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Remote controlled Black Hawks - reviving aircraft as unmanned systems

Unmanned aerial systems are commonplace for many air forces around the world, but the technology can often be expensive and bespoke systems can take years to build. Now aerospace manufacturers are looking at ways they can bring down the costs of these aircraft by equipping tried-and-tested legacy systems like the F-16 and Black Hawk with optionally manned capabilities. 

 

"Sikorsky selected the optionally manned route rather than full autonomy to support its aims of improving safety across its entire military and civilian product range."

A medevac helicopter lands near the site of an attack of an armoured patrol and its crew members carry injured personnel on board before taking off for the nearest trauma centre. In flight, the condition of an injured combatant deteriorates and all hands are needed - including the medically-trained pilot. The pilot flicks a switch and the helicopter automatically takes over navigation to its designation and lands safely on arrival, avoiding hazards en route.

This is the vision for a new generation of unmanned and optionally manned aircraft evolved from current and legacy manned systems that could not only save cash-strapped militaries money and time but also offer new mission capabilities. Three new programmes are demonstrating just how far this exciting new technological development could take military aircraft.

 

Sikorsky Manned/Unmanned Resupply Aerial Lifter (MURAL) programme

In March, Sikorsky carried out the first demonstration of optionally piloted flight using a Black Hawk helicopter. Then, in May, the company announced it had developed the first product to feature Matrix Technology -- hardware and software that replace traditional mechanical control systems -- by converting a retired UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter into an optionally piloted variant capable of a wide spectrum of missions.

"The aim of the programme is to show we can insert autonomous technology into the Black Hawk platform to enhance its mission flexibility, improve its safety of operation and enable it to operate with greatly reduced pilot workload," says Chris van Buiten, vice president of Sikorsky Innovations.

"It's not just making an autonomous platform; it's making it more capable and functional when it's carrying people as people. That creates a whole new set of requirements and raises the bar in terms of the integrity of the autonomy system."

Sikorsky selected the optionally manned route rather than full autonomy to support its aims of improving safety across its entire military and civilian product range, incorporating technology from manned platforms, starting with fly-by-wire then adding high-level augmentation and pilot assistance.

"You can call it autonomy except that the operator is sitting inside the aircraft," explains Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky's chief engineer for autonomy. "We will eventually see piloting this vehicle becoming very mission-oriented, where pilots become mission managers, and their actual location is mission-dependent. There are plenty of missions where you still want human eyes there at the event, but you don't necessarily want the human being to be doing all the control of the aircraft. Our optionally piloted vehicle allows them to be there, in the cockpit of the aircraft, or in the back of the aircraft."

To achieve this, the converted UH-60A will first operate using a fly-by-wire kit before demonstrating full unmanned capabilities with perception-system-in-the-loop using a variety of sensors installed on board. These, integrated with normal airfield data, will enable the helicopter to perform a fully autonomous mission where it can take off, fly avoiding obstacles, find its own landing zone and land.

While Sikorsky is also developing a purely unmanned full-size platform through its X2 programme with Boeing, using existing platforms to develop an optionally manned system the size of a Black Hawk from scratch would be a billion-dollar plus.

"This isn't a little quad-rotor that you make in your basement in a month; these are very large sophisticated systems," says van Buiten. "We're leveraging the existing design, its global support network, and, in the case of both those aircraft, millions of hours of safety record and improvement really create a great foundation."

Crew safety is equally important, and Sikorsky wants its technology to reduce the incidence of 'controlled flight into terrain', the leading cause of fatalities in military and civilian rotorcraft.

"A good helicopter with a flight crew that is confused, disorientated, overloaded, experiencing very high workload can result in the loss of the aircraft," says van Buiten. "We see this technology that makes the aircraft safer and easier to fly as giving the aircraft 'virtual bumpers' to avoid controlled flight into terrain."

However, the new technology is likely to drip-feed into new models of aircraft rather than being delivered as a fully-fledged final product.

"It's not just a big bang of all of a sudden you get the entire kit to convert the Black Hawk into a fully-autonomous platform," says van Buiten. "There's functionality that can be added along the way to improve the existing platform and its handling qualities before inserting fly-by-wire technologies that will enable new levels of autonomy. We've seen an example of that in the commercial world; we offer automated offshore oil rig approach software that has been very popular with the commercial customer, which falls short of full autonomy, but takes one of the highest workload tasks and automating it."

Sikorsky is working with a number of specialist partners on the MURAL programme. Think-A-Move has contributed the speech recognition engine, Kutta Technologies supplies the portable back-pack ground station, and the company is in discussions with Advanced Optical Systems to use its sensors to identify loads on the ground.

The company sees the demonstration as a step towards a future where all Sikorsky military and civilian products will be offered as optionally piloted models where the operator skill set required fundamentally changes from a traditional pilot to a mission manager.

"In the MURAL demonstration, we saw the first glimpse of a minimally-trained operator," says van Buiten. "We took a young flight-test engineer who did not know how to fly a Black Hawk and gave him the Kutta ground control system and let him mission-manage a Black Hawk in flight. It was really the first glimpse of what this future is going to look like."

Source: Airforce-Technology

Anka May Lose Its Engine

Chinese Avic’s acquisition of German Thielert, leaves the first Turkishmade drone, the Anka, without an engine. Turkish officials are worried that buying of Thielert, engines supplier of Anka, may delay the project.

It looked entirely like any other business takeover between the Chinese and Germans with no relevance to Turkey. But the news that a Chinese group had acquired the troubled German maker of aircraft engines means Turkey must now find a new engine supplier for its first indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Anka.

Turkish officials and the Anka team are now worried that Chinese group Avic International’s acquisition of Thielert, a bankrupt German maker of diesel engines for aircraft may further delay the Anka which would otherwise have been powered by Thielert’s Centurion engine.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) which develops the Anka had ordered the Centurion for a batch of 10 aircraft. Now TAI must look elsewhere to find a new engine to power the Anka.

The ANKA is a medium-altitude long-endurance MALE-category drone. Such UAVs usually operate for 24 hours at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

ANKA, meaning Phoenix in English, is the first MALE-type UAV to be produced by TAI. One of the prototypes crashed during a test flight in September but several other flight tests have been carried out successfully.

ANKA+, another version of the ANKA, calls for an armed vehicle, using a rocket attached to its body and sensors.

An engine maybe developed to replace

“An immediate replacement could be a difficult task,” a TAI official said. “We may, though, ask TEI (TAI’s sister company that manufactures engine parts) to develop an engine for the Anka.” Both TAI and TEI (Turkish Engine Industries) are owned by a military support fund.

The engine problem occurred at a time when defense procurement authorities are preparing to sign a contract for the acquisition of 10 ANKAs. Separately, the Turkish police force is also preparing to place an order for the Anka.

Before the engine snag, another problem had delayed the Anka program. A locally-developed electro optical sensor, by military electronics firm Aselsan, did not fit Anka’s specifications and TAI was mulling to opt for a foreign pod.

Avic said in August that it was merging Thielert into its Continental Motors division and was giving up military business. Deliveries had stopped, the state-run Chinese company announced.

Thielert was supplying engines for aircraft including a U.S. Army version of the General Atomics Predator. General Atomics has acquired the engine data package and intends to continue production and support.

Satellite-controled version of ANKA

The ANKA had successfully passed acceptance tests late in January. The final, decisive tests on Jan. 20-21 involved a full endurance, 18-hour flight, successful auto landing, data link performance at a distance of 200 km (approx. 120 miles) under winds up to 45 knots, and night take-offs and landings. The ANKA has so far did more than 150 flight hours. There is a possibility that TAI could develop a satellite-controlled version of the ANKA, company officials say.

A defense industry expert said that finding a new engine supplier may not resolve the entire problem. “Any new engine will have to be fitted into the Anka which was designed for the Thielert engine. This will require new (engine) integration work. New tests should also be done,” he said.

HDN

Religion-based grooming standards okayed by Pentagon

The Pentagon has finally relaxed its rules governing the religious apparel and facial hair the troops can wear or maintain while in uniform. 

From now on beards, turbans, religious body art and other manifestations of spiritual devotion can be allowed throughout the military. Yet, it all can be practiced so long it doesn't affect military readiness, unit cohesion or good order and discipline. 

Northrop Launches CUTLASS, Next Generation Unmanned Ground Vehicle

Northrop Grumman Corporation has launched CUTLASS, its latest generation unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), expanding its range of industry-leading capabilities in unmanned systems for the remote handling and surveillance of hazardous threats.

CUTLASS has been designed, developed and manufactured by Northrop Grumman in the U.K., and includes significant advances in technology and performance and a range of features that provides state-of-the-art capabilities for national security and resilience applications.

“Our CUTLASS vehicle is setting new standards in the UGV market and significantly enhancing the ability of users to handle hazardous threats safely. It is more dexterous, cost effective and, as a package, four times faster than any other UGV,” said Greg Roberts, managing director, defence and security, Northrop Grumman Information Systems Europe. “The vehicle is already in service across the U.K. and has proven itself to be robust and capable in the most demanding environments. We look forward to exploiting the potential opportunities for exporting this capability into international markets.”

CUTLASS will be on display in Northrop Grumman’s exhibit at the Counter Terror Expo, where it will also show its range of capabilities in daily live scenario-based demonstrations. The international exhibition and conference Counter Terror Expo takes place at the National Hall, Olympia, London, April 24-25.

CUTLASS offers the latest technology in a modular design, enabling the user to deal safely with the full range of hazardous threats from a distance, including the detection and disposal of explosive ordnance. Its highly versatile design means that it is capable of accommodating a wide range of payloads, sensors and tools. It carries all of the tools and sensors it needs to perform the full range of operations required for explosive ordnance disposal and other applications, avoiding the need to deploy two standard UGVs. CUTLASS saves up to 50 percent on the through-life costs when compared to owning and operating two standard UGVs.

The manipulator arm is equipped with a three-fingered, state-of-the-art gripper and has nine degrees of freedom for greater movement and agility inside limited spaces. With a specialised sensing system it provides a high level of control and dexterity to minimize damage to property and preserve forensic evidence.

Using CUTLASS, a hazardous situation can be restored to normal up to four times more quickly than with any other UGV. The combination of the speed of the wheeled platform, which can reach speeds of up to 12 kph, and the ability of CUTLASS to carry multiple tools and sensors negates the need to return to the incident control point, thus saving considerable time. The robot is able to creep along at deliberately slow speeds for delicate operations and may accelerate to high speeds to enable rapid travel. The six-wheeled design offers mobility on all types of hard and soft terrain and in all weather conditions.

Northrop Grumman’s unmanned ground vehicle business has been established in Coventry, U.K., for more than 20 years. Today, the company designs, develops and manufactures in the U.K. some of the most capable and reliable unmanned ground vehicles available, from the Wheelbarrow bomb disposal robot to the latest vehicle, CUTLASS.

Northrop Grumman has more than 2,000 unmanned ground vehicle systems in operation around the world.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.