SMART AIRCRAFT
Te rise of UAS platforms has also led countries all over the world, including the U.S., to develop counter-UAS systems. Tese systems vary but generally have the ability to jam or degrade data links and GPS signals, or to simply shoot down the UAS. Commercial UAS platforms have been hacked numerous times, degrading the platform, so this possibility must be con- sidered for any existing or future Army UAS.
Tese factors are driving a need to develop new UAS platforms that balance endurance with greater speed and range. Most important is the ability for the UAS to operate independently of a runway, so that a division or brigade does not have to depend on a fixed air base. RDECOM is exploring these platform con- figurations and developing ways to increase survivability while driving down cost. Te rapidly growing commercial indus- try offers new opportunities to team and leverage commercial advances.
A NEW DOG IN THE FIGHT Te combination of new UAS designs and HMI technolo- gies enables the next level of MUM-T capability: true teamed operations. Current MUM-T missions involve many Soldiers, including the pilot, the MUM-T controller and ground con- trol station operators. All of these Soldiers must coordinate and hand over control of individual UAS platforms while coordi- nating with other aircraft on the mission. But the Army could take a lesson from game hunters to streamline this manpower- intensive process. Every game hunter knows the value of using a hunting dog or a bird dog to find prey or retrieve game, and this relationship between hunter and dog provides a model for what true teaming should be.
Te operational concept can be as simple as the pilot directing the UAS to provide reconnaissance of a particular area, so that the UAS—like the bird dog—would travel to the objective with- out continuous monitoring. A much more complicated MUM-T mission could involve multiple UAS platforms and manned platforms locating and tracking a target and then maneuvering to engage and destroy it.
Tis complex coordination of manned and unmanned platforms is enabled by RDECOM investment in airspace command- and-control systems that can translate a high-level group command—to scan an area, for example—into specific orders for each aircraft. Additionally, the system must have a self- healing capability to rapidly determine whether a UAS has to return to base or is destroyed and would, as a result, require a manned or unmanned platform to continue its task. Tese future MUM-T systems also would enable ground commanders to assign tasks directly to air platforms, demonstrating a new level of combined arms coordination.
CONTROLLING CONTROLS
Currently fielded teaming capability provides the crew of an AH-64E Apache with full-motion video and multiple levels for controlling a UAS while balancing the demands of flying the aircraft. (Image courtesy of AMRDEC)
AUTONOMOUS OPERATIONS Te ultimate goal of air systems is fully autonomous operation for all aviation mission sets. Already RDECOM has demonstrated an autonomous cargo delivery system called Autonomous Tech- nologies for Unmanned Aerial Systems (ATUAS). In December 2011, it became the first aerial system to deliver cargo in theater, for the U.S. Marine Corps. Two aircraft deployed for a six- month demonstration period that was extended to 2 1/2 years. RDECOM is building upon this success to explore autonomous operations for other aviation missions.
Fully autonomous operations are less vulnerable to data-link jamming since an autonomous vehicle can act on its own, given initial commands from an operator, and does not require
108 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2018
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