nog een UAV genoemd.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Dat zijn naar mijn mening toch echt geen ucav's Ace.

Mee eens, nogmaals de enige serieus (bekende) Europese UCAV ontwikkelingen zijn de Neuron en Taranis, de rest zijn UAV's waarbij sommigen misschien wat C mogelijkheden hebben maar daar blijft het dan ook vooralsnog bij.

[StrataNL]

zonder Thales LMM heb je gelijk maar met een Thales LMM niet

Dan nog niet. Waar leg je de grens, die leg ik eerder bij 2x 500ponders en 4x hellfire o.i.d. Is iets gemaakt voor combat, aanvalsmissies, CAS of niet.

Zo'n camcopter met LMM lijkt me ideaal voor verkenningstaken etc (OPV's?), maar niet voor gevechtsmissies.

[Ace1]

Dat zijn naar mijn mening toch echt geen ucav's Ace.

zonder Thales LMM heb je gelijk maar met een Thales LMM niet

[StrataNL]

Over Europese  UCAV´s

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/bae-systems-unveils-its-armed-uav-fury-224616/

http://www.defensereview.com/fury-and-camcopter-s-100-uasuavs-armed-with-lightweight-multirole-missile-lmm/

Dat zijn naar mijn mening toch echt geen ucav's Ace.

[Ace1]

Over Europese  UCAV´s

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/bae-systems-unveils-its-armed-uav-fury-224616/

http://www.defensereview.com/fury-and-camcopter-s-100-uasuavs-armed-with-lightweight-multirole-missile-lmm/

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

En dat zijn de vergelijkbare Amerikaanse modellen ook nog voorlopig. Al pakt men het daar voortvarend aan. Aan ene kant begrijpelijk...m.i. ook begrijpelijk dat meeste Europese landen even de kat uit de boom kijken...zo breed en nieuw en snel zijn de ontwikkelingen op dit gebied immers. En beperkt de budgetten.

Mee eens dat het modellen zijn die vergelijkbaar zijn met die van de Amerikanen, de Taranis is wat mij betreft het meest veel belovend al loopt deze achter op de Neuron.

Jammer is de beperkte financiering en de gebruikelijke Europese onenigheid (ook weer begrijpelijk want de programma's zijn belangrijk voor het voortbestaan van de Europese UCAV en fighter industrie, kortom de belangen zijn groot net als de verdeeldheid.

[Elzenga]

Een paar echte Europese UCAV demonstrators zijn onderweg, de Neuron en Taranis (best hoopgevend)

En dat zijn de vergelijkbare Amerikaanse modellen ook nog voorlopig. Al pakt men het daar voortvarend aan. Aan ene kant begrijpelijk...m.i. ook begrijpelijk dat meeste Europese landen even de kat uit de boom kijken...zo breed en nieuw en snel zijn de ontwikkelingen op dit gebied immers. En beperkt de budgetten.