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ISTAR 12
Memorandum from Finmeccanica UK
Scope
1. This memorandum is intended to add the Committee's body of evidence by highlighting the contribution of Research and Technology in three of the issues under consideration:
· Optimising the 'Collect, Process and Disseminate' phases of the ISTAR chain.
· The way in which future UAS[1] capability is informing the MOD's overall approach and direction relating to ISTAR.
· The airspace and air traffic control implications for the wider operation of UAS
To address these issues, this memorandum covers: the context for ISTAR in the future battlespace; sensor developments related to operational effectiveness and 'sense and avoid'; integration of the UAS ISTAR product through common ground control stations; and the implications for autonomous operations.
UAS in Finmeccanica
2. In terms of UAS platforms and sensors, Finmeccanica with its constituent companies, covers the entire spectrum of development programmes. The Alenia Aeronautica Sky-X is a large UCAV technology demonstrator programme while the Sky-Y is a diesel-engined Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAS designed to explore autonomous operation. The Company's Nibbio fast reconnaissance UAS has a cruise speed of 0.85 Mach and high survivability given its low radar cross-section and defensive aids suite. They are also collaborators in the European Neuron stealthy, autonomous UCAV programme with a 22% share. SELEX Galileo manufactures the Falco tactical UAS, currently in service with the Armed Forces of a Middle Eastern country. SELEX Galileo is also collaborating with a number of UK and Italian SMEs to develop a range of mini-UAS. Of the current family of five platforms which embrace a number of novel aerodynamic and propulsion technologies, the STRIX UAS is currently in service with a NATO member country.
3. As for sensor payloads, SELEX Galileo design, develop and manufacture radar and electro-optical sensors, and defensive aids suites for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles and ships. They also have expertise in Command and Control, and mission systems. The underpinning technologies have also been developed for UAS applications. In terms of integration and training, AgustaWestland have expertise in the integration of platforms and weapon systems into the land battlespace, based on their Bowman and Apache integration, mission planning/de-briefing and training contracts. Equally, the development of Future Lynx multi-spectrum sensor integration, tactical processing, data fusion, target handling, Command and Control, and weapons and communications integration has contributed to this key industrial capability. AgustaWestland has also completed live flying trials for launch and recovery of small UAS and loitering munitions from helicopter weapon pylons. With the move towards Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV), the concept of deploying, controlling and recovering UGV and UUV from helicopters should not be overlooked. AgustaWestland also has proven experience in packaging, transporting, and the deployment and recovery of assets of this scale in the EH101 family. AgustaWestland continues to work with Boeing and the US Army's Program Executive Office for Aviation to assess current work on Apache AH64-D for manned and unmanned platform integration. The Company will provide the capability development path for any consequent changes to UK WAH-64D as the technology and requirement matures. Taken together, this expertise underpins Finmeccanica's experience and capabilities on the integration and connectivity between land, maritime and air systems (including UAS) in association with future land and maritime operational concepts, not least the UK's aspirations on Land Medium Weight Capability.
Future Context
4. From the war-fighter's perspective, the development of ISTAR capability is complicated by two factors. First, the Committee has been made aware of the need for robust information management capability in an increasingly networked world so as to optimise the 'Direct - Collect - Process - Disseminate' ISTAR activity cycle. Secondly, as we look to the next decade, this activity cycle is further complicated by the existence of increasing numbers of non-traditional or multi-role ISTAR collectors that might be involved in an entirely different primary mission. Fast-jet attack aircraft continually generate ISTAR data from their targeting pods and EW systems. A current example is the integration under a UOR of the Lockheed Martin Sniper pod, which itself contains SELEX Galileo technology, onto the UK Harriers operating in Afghanistan which provide both direct and indirect ISTAR data. In addition, the ISTAR requirements for some missions cannot be centrally managed regardless of the capacity and agility of the connecting network. Rather, they have to be held as organic both to the platform and to the fighting formation concerned. The Committee will be aware of the insatiable demand for video imagery among our forces in Afghanistan. Systems such as the ROVER ground terminals are employed to provide this capability but future requirements will outstrip the data-handling capacity available. In addition, multi-role platforms such as Future Lynx become vital assets in the type of high-intensity manoeuvre and counter-insurgency warfare envisaged in the future. Here, the related reconnaissance task includes the movement and support of recce, observation post, and Joint Fire control parties of four men and their equipment in the battlespace. The maintenance of tempo requires commanders to move such elements rapidly to plug gaps in ground reconnaissance, move recce/fire control parties over difficult terrain and to react quickly by calling-in firepower, hence the selection of a single, multi-role platform to facilitate all these tasks.
5. Conceptually, in these types of scenarios, the ISTAR chain will need to be seen as being subsumed by the Kill Chain[2] but with a 'person-in-the-loop' at every stage. While this potentially places a limitation on the degree to which both UAS and UCAS will be able to substitute for manned systems, it also highlights that the future context will require a balance between manned and unmanned systems with integration and interoperability being paramount. More broadly, apart from the question of what unmanned vehicles could achieve, the existing ISTAR and command and control contributions from manned rotary platforms remains far from exploited. The question of "what" and "how" these contributions could be tapped into and for what resource cost needs to be addressed by the appropriate MOD Capability Planning Group. AgustaWestland would be well placed to lead the industrial support to a properly tested response, backed-up with technical and architectural audit through NITEworks.
6. As the Committee knows, MoD has initiated a UAS Capability Investigation which has been subdivided into six working groups. They are: Acquisition Coherence; CONEMP/CONUSE; Integration Standardization and Interoperability; Requirements Development; R&D; and, Training and Employment. SELEX Galileo is represented on three of these working groups including the Integration Standardization and Interoperability group. The output of this effort, expected later this year, will influence the future integration of UAS into the overall ISTAR environment.
Sensor Developments
7. Most UAS ISTAR payloads are currently restricted to Electro-Optical and Infra-red (EO/IR) sensors. The next step is to include a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with more advanced EO/IR sensors that are capable of mutually cueing each other. Such a capability is not only required for effective ISTAR collection but is also on the pathway towards autonomy. SELEX Galileo is active in the development of such payloads for tactical UAS and their larger counterparts. However, in all cases weight, space, power and cooling capacity places a high premium on miniaturisation. To this end, the company's PicoSAR radar is the result of a £5 million PV programme and makes full use of 'commercial, off-the-shelf' technology. It is an advanced electronically scanned, briefcase-sized, lightweight (less that 10 kilograms) radar system offering high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) imagery with low power consumption (less that 300 watts). It has been successfully trialled by the US Army. It has recently demonstrated an effective 'coherent change detection' capability which may prove a valuable aid in locating IEDs. The PicoSAR rests on the bedrock of SELEX Galileo's broader electronically scanned radar technology which includes both airborne search and fire control radars which are either fitted on or intended for the US Coastguard C130 and Citation aircraft, Typhoon, Tornado and the Korean Aircraft Industry A-50. In both the DIS and the DTS, this technology was regarded as one over which the UK wished to retain operational sovereignty and maintain on-shore intellectual property.
8. As for the development of UAS EO/IR capability, SELEX Galileo has a long-established capability in laser targeting systems. The company's PicoBIL is a £8 million PV programme which uses gated, burst illumination laser technology to provide 3-D target-quality images. Again, miniaturisation has been the key so as to reduce weight and space requirements and allow maximum UAS endurance. The technology is now sufficiently mature to allow SELEX Galileo to offer a burst illumination upgrade package to current generation EO turrets and targeting pods. The laser technology is derived from that contained in the Sniper reconnaissance pod which is currently flying on RAF Harriers in Afghanistan. Lockheed Martin selected SELEX Galileo as the laser supplier for Sniper and for the more advanced targeting sensors in JSF: Northrop Grumman selected SELEX Galileo as the laser supplier for the Litening pod. Again this world-class technology was recognised in the DIS and DTS as being a required on-shore capability. Work is now in train to integrate and demonstrate PicoSAR and PicoBIL as a single UAS payload so that the radar can act as the search aid for ISTAR targets of interest and cue the laser for more granular analysis, including target recognition. In addition, other classified programmes will see the integration of other Electronic Warfare ISTAR capabilities into integrated UAS payloads.
9. Electronically-scanned radar and Electro Optics are very important technologies to the Defence Industry. As the DIS recognised, in the future, platforms will remain in service for prolonged periods. As a result, incremental capability enhancements in key areas such as self-protection, situational awareness and fire-power will be generated from sensors, software and mission systems embracing these same technologies which have applicability in the fixed-wing, rotary, land and UAS domain. As a result and given the MOD's resource difficulties, the Department will need to think creatively over how to nurture the development of these technologies and provide the incentive to industry to retain the intellectual property in the UK. Thus, in seeking to buy 'off the shelf' from other nations (particularly the US), they will need to consider the impact on existing on-shore capability and the implications for operational sovereignty.
Common Ground Control Stations
10. In terms of the integration of UAS into the ISTAR mix, there are operational, logistic and training advantages in seeking to create a common ground control station (CGCS). To this end, SELEX Galileo has funded a research programme to design and demonstrate potential architectures. The resulting CGCS will be built and installed at the Company's UAS trials facility at ParcAberporth and integrated with the Concept to Capability (C2C) synthetic environment developed by our Luton facility. The CGCS will be compliant with both the NATO and US standards for platform control, imagery and data. The C2C can then integrate the real-world CGCS and UAS within its synthetic environment enabling development and test of multiple architectures for command and control, mission management, weapons release and autonomy in as realistic an environment as possible. This arrangement will be a vital tool in helping to develop the UK's approach to Network Enabled Capability.
Autonomous Operations
11. In future, the autonomous operation of UAS will be required for three reasons. First, as the number of network-enabled systems of all types grows, so will the pressures on communications bandwidth. Autonomy reduces the high datalink requirement inherent in the remote operation of UAS and also means that the opposition's battlefield jamming is less effective. Secondly, the very short decision-action times required in some operational environments, particularly against fleeting asymmetric targets, will require autonomous operation. In addition, as threat levels to conventional platforms increase in the future, 'first day of war' capabilities will require a mix of manned stealth aircraft and 'swarms' of UCAS in a single force package. Equally, swarms of UCAVs will be required to overwhelm defences. Finally, safe operation of civil and military UAS alongside manned aircraft in non-segregated UK (and international) airspace is deemed to require a 'sense and avoid' capability from UAS in order to comply with the Air Navigation Order. However, the term 'sense and avoid' underplays the complexity of the problem. Rather, the required capability is better described as 'Detect, Identify, Decide and Manoeuvre' which autonomy will provide.
12. Early next year, SELEX Galileo will site a Falco UAS at ParcAberporth for test, trial and demonstration of various types of payload. Included within that programme, we also plan to trial various potential technologies for 'sense and avoid' capability. We expect a proportion of these trials to be in cooperation with ASTREA. Falco will be flown from the CGCS which in turn will be integrated within the synthetic environment of the C2C. This will allow us to test in a real world environment multiple scenarios for assessing various autonomous flight solutions.
21 May 2008
[1] The term UAS is used generically to include the platforms, mission systems, sensors and personnel engaged in the 'Direct - Collect - Process - Disseminate' ISTAR chain, more properly termed an Unmanned Air System (UAS). [2] Find - Fix - Track - Target - Engage - Assess |