UAVs for Film and Profit

Yesterday's AIAA Daily Launch had a great round-up of some recent UAV news:

• Wall Street Journal (6/27, Nicas, Subscription Publication) reported on the ongoing fight over U.S. unmanned aircraft rules, which is pitting high-tech entrepreneurs against major aerospace and defense companies.
  
• Washington Post (6/28, Whitlock) reported that a majority of U.S. military UAV accidents occur abroad, but “at least 49 large drones have crashed during test or training flights near domestic bases since 2001, according to a yearlong Washington Post investigation.”
  
• AP (6/28, Jelinek) reported that the Pentagon announced armed UAVs are “flying over Baghdad to protect U.S. troops that recently arrived to assess Iraq’s deteriorating security.”
  
• South Florida Sun Sentinel (6/29, Anthony) reported that Boynton Beach is dropping plans to ban drones in order to boost its “fledgling image as a technological hot spot — a place that welcomes engineers and innovation.”
  
• South Bend (IN) Tribune (6/29, Sheckler) reported that as UAVs become cheaper and more available to the public, and their popularity grows among hobbyists and entrepreneurs, “they will increasingly raise questions about how to best regulate them, and how to balance concerns about safety and privacy.”
  
• Hollywood Reporter (6/27, Giardina) reported that Hollywood movie studios are interested in using UAVs in filming “because they hold the promise of new creative options, real cost savings and possibly even safer sets.” Federal law prohibits the commercial use of UAVs, so filmmakers choose to shoot in countries with lax UAV laws to get the shots needed for their films.
  

Most interesting are the petitions of the seven aerial photography companies for exemptions for commercial filming operations. As the FAA press release says, the seven Section 333 Exemption Applications for Commercial Operations of Unmanned Aircraft are available on regulations.gov:

• Filed by Astraeus Aeria
  
• Filed by Aerial MOB, LLC
  
• Filed by HeliVideo Productions LLC
  
• Filed by Flying-Cam Inc.
  
• Filed by RC Pro Productions Consulting LLC dba Vortex Aerial
  
• Filed by Pictorvision Inc.
  
• Filed by Snaproll Media LLC
  

I think it is interesting that these companies are taking this approach, because in some fillings by Pirker they specifically call out historical use of remote control aircraft for movies and TV (one of four broad categories of commercial use they cite). The applications have 18 "limitations and conditions" under which commercial operations will take place. They also make this interesting claim: "These limitations provide for at least an equivalent or even higher level of safety to operations under the current regulatory structure because the proposed operations represent a safety enhancement to the already safe movie and television filming operations conducted with conventional aircraft."

To drive that point home they show a couple pictures of a manned helicopter filming as it currently occurs.

Commercial Model Aircraft Use

22nd IMR Meshing Contest Model

There are some interesting commercial uses of model aircraft listed in Pirker's motion to dismiss an FAA civil penalty for commercial drone use. The motion provides examples in four broad categories: Cinema and Television, The Model Aircraft Industry, Model Airplane Operators Who Are “Sponsored” or Compensated at Competitions, and Media Coverage and Entertainment.

UAVs Aquiline and Axillary in Declassified U2 Documents

The National Security Archive has an extensive page up on a previously released CIA report on the U2 program that has now been released with significantly less redaction. One of the interesting un-redacted sections has to do with two CIA UAV programs, Aquiline and Axillary. 

According to an interview conducted by Thomas P. Ehrhard,

Aquiline was a stealthy propeller-driven, low altitude, anhedral-tailed UAV called Aquiline and designed for low-level electronic
surveillance of the Chinese nuclear program. Aquiline was designed by McDonnell Douglas in the late 1960s and advanced to flight testing, but never saw operational use due to reliability problems. The aircraft was to be controlled by data link from a high-flying U-2.
Air Force UAVs: The Secret History

Aquiline

Axillary was a radar-homing drone by Melpar.

The UAV section is in Appendix E.

UAV Crash Course

NASA released a report on UAV mishaps, Crash Course:
Lessons Learned from Accidents Involving Remotely Piloted and Autonomous Aircraft

The findings echo decades of flight operations experience: mishaps are usually the result of a "chain" of circumstances that individually would probably not cause a problem. Here's NASA's description of Crash Course:

This volume contains an investigation of remotely piloted research vehicle (RPRV) and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) mishaps and will examine their causes, consequences, resultant corrective actions, and lessons learned. Most undesired outcomes usually do not occur because of a single event, but rather from a series of events and actions involving equipment malfunctions and/or human factors. This book comprises a series of case studies focusing mostly on accidents and incidents involving experimental aircraft. The information provided should be of use to flight-test organizations, aircraft operators, educators, and students, among others. These lessons are not unique to the UAS environment and are also applicable to human aviation and space flight activities. Common elements include crew resource management, training, mission planning issues, management and programmatic pressures (e.g., schedule, budget, resources), cockpit/control station design, and other factors.

Drone Marketing, Same Song Second Verse

I enjoy these advertising shorts. Nothing new under the sun (well, the cartoons have improved).


Update: A new one from LockMart.

Airframer for Dayton Aerospace Cluster

In my previous post on the Dayton Aerospace Cluster, I mentioned that one of the big missing pieces is an air-framer. The DDN recently reported that a Fortune100 defense contractor that currently makes UAV components, but does not make full airframes yet is interested in locating a manufacturing / test facility in the Dayton region.

Here's some of the defense contractors on the Fortune 100:

• 36. Boeing (already makes UAVs: Insitu)
  
• 44. United Technologies (claims it doesn't want to enter the UAV market, but UT subsidiary Sikorsky has made significant investments in a small UAV company)
  
• 52. Lockheed Martin (already makes UAVs: Sentinel)
  
• 72. Northrup Grumman (already makes UAVs: Global Hawk)
  
• 86. General Dynamics (sort of makes UAVs: joint venture with Elbit, joint venture with Aurora, joint venture with Aeronautics Defense Systems)
  

See the full Fortune 500 list. The most interesting one on the list is GD, since two of the three joint ventures listed are with Israeli companies, and Dayton region representatives signed a trade deal in 2009 with representatives from Haifa.

Spring 2011 UAV News

Interesting stuff from today's AIAA news brief.

Light Manned Aircraft May Be Cheaper Option Than UAVs For Some.

Aerospace Daily and Defense Report (5/2, Fulgham) reported that because some countries cannot afford to maintain a force of UAVs for long periods, "a cheaper option is light, Predator-sized, manned aircraft equipped with sensors and weapons designed for the UAV market." Some of these include trainers that are "re-invented as light attack aircraft." Examples cited in the article include the Hawker Beechcraft/Lockheed-Martin AT-6B. According to the article, "given that the aircraft was designed for student-pilot abuse that's similar to the rigors of carrier landings, there appear to be a lot of operational options" such as "irregular warfare, homeland defense and civil support."

"Beast of Kandahar" Employed In Bin Laden Hunt.

Justin Hyde at Jalopnik (5/3) writes how the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV known as the "Beast of Kandahar" was used in the operation that ended in bin Laden's death. The drone "was likely the eyes and ears of the operation, streaming live feeds back to command centers."

Satellite Images Show Location.

Space (5/3) reports Digital Globe released archival satellite images taken in January of the area where Osama bin Laden was found and killed. The company "located the probable compound using coordinates and physical descriptions through open sources."

Stealthy UAVs and Drone Wars

USAF Stealth UAV Has Ties To Previous Designs.

Aerospace Daily and Defense Report (12/10, Fulghum) reported the recently-revealed USAF stealth RQ-170 has "linkages to earlier designs from Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, including the stealthy DarkStar and Polecat UAVs." The RQ-170 has a "tailless flying wing" featuring communication sensors and is currently serving in Afghanistan.

Drones Being Used Successfully In Pakistan.

On its "Danger Room" blog, Wired (12/10, Schactman) reported on the US military's use of drones in the Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to some estimates, drones have killed "as many as a thousand people" around Pakistan. While America is currently not invading Pakistan, the drones are allowed to pursue militants as long as "the government in Islamabad [is] notified first." These drone strikes are "widely credited for taking out senior leaders of both the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda," but have been criticized as an "extension of the war in Central Asia fought under uncertain authority and with questionable morality."

That "questionable morality" comment is just a smear, but it is interesting stuff anyway.

Historical Perspective: UAVs as stepping stones

The ultimate goal and purpose of astronautics is to gain for man himself access to space and then to other worlds. The guided missile does not carry a man. It is a bridge between the space-flight concepts at the beginning and the space-flight reality yet to come.

-- General Dynamics/Astronautics, Centaur Primer: An Introduction to Hydrogen-Powered Space Flight (San Diego, 1962), pp. x-x1.

Missile's and drones are boring, you gotta stick a warm body in that thing to get any sizzle for your steak (rule 153)!

Seriously though, UAVs are great because they offer the opportunity for rapid, (relatively) inexpensive iterations of

concept --> design --> test --> field --> repeat

Probably the least appreciated, but most important aspect being the knowledge you can only earn by actual operating the hardware "in anger". Making sure that the guys who designed this one, will be able to benefit from insight gained from fielding to design the next one is pretty crucial. When you have decades long development programs, that loop just aint gonna close.

Heavy-Fuel Naval UAV

Elbit's Hermes 90 Completes First Flight. Flight International (9/29, Egozi) reported, "Elbit Systems has performed the first flight of its Hermes 90 unmanned air vehicle powered by a heavy-fuel engine." Haim Kellerman, general manager of Elbit's UAV division, "says the event marks a significant milestone in the company's naval activities." The article noted heavier fuel "provides significant advantages" over automobile gasoline "in the naval and maritime environment, by enabling UAV operations and refuelling to be conducted from naval vessels."

Since Elbit is an Isreali firm, this dovetails quite nicely into the Dayton UAV development center and the recent Dayton-Isreal trade agreements.

Dayton UAV Center Funding

Ohio releases $2.5M for Dayton UAV center. Dayton Business Journal (9/15, Cogliano) reported,

Money to launch a center for unmanned aircraft is on the way to Dayton.

The state controlling board Monday released $2.5 million to the University of Dayton’s IDCAST, which submitted the proposal for the UAV center — called the Center for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Exploitation.

The 6,000-square-foot UAV center will be located in the 25,000-square-foot Air Force Center for Rapid Product Development, at 104 Janney St. in Dayton. The project advances unmanned aerial vehicle technology by supporting research for national security and emergency response applications.

In May, the state awarded $3 million to launch the center as part of its Wright Projects Program.The state released the first part, $500,000, earlier this summer.

Dayton Aero News

Gov. Strickland Designates Dayton As Aerospace Hub. The Dayton (OH) Daily News (9/9, Nolan) reports, "Ohio established an economic development precedent Tuesday, Sept. 8, by designating the Dayton region as a hub of aerospace innovation and opportunity." The designation by Gov. Ted Strickland "makes it the first such technology hub in the state, although there could be as many as three other such specialty designations statewide by year's end, he said during a Dayton visit." However, the governor "declined to be specific about how much money the state could make available to Dayton under the aerospace hub designation," even though he has "directed the Ohio Department of Development to form an advisory group of private and public executives to guide Ohio's efforts to support aerospace and business aviation development."

Also reported by DDN is the related story of a trade agreement between Dayton and Israel. "The agreement commits both sides to three years — and likely more —of cooperative efforts to develop new aerospace technology for military and commercial markets. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, an Air Force hub of weapons and unmanned aircraft research and procurement, is a potential prime customer." The focus of the effort seems to be on sensors for surveillance and reconnaissance.

And in sensor news:

Selex Galileo Test Flies Falco UAV With PicoSAR Radar. Flightglobal (9/8, Hoyle) reported, "Selex Galileo has test flown a Falco unmanned air vehicle in the UK with its PicoSAR miniature synthetic aperture radar payload, and says the combination could play a valuable role in detecting improvised explosive devices." During the test flight, "the Falco tactical air vehicle was equipped with the active electronically scanned array PicoSAR and an electro-optical/infrared sensor for the recent trials activity." According to Galileo, "The high-resolution SAR, coupled with change detection, make the radar particularly useful for counter-IED missions, detecting disturbances in ground surface."

UAV News

University Of Alaska UAV Helps Fight Wildfires. In the "Autopia" column of Wired Magazine (8/26), Jason Paur writes, "Earlier this month in Alaska, a 40-pound Insitu Scan Eagle saw duty fighting wildfires after dense haze grounded conventional aircraft." The UAV's "infrared cameras allowed people on the ground tracking the fires to find hotspots and monitor the fire lines." The University of Alaska, which operates the UAV, says that it "is the first entity other than NASA or the Department of Homeland Security allowed to fly an unmanned aircraft beyond the line of sight in civil airspace."

Details Of Polish UAVs Emerging. Flight International (8/26, Glowacki) reports, "First details have emerged of a new family of unmanned air vehicles designed by scientists and students from the Mobile Systems Research Laboratories and Institute of Computing Science at Poland's Poznan University of Technology." They are "expected to support a 2013 demonstration of Poland's indigenous Proteus system," providing "instant situational awareness during emergency situations." The largest, "the Rarog has a maximum take-off weight of 40kg (88lb), and could carry an SGO Z electro-optical turret, plus either intelligence-gathering equipment or even weapons using its two under-wing pylons." The SP-1B Zuraw and Burzyk mini UAV are the smaller UAVs in the family.

Mule UAV Testing Progresses. Flight Internationall (8/26, Egozi) reports that Urban Aeronautics' Mule ducted fan unmanned aircraft system prototype "has been brought to a "light on the skids" position in the lead-up to performing its first hover tests." Dr Rafi Yoeli, president of the Israeli company, said, "We could go to full hover, but we decided to use extra caution as this is the only prototype." Meanwhile, Urban Aeronautics is "working on the operational mode that will be used when the Mule enters service as a combat zone supply and medical evacuation platform."

UAV News

EADS Conducts Barracuda UAV Flight Tests In Canada. Aviation International News (8/20, Pocock) reported, "A second copy of the Barracuda combat UAV demonstrator made four successful flights from Goose Bay, Labrador, according to EADS. ... The demonstrator flew autonomously with monitoring from the ground station for safety purposes only, EADS said." EADS said the tests, which come as part of the German Defense Ministry's Agile UAV in Network Centric Environment study, will help the company "gather fundamental insights for operationally mature next-generation UAV products–either alone or in cooperation with European partners."

C.I.A. Said To Use Outsiders To Put Bombs On Drones New York Times (8/21, Risen and Mazzetti) reported, that private security contractors are used by the CIA to assemble and load Hellfire missiles onto Predator UAVs.

The contractors are not involved in selecting targets, and CIA employees “pull the trigger remotely” from Langley.

From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees.

US Predators Target The Haqqanis In North Waziristan The Long War Journal (8/21, Roggio) reported, "An unmanned US Predator aircraft fired missiles at the Haqqani Network in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal area of North Waziristan. Two Hellfire missiles struck in the town of Darpa Khel near Miramshah, a known stronghold of the Haqqani Network. Three people were reported killed, but no high value Taliban or al Qaeda targets have been reported killed at this time."

Aerostat Used To Measure Algae In Lake Erie. The Cleveland Plain Dealer (8/20, Scott) reported, "Some hope that the aerostat – that's 'aero' as in air and 'stat' as in stationary – might be another valuable weapon in an annual battle to measure, understand and someday contain the growth of algae in the warm and shallow waters of western Lake Erie. The $125,000 high-tech balloon, which at 25,000 cubic feet is about the size of a two-story house, was initially designed by a South Dakota company for military surveillance and communications." Jeffrey Faunce, deputy for experiments at the Army's Space & Missile Defense Battle Lab, said "For the military its primary application is to test payloads – primarily communications and surveillance – for flying in the stratosphere, above 60,000 feet." However, the SkySentry Aerostat "also has a dual-use technology that we think is very exciting – being able to work on environmental studies to hopefully help mitigate the algal problem in western Lake Erie," he added.

UAV news round-up

The New York Times (8/12, B1, Drew) reports how US Army soldiers "got some high-tech help in an exercise intended to prove that new devices operated by the soldiers themselves can make...harrowing missions less dangerous." In the mock battles, soldiers used "drones resemble flying lawnmower engines about the size of a beer keg" that officials "say...will help transform basic infantry brigades" by allowing them to spot and take out enemy forces without the need to call for artillery or aircraft support. "Most of the soldiers are enthusiastic about the new capabilities. ... The new drones, made by Honeywell, are designed to hover over a crucial spot on a battlefield like helicopters." The article notes that Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Textron also contributed sensors, weapons, and other systems to the drones.

Boeing Lobbies Congress For A160 Funding. Flight Daily News (8/11, Trimble) reported, "Boeing has launched a 'full-court press' on Congress members to earmark funds in the Fiscal 2010 defense budget to help the A160 Hummingbird program survive a pivotal transition period. Despite strong interest for the A160 from the US special forces, army, marines and navy, Boeing's commitment to continue investing in the program without a production contract will reach a 'pivot point' some time next year, says Vic Sweberg, Boeing's director for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)." According to the article, "the program still lacks a production order, and a recent report by the Senate Armed Services Committee warned that Boeing's production capacity could disappear as early as October."

GE, FAA To Test Trajectory-Based Flight Management System For UAVs. Flight Daily News (8/11, Croft) reported, "As part of a new research arrangement with the US Federal Aviation Administration, GE Aviation this fall will test a trajectory-based flight management system for unmanned aircraft systems in simulations and in flight." GE Aviation's "participation will include adapting its FAA-certificated Boeing 737 flight management system to achieve reliable trajectory-based control of UAS and will include demonstration flights of an AAI Shadow UAS before year's end." Meanwhile, the FAA "says it is using modeling and simulation activities to 'establish a technical and operational UAS performance baseline' and to explore the impacts of UAS on the NAS going forward."

Electro Optical Systems Demonstrate Laser-Sintering Technology. Flight Daily News (8/11, Peaford) reported, "Laser-sintering technology enables companies to build highly integrated and very complex hardware directly from electronic data, eliminating tooling and other secondary operations - and one company leading the way with this technology is at AUVSI to give technical demonstrations." Electro Optical Systems is promoting the method. Jim Williams, president of Paramount PDS said, "Plastics laser-sintering enabled us to manufacture aircraft components for a micro air vehicle as a cost-effective substitute for carbonfiber parts."

JAXA Developing Disaster Monitoring Technology Using UAVs. Flight Daily News (8/11, Coppinger) reported JAXA "is developing key technologies for disaster monitoring unmanned air vehicles that would operate in tandem over an area providing rapid response and persistent surveillance." Innovative aircraft team director Suichi Sasa "says that preliminary, conceptual studies are being undertaken for the UAVs that would operate together, while key technologies for guidance and navigation are being tested in the field." The agency is "also supporting the development of regulations for operating UAVs in civil airspace" since the "UAVs would be operating over civil areas."

Frontline Flies Prototype UAV For First Time. Flight Daily News (8/11, Coppinger) reported, "Frontline Aerospace flew its prototype unmanned air vehicle for the first time in Colorado on 9 August for 1min, with its next test planned for early 2010 when a lift fan will be incorporated." The plane is expected to "compete in the small tactical class, against the likes of the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle. ... The prototype is remote controlled and its autonomous systems are under development. Frontline is also looking to use a proton exchange membrane type fuel cell using liquid hydrogen to increase its endurance." However, Frontline "will only develop the full-scale V-STAR if it can raise funding."

Navy Official Discusses UAV Sensor Advancements. In the "Ares" blog for Aviation Week (8/11), David Fulghum wrote, "US Navy specialists have gathered near Patuxent River, Md. for NavAir's annual UAV demonstrations to look into the future of unmanned sensors, platforms and operations." Rear Adm. (Lower Half) Bill Shannon, program executive officer for the Navy's unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said, "Fire Scout is a good example of progress beyond the initial EO-IR sensors [and communications suite]." Shannon said, "We have already added AIS, the maritime version of IFF [specifically for ship targets]. It helps sort the good guys from those we don't know. It's very important for counter-piracy and counter-drug operations."

L-3 Displays Mobius "Optionally Piloted" Aircraft At AUVSI. Aviation Week and Space Technology (8/11, Warwick) reported, "L-3 Communications is about to find out if a company that makes a wide array of equipment for unmanned aircraft systems, from controls to sensors to data links, can make its mark in the crowded platforms market." The company has displayed its Mobius aircraft at the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Washington, DC this week. The Mobius "is L-3's entry in the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) category. It is also an 'optionally piloted' aircraft, which the company believes could open up niche markets not available to UAVs."