An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) arms race is underway as defence technology companies work on greater stealth and protection against interference – and new ways of bringing down potentially threatening drones.
At the Farnborough International Airshow this week, much attention was drawn to the fighters and enormous aircraft on the flight line, and the deafening noise from jet engines. Far less of a profile was afforded to the UAV arms race.
In recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, UAVs were able to freely operate in airspace, but that is bound to change. An integration of technologies to ensure greater stealth will be a large part of future UAV technology.
The British defence technology giant BAE Systems is giving out few details on its joint Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle demonstrator with the French. But the company does say stealth is an important part of this project. Indeed, BAE Systems reveals so little about Taranis, which made its first flight three years ago, that it has only allowed journalists to view the UCAV from some distance away and at a specific angle to avoid revealing its full shape, and insisted that no photographs are taken.
A BAE System project manager said the models of Taranis on display this week in Farnborough were simplified and revealed little. However, BAE Systems do say that they have made advances to ensure Taranis has stealth in its infrared and radar signatures and in its communications with controllers. The shape and nature of the materials as well as ensuring only limited communication with the craft are all part of this, says a BAE manager who would be drawn on little else. In its Future Combat Air Systems project, BAE Systems is also giving thought as to how the ability to shift the shape of the craft in flight can improve stealth.
In the BAE Systems Taranis display, a photograph of the UCAV alongside a fighter is shown, raising the idea of its use alongside manned vehicles. This raises speculation of UCAV operating as the forward eyes of pilots and potentially helping in raising stealth capabilities.
Pilots flying the US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters have the ability to control unmanned aircraft. Manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) allows Apache pilots to wait on the ground while flying the Gray Eagle UAV and looking at a potential target. According to a report in AviationWeek.com’s Show News for Farnborough, L-3 Communications won a contract last year to fit their MUM-TX link to the Apache.
Due to air superiority, UAV self-protection and jamming systems have not been an urgent requirement in theatres such as Afghanistan. The threat environment is likely to increasingly change in the years ahead giving rise to an expanding market for onboard UAV countermeasures. Israeli defence technology company Elbit Systems launched a self-protection and jamming system for unmanned aircraft, Light SPEAR, at Farnborough this week.
A graphic in the material from Elbit Systems shows what appears to be a compact pod on a UAV that resembles the Reaper, made by US company General Dynamics. According to Elbit Systems, Light Spear is based on the company’s electronic warfare (EW) and signals intelligence technology, and the experience of associated company Elisra in developing EW suites for fighter jets and other aircraft. According to Elbit Systems, Light Spear allows radio frequency signals to be recorded and then processed and reused to jam threats, such as those from missiles, with its multiple Digital Radio Frequency Memory jamming channels.
It is the widespread potential threat from the use of small, often off the shelf UAVs, from hobbyists or criminal and terrorist organisations that is increasingly on the minds of security officials. To counter such threats at locations that include airports and large sporting and public events, two companies have come up with solutions to disrupt the signal from the ground controller’s to the UAV. The idea in the case of both solutions is to ensure that the craft does not fall from the sky, but is safely returned to earth.
To meet this need, an Anti UAV Defence System (AUDS) has been developed by three small British companies – Enterprise Control Systems, Chess Dynamics, and Blighter Surveillance Systems. The system consists of a radar detector, cameras, and a radio frequency inhibitor. A drone up to nearly 10 km away can be detected and the signal from the ground transmitter disrupted without interfering with other radio traffic in the area. The idea behind the system is that the operation of the radio frequency inhibitor leads the controller in charge of, for example, a quadcopter, to bring it back to the ground. The US Federal Aviation Administration is to evaluate the system for use at airports.
A system to counter the threats from micro-drones has also been produced by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. “Drone Dome” includes a radar, an electro-optical tracking system, and a jammer, which can target the communications systems or its GPS guidance without interfering with other signals in the area and ensuring the safe return of the craft.
There is another low tech solution to ensuring the safe return of small drones to the ground. The Dutch police have been training birds of prey to take down quadcopters, without injuring themselves.
