DRAGNET

2/16/12

2012-02-16T12:00:00.000-06:00

Title: 15 - DOI Tandem Airplane

Sol. #: D12PS00078

Agency: Department of the Interior

Office: National Business Center

Location: AQD - Washington D.C.

Posted On: Feb 15, 2012 4:45 pm

Current Type: Solicitation

Base Type: Presolicitation

Base Posting Date: Feb 01, 2012 1:46 pm

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/notices/67ec890934af0216e0162eb68645f856

Video: Pop-Up Layered MEMS Manufacturing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxSs1kGZQqc

Three Reasons the Air Force is Buying Fewer UAVs

Defense Systems

The Air Force doesn't have enough people to operate its fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), so the service is buying fewer of them -- but it also plans for the robots to get much busier, Spencer Ackerman reports in Wired's Danger Room. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said Predators and Reapers will fly more often, going to 65 combat air patrols with a surge capacity of 85, up from 61 now, the article said. The Air Force bought 48 Reapers last year, but in fiscal 2013 it wants to buy 24, the story added.

The story cited these reasons for the buying decline:

- A shortage of trained personnel for the programs. They not only operate the unmanned aircraft systems, but also analyze the data.

- The belief that the service can do more with fewer unmanned aircraft through more sophisticated sensor technologies such as the Gorgon Stare spy suite.

- Pressing priorities for upgrades to manned aircraft, such as upgrading the software on the F-22, enhancing the radar on F-15s, extending the service life of F-16s and buying new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Aurora Selected by Raytheon for DARPA PCAS Program

MarketWire

Aurora Flight Sciences today announced its selection by Raytheon Corporation RTN -1.36% as a team member for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program. Raytheon's PCAS solution aims to develop technologies that significantly reduce the timeline for close air support through improved coordination among Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs), airborne sensors and weapon systems. Aurora will be the air vehicle platform lead and will be responsible for leveraging its extensive unmanned systems technology to develop an unmanned version of the Air Force's A-10 aircraft for demonstrating the PCAS technology.

"Aurora's selection by Raytheon to develop critical air vehicle technologies for the DARPA PCAS program is a major step in our relationship which began with the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) and Loiter Attack Missile (LAM) programs in the 1990s," said John Langford, Aurora's President and CEO. "We are looking forward to working closely with Raytheon on a wide range of unmanned systems technologies in the future." Raytheon's PCAS team members also include Rockwell Collins and GE Aviation. PCAS will incorporate a 'system-of-systems' approach to demonstrate the ability to digitally task a Close Air Support (CAS) platform from the ground. Raytheon will use an open architecture approach to enable the PCAS technology to be utilized in future command and control systems.

2/15/12

2012-02-15T11:22:00.001-06:00

ReconRobotics, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., was awarded a $13,975,038 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of micro unmanned ground vehicle robots in support of video reconnaissance. Work will be performed in Minneapolis, Minn., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-12-C-0026).

Image: U-2 Flyover

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/news/2012_News_U2_120210_F_PJ689_081_1269967624_7043.jpg

Article: NASA Manned Waypoint Near the Moon

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-02/midst-budget-woes-nasa-contemplates-manned-space-station-near-moon

Link: Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Alerts

http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert

Link: Boeing F-15 Interactive Schematic

http://www.flightglobal.com/Features/aircraft/military/boeing-f-15

Huge New Order for Throwable Robots

by Paul McLeary

Just last month, we told you about JIEDDO’s plans to send 400 small, throwable robots to Afghanistan for operational user tests to help identify new tools to get left of the boom on the increasing number of IEDs being planted by insurgents. While those tests are ongoing, we found out today that 'bot maker ReconRobotics has secured the largest throwable robot sale in the U.S. Army’s history, inking a $13.9 million deal with the Rapid Equipping Force for 1,100 of the 1.2-lb. Recon Scout XT robots. The company also announced $1 million worth of accessory orders to the Army, all of which will be delivered by June. Over just the past six months, the company has sold over 1,800 Recon Scout XT’s to the Pentagon.

The deal isn't part of JIEDDO's testing program, which came in response to an urgent request from commanders in Afghanistan who are looking for small, lightweight camera-mounted robots that can peek into culverts (a favorite place for Taliban fighters to hide IEDs) and toss over the tall mud walls that surround many homes. JIEDDO has identified four different 'bots that met the operational requirements, and began testing them last summer while working with the manufacturers to tweak their designs. The four ‘bots selected include the Armadillo, a 5.5 lb. system made by MacroUSA; QinetiQ’s Dragon Runner 10, a 10 lb. design; iRobot’s 5 lb. FirstLook; and Recon Robotics’ 1.2 lb. ReconScout XT. A word of advice: if you’re in Afghanistan this summer you might want to keep an eye peeled, since it looks like there'll be ‘bots flying all over the place.

2/14/12

2012-02-14T10:27:00.001-06:00

Document: U.S. Weapon Systems FY13 Budget Summary

http://www.aviationweek.com/media/pdf/FY13ProgramACQCostsByWeaponSystem.pdf

Document: DoD FY13 Budget Request

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Reports/2012/February%202012/Day13/FY2013_DOD_Budget_Overview_.pdf

Image: Boeing F-15E Silent Eagle

http://www.flightglobal.com/Assets/GetAsset.aspx?ItemID=44298

Final Minuteman Rocket Motors Undergo Testing at AEDC

by Shawn Jacobs

One of the final Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile motors to roll off the assembly line was tested in the Arnold Engineering Development Center J-6 Large Rocket Motor Test Facility. Production quality assurance testing concluded Jan. 18, 2012, on the Stage 2 solid-propellant motor. Ground testing under simulated altitude conditions in J-6 includes carefully controlled test environments with extensive instrumentation and photographic coverage to validate the operability and performance of a test article. Denny Elston, project engineer for Aerospace Testing Alliance, AEDC's operating contractor, said, "It's the last of the production runs, so it's a significant test. The test was highly successful. The motor met all specification requirements, and that's not unusual. They usually do."

ATK Launch Systems, the manufacturer, produced a total of around 625 of the rocket motors up until two years ago when production dropped to a very low rate under what is called a "Warm Line" program. "The program was intended to sustain and maintain the manufacturing and engineering infrastructure necessary to preserve the Minuteman solid rocket motor production capability," Elston said. "We [AEDC] were included such that we would test one motor of each Minuteman stage each year. That meant two motors last year and two motors this year." The final Minuteman Stage 3 PQA Warm Line motor will be tested in J-6 in February.

Elston said AEDC has been involved in the Minuteman program "since day one." "We've tested hundreds of Minuteman missiles over the years," he said. "There have been many production runs of these motors and many generations. This is the third generation that we're currently testing." He said the expectation is that each motor will have a lifespan of up to 30 years. The Minuteman ICBM is the land-based missile component of America's three-part nuclear defense. "We have weapons on submarines, bombers -- as well as the Minuteman land-based missiles -- so it's a member of the triad of our nuclear defense force,'" Elston said.

Russia Expects Next Nuclear Bomber by 2030

Global Security Newswire

Russia has announced plans to prepare within two decades a next-generation bomber capable of delivering nuclear weapons to targets, Interfax reported on Monday (see GSN, Feb. 6). "We are developing an advanced long-range aviation system and we have entered the stage of project tender. I think we will inform the General Staff chief and defense minister in February about the advanced aircraft which is to be developed and to join the new and upgraded air force in the 2030s," Russian air force commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said. "Among the main state tasks that the command of the air force's long-range aviation tackles, is that of being part of the Russian strategic nuclear deterrence forces," Zelin added. "This question is in the focus of attention and we have been dealing with this problem substantively and in detail. Everything that has to do with strategic aviation is of priority importance in the development of the air force and is not to be reviewed" (Interfax, Feb. 13).

Moscow intends by the end of this decade to switch out its Su-24 bomber aircraft for Su-34 planes, ITAR-Tass reported. Zelin described the plan in responding to a query by ARMS-Tass on a crash of an Su-24 jet. The Russian air force now holds 124 Su-24 planes, he said; the service expects this year to receive 10 Su-34 aircraft (ITAR-Tass, Feb. 14). Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry could move to acquire as many as 20 Borei- and Yasen-class class submarines by the end of the decade, the Xinhua News Agency quoted General Staff chief Gen. Nikolai Makarov as saying on Tuesday (see GSN, Feb. 10). Makarov said his country's military modernization plan calls for procuring 16 of the vessels. "If such an opportunity appears, we will order two couples of Borei 955 and Yasen 855 submarines additionally," he said (Xinhua News Agency, Feb. 14).

Lockheed Martin/NASA UAS to Test Advanced Wing Design

Composites World

Israeli news website Defense Update reported on Feb. 4 that a new X-Plane, dubbed X-56A, designed and developed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is expected to fly this year at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., USA, becoming a key test asset for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)-led Multiutility Aeroelastic Demonstration Program (MAD). These tests will contribute to AFRL’s follow-on work to SensorCraft, a class of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) vehicles intended for surveillance as well as telecommunication relay and environmental sensing.

On its AFRL lead mission the 28-ft/8.5m-span vehicle will test active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation. Following that phase, the X-56A will be transferred to NASA, to support NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, to assist the research of lightweight structures and advanced technology for future low-emissions transport aircraft. Active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation is considered vital for the development of the slender, lightweight, high-aspect-ratio wings that could be used by future transports as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAVs.

Designed as a cranked delta planform, the X-56A bears similarity to former jet-powered Lockheed Martin UAV programs such as the P-175 Polecat, RQ-170 and DarkStar. It will be powered by twin JetCat P240 turbojets, and be configured for easy wing replacement. According to the report, the flight-test package will include two identical center bodies measuring 7.5 ft. long, as well as four sets of constant-chord wings. One set will be stiff for baseline flight tests, as well as follow-on research, while the remaining three will be identical flexible wings made with lighter skin material for flutter testing.

The X-56A will test to the edge of the flight envelope where flutter occurs. Flutter is the potentially catastrophic dynamic coupling that can occur between the elastic motion of the wing and the aerodynamic loads acting on it. If a test goes too far and a wing fails in flight, the X-56A is fitted with a fuselage-mounted ballistic parachute recovery system. Derived from the ‘Multi-Use Technology Testbed’ (MUTT) design, the X-56A is in final assembly at GFMI Aerospace and Defense (Fountain Valley, Calif.), an engineering company specializing in prototype and mockup development. The aircraft is due to be delivered to Lockheed Martin in late April and will be transported to Edwards AFB in June.

2/13/12

2012-02-13T07:52:00.001-06:00

Title: Aircraft Support of High Altitude Drop Test

Sol. #: FA8213-12-Q-3011

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Materiel Command

Location: Hill AFB OO-ALC

Posted On: Feb 09, 2012 6:59 pm

Base Type: Sources Sought

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/OOALC/FA8213-12-Q-3011/listing.html

Image: RQ-170 in Iranian Parade Wheels Down

http://aviationintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/kc4f36e67e.jpg

http://cencio4.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/13901122145823852_photol.jpg

Video: Project Pluto Nuclear Ram Jet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b38fOhKPk1Y

Video: Yosemite HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQo-Rl9VFc

Image: Boeing Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) Bomb

http://cencio4.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/20111120200436.jpg

RQ-170 Soft Crash Remains Mystery to CIA

Aviation Intel

It would appear that the CIA cannot recreate the incident that doomed the RQ-170 Sentinel that was patrolling high over the skies of Iran late last November. Apparently the Sentinel’s three separate data streams all began sending back erroneous information to its operators, an unlikely event that may have accidentally caused it’s handlers to instruct it to land. This may have happened due to a last ditch effort by a secondary operator back at its Afghanistan base (some say Kandahar, but many signs are pointing to Shindand AB in western Afghanistan, a notorious CIA hub) to establish a line-of-sight terminal control of the stricken craft. Direct line-of-sight control is a more robust communication technique than satellite data-link and is commonly used for the launch and recovery of deployed drones before and after their control gets “handed off” to the craft’s mission operators who direct the craft via low-probability-of intercept satellite data-link during its actual mission.

Making matters worse, it seems that under these circumstances, when the drone’s transmitted info goes totally corrupted, automated software on the aircraft may not have immediately scrubbed its data banks of highly sensitive material, as is apparently standard operating procedure. In which case the drone would have landed with its computer banks stuffed full of recorded data and operating software. In other words it may have been akin to the Iranians, or Chinese, or Russians, literally examining the machine as it sat on the ramp back at Tonopah, intact and operational. Although this is a speculative “worst case scenario” it would appear that this is a likely possibility now on the table. If this is true, it has the potential to render all US drones, their communications infrastructure and command protocol, incredibly vulnerable, akin to giving the enemy the keys to America’s unmanned castle.

I do find it odd that the even through the CIA does not understand what caused not just the primary communications malfunction, but also the Sentinel’s apparent attempt at a soft landing, than why is it totally out of the question that a foreign actor did not have something to do with it? It seems that there has been no explanation as to why this is totally impossible, although it may be highly improbable. Assuming China is dissecting the aircraft as we speak, this could be one of the largest compromisations of sensitive American military hardware ever, and will most likely give the Chinese the “missing links” they are actively pursuing regarding their own high priority drone programs.

Flight of the New Avenger

Strategy Page

A second prototype of the jet powered Avenger UAV recently made its first flight. This version is slightly larger, being 14.2 meters (44 feet) long. This allows for more fuel and a larger bomb bay. Total payload is now 1.6 tons. The new version can stay aloft for up to 16 hours. The U.S. Air Force is planning to use Avenger for reconnaissance and strike missions. The original Predator C (now called Avenger) took its first flight in early 2009. Development of the Avenger began a decade ago. The first flight was supposed to have been five years ago but there were technical problems that kept coming up. Apparently it was worth the wait, as the U.S. Navy was impressed and particularly interested in using Avenger to replace the soon-to-be-retired EA-6Bs in their most dangerous attack missions. The air force likes the ability to arm Avenger with a smart bomb, including the 900 kg (2,000 pound) GBU-34 penetrator version. Avenger also has two hard points on each wing, each one able to carry up over 200 kg (440 pounds).

The original Avenger was a little shorter, at 13.2 meters (41 feet) long, but both versions have the same 20.1 meter (66 foot) wingspan, and the same stealthy shape. The V shaped tail and smooth lines of the swept wing aircraft will make it difficult to detect by radar. There is a humpbacked structure on top of the aircraft for the engine air intake. Avenger appears to be a larger jet powered version of the five ton Reaper (Predator B). The 4,800 pound thrust engine is designed to minimize the heat signature that sensors can pick up. Original payload was 1.36 tons (3,000 pounds) and total weight of the aircraft was nine tons. The new version is closer to ten tons. Cruising speed is 740 kilometers an hour. Each Avenger costs about $15 million.

The U.S. Navy has been interested in Avenger since the beginning of development. Thus the Avenger wings can be built to fold for use on carriers, and have a tail hook needed for carrier landings. The Avenger, unlike the larger Global Hawk, can operate from carriers. The Avenger uses landing gear from the F-5, an aircraft of the same weight class. The naval version is now called the Sea Avenger. The Avenger is expected to deliver about 85 percent of the performance of the Global Hawk at less than half the price. The Avenger is designed to fly high (up to 20,000 meters/60,000 feet) and cross oceans. Until 2009 the Avenger didn't officially exist and was a "black" (secret) program.

The U.S. Air Force has had lots of problems with the manufacturer of the Global Hawk, and much less hassle with the builder of the Avenger, Reaper and Predator. So now the Avenger is poised to take some sales from Global Hawk. Most of the cost of these "strategic UAVs" is in the space satellite grade sensors. The 13 ton MQ-4B Global Hawk has a wingspan of 42.3 meters (131 feet) and is 15.5 meters (48 feet) long. With minimal electronics the RQ-4B costs about $40 million. But you can easily add over $60 million worth of satellite grade gear to either a $15 million Avenger or a $40 million Global Hawk. Thus Global Atomics is trying to come up with a lot of improved features (more reliable, easier to maintain, cheaper to run) for their Global Hawk competitor.

The navy, and several air forces, are also looking at the Avenger as an ELINT (electronic intelligence) aircraft. The ability to carry a ton of sensors and stay in the air for twenty hours per sortie has a lot of appeal for an aircraft that is already stealthy and doesn't carry a pilot. Moreover, the Avenger can perform ELINT missions entirely autonomously, making it more difficult to detect. General Atomics believes it can get the Sea Avenger to operate (takeoff and land) from a carrier before any of the other contenders (mainly the 19 ton X-47). The Avenger weighs less than half as much and has an exemplary track record, making this a race the Avenger might just win.

2/9/12

2012-02-09T11:04:00.000-06:00

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $52,281,813 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, multiple award contract to provide research, development, test, and evaluation of emerging surveillance technologies, sensors and systems with potential for applicability in the areas of air, ground, and shipboard intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and information operations systems. This is one of five multiple award contracts: all awardees will compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option, which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $89,447,206. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed Feb. 7, 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal N66001-11-R-0105 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center e-Commerce Central website, with five offers received. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-12-D-0085).

Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Va., is being awarded a $42,618,107 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, multiple award contract to provide research, development, test, and evaluation of emerging surveillance technologies, sensors, and systems with potential for applicability in the areas of air, ground, and shipboard intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and information operations systems. This is one of five multiple award contracts: all awardees will compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option, which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $72,642,658. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (90 percent), and McLean, Va. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed Feb. 7, 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal N66001-11-R-0105 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center e-Commerce Central website, with five offers received. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-12-D-0086).

Videos: Convair B-58 Hustler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zggUDrQzLcc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXqi00oSj4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv405ElNHo0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEx3SM8lZx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7HmgSMTyxU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEKyTxnrXIc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGX0l_p6OqE

Article: Raspberry Pi to Ship Late February

http://www.gizmag.com/raspberry-pi-production-confirmed/21370

Video: RQ-11 Raven and Puma AE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcDlVWdVddY

Image: Anabatic Office Schematic

http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/anabatic-office-10.png

Link: Johns Hopkins Long Range Ram Jet Study

http://retromechanix.com/articles/aerospace/johns-hopkins-long-range-ram-jet-missile-study-1946

Video: iModela 3D Cutting Machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Srm46mL3tM

AFRL Announces X-56A

by Zach Rosenberg

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has unveiled a new unmanned test aircraft, the Lockheed Martin X-56A, designed to study active flutter suppression. Two examples of the aircraft will be built, along with four sets of wings - one rigid, to test initial aircraft handling, and three sets with increasing flexibility for flutter tests. "As we demand more and more from our aircraft in terms of being efficient, that leads us to aircraft configurations that are in inherently very flexible," said Pete Flick, AFRL program manager. Flutter occurs when aerodynamic forces reach the wings' resonance point, leading to a self-perpetuating vibration. Flutter has been a factor in a number of aviation catastrophes, but represents a special problem for high altitude long endurance (HALE) aircraft, which typically have long, thin, flexible wings and a very narrow flight envelope at altitude. It is a constant worry for aircraft near the edge of the flight envelope, but can be countered through increasing the wing stiffness. Increased stiffness means increased weight, and thus decreased efficiency.

"The way we do it today is we would typically just add structural weight, but that's a severe penalty," Flick said. "We have a better approach, we feel, and that's to actively control the deflections with surfaces on the wing. That's what led us to this program." "There are multiple control surfaces along the aft edge of the vehicle, a total of 10 across the entire span" that will change position as flutter is encountered, he added. Because of the project's relatively high level of risk, the X-56 is designed to be as low-energy as possible. The aircraft will conduct tests between 90 and 150 knots airspeed (167-278 km/h), and rarely at over 1,000 feet (305m) altitude. AFRL officials hope the test results can be applied to a nascent unmanned reconnaissance program called SensorCraft. After approximately 25 hours of flight test with AFRL at Edwards AFB's North Base, scheduled to take up to three months, the aircraft will be sent to NASA's Dryden flight test center to serve as an aerodynamic test bed.

USAF Can Fly UAS at Wilmington Air Park

by Gary Huffenberger

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized the Air Force Research Laboratory to fly small, unmanned aircraft at the Wilmington Air Park, said air park officials Wednesday. An FAA-awarded certificate of authorization (COA) allows the laboratory, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, to fly small, remote-controlled aircraft within five miles of the air park, according to a news report and the Clinton County Port Authority, which owns the air park. The Port Authority held its monthly meeting Wednesday. Several members of the community raised questions about the COA and related matters. Their concerns included the possible adverse impact of restricted air space on emergency medical helicopters flying in Clinton County and on the use of planes for agricultural spraying.

Clinton County Port Authority Executive Director Kevin Carver said Wednesday the COA is for one year. “It’s not a long-term arrangement yet,” said Carver. The flights of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) permitted under the newly issued certificate are required to be within five miles of the air park, according to a report in the Dayton Daily News. An FAA funding bill, awaiting the signature of President Obama, includes a provision instructing the agency to select six test sites for flying UAVs. Carver said Wednesday if the bill is signed into law, the Wilmington Air Park stands “a very strong chance” of being named one of those test bed sites.

In response to some of the questions raised at the Port Authority meeting, Carver said he has consistently been told that the UAV flights will occur on specific days and specific times. He also said medical helicopters would take priority. The UAVs will be involved in sensor testing, not weaponry, Carver said. Wilmington-Clinton County Chamber of Commerce Director Mark Rembert said Wednesday, “This is a very exciting and important step for our community and the Wilmington Air Park. Our congratulations go out to the Clinton County Port Authority for their excellent work with the Air Force Research Lab to obtain this critical authorization to begin testing.”

MQ-X Contender Avenger UAV Takes to the Air

by David A. Fulghum

The U.S. Air Force’s plan to acquire a next-generation, stealthy, precision-attack MQ-X unmanned aerial system has a candidate with the first flight of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ extended second variant of its jet-powered Predator C Avenger. The closely held flight took place Jan. 12 at the company’s Palmdale, Calif., facility. USAF, in its 2025 road map, has stated a preference for a stealth signature (but not very low observability) and long endurance (the latest Avenger can fly for 16 hr.). Predator C offers a serpentine inlet for its Pratt & Whitney engine and a ducted exhaust to shield the aircraft’s heat signature. General Atomics is building four Avenger Cs. Starting with the second aircraft, the fuselage was extended 4 ft. for additional fuel capacity. A third aircraft is expected to fly this summer followed by the fourth by early next year.

“The Air force wants the MQ-X to operate and survive in a contested or degraded operational environment,” says Chris Pehrson, the company’s director of strategic development. That means that competitors might substitute electronic attack and electronic warfare for some of the stealth capability. Any design would combine reduced signature, jamming self-protection and long-range surveillance. “The kind of sensors you put on a platform can allow a greater standoff distance by looking deeper into enemy territory,” the official says. “Avenger is a jet-powered UAV, so it can fly faster and respond more quickly to time-sensitive targets and threats.” General Atomics is pushing the flight envelope of Avenger beyond 400 kt., to almost twice the speed of the turboprop-powered, workhorse MQ-9 Reaper. It will not be highly maneuverable because it’s not a fighter, nor will it have the speed to keep up with a package of strike aircraft.

“But the speed does allow it to transit to a target area or react to pop-up threats faster,” Pehrson says. “You are looking at a trade space of endurance, altitude, speed and agility. The Avenger has wings like a powered glider so it can operate at about 50,000-55,000 feet. That’s not as high as a U-2, but it will be above most of the traffic.” Sensors of interest for the Avenger include the Raytheon surveillance ball that is on the Reaper now and multi-spectral sensors like those on the U-2 that can broaden the amount of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be monitored for targeting and reconnaissance. Various Air Force and Navy officials have indicated that Raytheon’s jamming variant of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD-J) is being considered as a standoff electronic attack capability for the Avenger and other aircraft involved in suppressing air defenses.

“We see both suppression and destruction of enemy air defense applications for this platform,” Pehrson says. “It could be equipped with electronic jammers and anti-radiation missiles as one option. Right now, we’re looking at about 3,000 pounds internal payload and about 3,000 pounds on external, wing-mounted hard points.” Several hundred additional pounds of payload can be carried in the forward electronics bay. In total, it’s about a ton more than the Reaper can carry. To help cut down on the amount of data that has to be transmitted to ground stations, there are plans to do machine processing on board. “We like to give the operator or analyst the fused, correlated, real-time situational awareness with all the sensors that we possibly can,” Pehrson says. “If you have a ground moving target indicator on the radar, you want to know with high confidence that it’s the same object you are looking at with your electro-optical or infrared sensor. If it’s also giving off a signals signature, that’s all going to be on a single display.” The Avenger is expected to cost $15-18 million for the baseline aircraft, including sensors.

2/6/12

2012-02-06T07:58:00.001-06:00

Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $10,962,810 predominately firm-fixed-price (91.2 percent) with time-and-material (8.2 percent) and cost reimbursement (0.6 percent) contract types for contract modification obligating fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 procurement dollars to exercise the previously negotiated option contract line item numbers on the FYOC IV contract (FA8625-11-C-6597) to maintain current support levels for the next period of performance (Feb. 1, 2012 through Jan. 31, 2013) for the C-130J Program Office. The location of the performances is Marietta, Ga. Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2013. ASC/WLNNC, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8625-11-C-6597 P00084).

Book: The Land Between

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0310329981

Video: Armadillo Aerospace Launches Stiga Rocket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAaMZcr2v4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXKQ0v_YPWw

Video: Quadrotor Coordinated Flights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4

Image: Russian Flying Submarine

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2729/4342611107_22251fc14c_z.jpg

Video: BAE Demon Control Surfaceless Aircraft

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11431662

Image: Lockheed X-56A MUTT Aircraft

http://www.aviationweek.com/media/images/defense_images/UAVs/MUTT_UAV-AFRL.jpg

Link: Synergy Box Wing Aircraft

http://www.synergyaircraft.com

New X-Plane Will Test Light Structures

by Guy Norris

Research suggests that the ambitious performance goals of future long-endurance reconnaissance aircraft and highly efficient commercial transports may only be achievable by using very light structures and long, slender wings. However, as any freshman aerodynamics student knows, such designs are potentially prone to the phenomenon of flutter—the catastrophic dynamic coupling that can occur between the elastic motion of the wing and the aerodynamic loads acting on it. Unless developers can overcome this looming threat, the benefits of such advanced design concepts may never be realized.

Spurred by this challenge, and the need to develop stable wing-mounted sensors for future high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) reconnaissance aircraft, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is planning to test technologies for mitigating flutter using a new X-plane, designated X-56A. Supported by NASA, which plans to use the testbed for a long-term research asset after the AFRL work is completed, the X-56A is a flying wing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. The vehicle’s first task will be to test active flutter-suppression and gust load alleviation technology.

Formerly dubbed the Multi-Use Technology Testbed, the UAV will test to the edge of the flight envelope where flutter occurs. If a test goes too far and a wing fails inflight, the X-56A is fitted with a fuselage-mounted ballistic parachute based on the recovery system installed on the Cirrus SR22 light aircraft. Powered by twin JetCat P240 turbojets, and configured for easy wing replacement, the aircraft will be tested with stiff wings as well as multiple sets of flexible wings. The design also includes a hard point on the center upper deck of the aft fuselage, which can either be adapted to house a third engine or the boom for a joined wing, thereby enabling testing of more advanced aerodynamic concepts.

The 28-ft.-span vehicle is the key test asset for the AFRL-led Multi-utility Aeroelastic Demonstration Program (MAD). This endeavor is contributing to follow-on work to SensorCraft, a class of HALE vehicles intended for surveillance as well as telecommunication relay and environmental sensing. Following Air Force flight tests, the X-56A is expected to be used by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center for further work, which also will benefit lightweight structures and advanced technology for future low-emissions transport aircraft.

For the initial phase, NASA is providing labor to oversee safety and the conduct of the flight tests, as well as overseeing Lockheed Martin’s operation of flights on behalf of AFRL. NASA adds that “in addition, AFRL will provide about $300,000 in procurement to pay range and related operations costs.” As for future work beyond the Air Force research, NASA expects a “commitment from the Subsonic Fixed Wing [program] to support flights on the X-56A in fiscal 2013-15 within the next 90 days.”

“The intent is to reduce the operating empty weight of transport aircraft through lighter structures and one of the approaches to do that is to allow them to be more flexible and thus lighter. But to do that you need gust load alleviation and flutter suppression. We’re now in the process of putting together a road map for technology demonstrations on the ground and inflight over the next 15 years,” says Gary Martin, deputy project manager for the Subsonic Fixed Wing project at Dryden. The NASA flights will help to develop guidelines and methodology for active dynamic structural control as well as provide flight-validated aircraft models for academia. The aeroelastic and lightweight structures research will also contribute toward long-range planning for the proposed X-54 low-boom supersonic demonstrator program.

Displaying clear design heritage from Lockheed SensorCraft concepts as well as flying-wing designs including the P-175 Polecat, RQ-170 and DarkStar UAVs, the X-56A is characterized by a blended-wing-body planform. Under its X-56A contract, Lockheed will supply a ground control station as well as two identical center bodies, each 7.5 ft. long, and four sets of constant chord wings. One set will be stiff for baseline flight tests, as well as follow-on research, while the remaining three will be identical flexible wings for flutter testing.

Pete Flick, AFRL MAD program manager, says the SensorCraft studies “led us to very different configurations that are inherently more flexible with high-aspect-ratio wings. Gust load alleviation and flutter suppression are two key technologies we needed to pursue and there was no testbed out there where we could test active flutter suppression without a lot of risk. So we went out to develop a vehicle specifically for that purpose. So that’s what motivated AFRL, and to work with NASA, which has a similar interest in pursuing configurations for future aircraft.”

Originally AFRL planned to build a large-scale SensorCraft demonstrator that would incorporate as many of the enabling technologies in one testbed as possible. However, the lab later determined the plan was too expensive and opted instead for a scaled-down testbed focused on active aeroelastic control. “The original plan was to build one aircraft that was a scaled version of one of contender concepts. But we continued to look at look at additional configurations, so we designed it to host other configurations such as the joined wing,” says Flick.

With a takeoff gross weight of 480 lb., the X-56A was designed “to a specific stiffness as opposed to a specific strength. Usually you make sure it’s designed for a certain strength,” says Lockheed Martin program manager Ed Burnett. This was achieved by changing the material selection for the different sets of wing skins. “The substructure for all the wings is identical. The only area where we changed materials is the skins. The stiff wings are a very detailed layup of carbon fiber plies with foam core, while the flexible skins are made from fiberglass and foam. For the flexible wing, NASA also asked us to install a fiber-optic shape-sensing array,” he adds.

The stiff wing allows for future research, so it provides plenty of flutter margin for additional test capability. “Once the baseline wing is tested out they will put on the flexible wings,” says Burnett. Data from leading edge stagnation point sensors and embedded accelerometers will be fed into control laws which will control flight surfaces and a body flap on the trailing edge to control flutter. The team plans to test the vehicle “at parts of the envelope below the first flutter mode and do a series of control surface sweeps to understand and validate the models. Once we’ve done that, we’ll push further and further into flutter speeds. We’re planning on going up to where flutter starts, or just to the point where we tickle the dragon, as it were,” says Burnett.

Exactly where this takes place is predicted to be at 95 kt., where the first body torsion flutter mode will be encountered, followed by symmetric body torsion flutter at 116 kt. and axisymmetric torsion bending at 118 kt. Total envelope, with flutter suppression on, will be tested out to 150 kt. The X-56A is in final assembly at GFMI Aerospace and Defense, a Fountain Valley, Calif.-based engineering company specializing in prototype and mock-up development. The aircraft is currently due to be delivered to Lockheed Martin in late April and transported to Edwards AFB in June. Flights will begin at the North Base in July and continue through September. Following an approximately 25-hr.-long flight-test effort, the X-56A is expected to be transferred to NASA by year-end.

USAF Reveals Latest X-Plane: X-56A

by Guy Norris

A new U.S. Air Force X-plane designated X-56A will explore active control technology for potential use in future high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) reconnaissance aircraft. Designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the X-56A flying wing will also later be flown by NASA, and is an innovative modular unmanned air vehicle designed to test active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation. These technologies are considered vital for the successful development of the slender, lightweight, high-aspect-ratio wings that could be used by future transports as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAVs. Formerly dubbed the Multi-Use Technology Testbed (MUTT), the UAV will test to the edge of the flight envelope where flutter occurs. Flutter is the potentially catastrophic dynamic coupling that can occur between the elastic motion of the wing and the aerodynamic loads acting on it. If a test goes too far and a wing fails in flight, the X-56A is fitted with a fuselage-mounted ballistic parachute recovery system.

Powered by twin JetCat P240 turbojets, and configured for easy wing replacement, the aircraft will be tested with stiff wings as well as multiple sets of flexible wings. The design also includes a hard point on the center upper deck of the aft fuselage that can either be adapted to house a third engine or the boom for a joined wing, thereby enabling testing of more advanced aerodynamic concepts. The 28-ft.-span vehicle is the key test asset for the Air Force Research Laboratory-led Multi-utility Aeroelastic Demonstration Program (MAD). This is contributing to AFRL’s follow-on work to SensorCraft, a class of HALE vehicles intended for surveillance as well as telecommunication relay and environmental sensing. Following Air Force flight tests, the X-56A will be used by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center for further work also aimed at lightweight structures and advanced technology for future low-emissions transport aircraft.

AFRL MAD Program Manager Pete Flick says the SensorCraft studies “led us to very different configurations that are inherently more flexible with high-aspect-ratio wings. Gust-load alleviation and flutter suppression are two key technologies we needed to pursue, and there was no testbed out there where we could test active flutter suppression without a lot of risk. So we went out to develop a vehicle specifically for that purpose. So that’s what motivated AFRL, and to work with NASA, which has a similar interest in pursuing configurations for future aircraft.” The NASA flights will be conducted under the subsonic fixed-wing project and will help to develop guidelines and methodology for active dynamic structural control as well as provide flight-validated aircraft models for academia. The aeroelastic and lightweight structures research will also contribute toward long-range planning for the proposed X-54 low-boom supersonic demonstrator program.

Displaying clear design heritage from previous Lockheed SensorCraft concepts as well as flying wing designs including the P-175 Polecat, RQ-170 and DarkStar UAVs, the X-56A is characterized by a cranked delta planform. The flight-test package will include two identical center bodies measuring 7.5 ft. long, as well as four sets of constant-chord wings. One set will be stiff for baseline flight tests, as well as follow-on research, while the remaining three will be identical flexible wings made with lighter skin material for flutter testing. The X-56A is in final assembly at GFMI Aerospace and Defense, a Fountain Valley, Calif.-based engineering company specializing in prototype and mockup development. The aircraft is currently due to be delivered to Lockheed Martin in late April and will be transported to Edwards AFB in June. Flights with the 452nd Flight Test Squadron, part of the 412th Test Wing, will begin at the North Base in July and continue through September. Following an approximately 25-hr.-long flight test effort, the X-56A is expected to transfer to NASA by year’s end.

1/31/12

2012-01-31T11:02:00.001-06:00

Video: Sandia National Labs Guided Bullet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLwVVYV3_K4

Video: New Slaperoo Instrument
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV5NBaGZzQw

Link: DTIC Defense Innovation Marketplace
http://www.defenseinnovationmarketplace.mil

Image: Bell Advanced Tiltrotor (BAT)
http://up-ship.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bat1small.jpg

U.S. Air Force to Kill Global Hawk UAV
by Andrea Shalal-Esa/Reuters

The Northrop drone is one of dozens of weapons programs that face
cancellation or cutbacks in the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget and
five-year plan, which begins to implement $487 billion in spending cuts
over the next decade. A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak
on the record, said the Air Force's Block 30 variant of the unmanned
plane was being terminated in the budget request that will be sent to
Congress Feb. 13. Lawmakers have the final say over the Pentagon's
budget, and have reversed other program cancellations in the past.

An Air Force spokeswoman declined to comment. Air Force Chief of Staff
General Norton Schwartz told Reuters earlier this month that the
service's budget proposal for fiscal 2013 would include terminations of
some programs. He declined comment at the time about the Global Hawk
program, saying the service would likely "end up doing what gives us the
best capability for the least cost." The remotely piloted Global Hawk
surveillance planes fly at altitudes above 60,000 feet and can remain in
the air for over 24 hours.

The Block 30 airframes sell for roughly $30 million apiece, not
including their payloads. Raytheon's optical, infrared and radar sensors
let the aircraft scan large swaths of terrain and transmit images in
near real-time. The Global Hawk was due to replace the Cold War-vintage
U-2 spy plane in 2015, but those planes, built by Lockheed Martin, would
now remain in service until around 2023, the U.S. official said. The
planes have been used over Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya. They also
were used over Japan after the March earthquake, flying from Andersen
AFB, Guam, and have been used to track forest fires in California.

Does China Need to Copy the RQ-170?
by Richard Clements

As has been widely reported it is no secret that China is trying to
acquire stealth technology for use in their indigenous aircraft program.
It was only last year that photo's and video of the J-20 started to
appear on the internet. It was clear that China had made advances into
the dark art of stealth technology, although first radar evading tech
dates back to about 40 years ago. What was interesting was that the J-20
did not posses the angular lines of the Nighthawk but the more rounded
curves of the B-2 or Raptor, it was clear a lot of work had been done
behind closed doors for the Chinese scientists.

Another area that Chinese designers have made advances in is that of
UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles) or UAS (unmanned aerial systems).
Rumours started in 2007 when, during the Paris Air show, China displayed
the 'Dark Sword' concept. The Dark Sword clearly had a very low RCS
(Radar Cross Section) and showed the way Chinese designers were going in
their work. It has appeared several times since then, indicating that
this might not just be a concept but could be something that becomes
reality in the future.

At the end of 2011 photos started emerging from China of a new Stealth
UCAV/UAV dubbed the "Wind Blade" that features a blended wing design
with long slim wings with "Sharklets" and an engine intake at the front
and above the wing-like body. The overall design would lean towards a
high altitude surveillance platform and going by reports it was
designed by students from the Shenyang University which happens to be
connected to one of China's largest aircraft producers. Although the
aircraft in the photo is a scale model it's not clear how old the photo
is, so it could be conceivable that there is now a full-scale version.

China does have several non stealthy UAVs too. There is the SOAR Dragon
which looks very similar to the Global Hawk although it has swept wings
and the tail plane joins with the main wing and from the photo's below
appears to have radar absorbing paint. What is interesting in these
photo's is that the aircraft is in an advanced state of completion and
looks to be being painted. There are videos of a hybrid Predator -
Global Hawk look-alike doing fast taxis down an unknown runway. The
drone seems to be in an advanced state of testing meaning this could now
be in a flyable position.

Analysts are divided as to where Chinese scientists are with UAV
development. Based on the designs that are being displayed, the
designers could have mastered stealthy shapes and the complexities of
controlling the UAV. There are even reports that the Chinese are testing
small-scale UAV's for automated carrier landings. Where most analysts
agree is that China does not have the infrastructure to have a UAV reach
outside of Chinese airspace and even within Chinese borders the signals
are unreliable.

Maybe some of the radio/satellite link equipment, as well as internal
memories, circuitry, lenses, and sensors contained in the RQ-170
Sentinel captured by Iran could be somehow helpful cause they can be
evaluated, tested and copied. And, maybe, improved. China is still a
fair few years away from having a true global UAV reach which will
require a lot of space systems investment to be able to achieve this.
However there is one thing for sure, it will happen at some point in the
future.

Former ISR Chief Calls for More Autonomy in UAVs
by Paul McLeary

It is being reported that the Air Force is preparing to scrap its fleet
of long range, long endurance Block 30 RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs, while
continuing to rely on Cold War-era U2 aircraft for high-altitude
surveillance missions for at least another decade. While the pre-budget
leak is somewhat surprising, the Global Hawk program had run into
trouble before this, blowing through its budget, suffering reductions in
the number the Pentagon wanted to buy and prompting the Pentagon's chief
weapons tester to report that the aircraft "provided less than half the
required 55 percent Effective-Time-On-Station coverage over a 30-day
period," when operating at operational tempos, concluding that it is
"not operationally suitable."

That said, the Global Hawk was the last asset to leave Iraqi airspace
when U.S. troops pulled out in December, while racking up 1,146 missions
and 21,325.3 flight hours during the war. Aside from the long-endurance
misison, one of the big questions for American remotely piloted aviation
is how best to plan for a future that will undoubtedly see a
proliferation of increasingly sophisticated jamming and hacking
capabilities make its way into the hands of state and even non-state
adversaries.

"We need to have a balanced capability" to operate in both kinds of
environments, (ret) USAF Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the service's first
Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
says. One of the greatest weaknesses of the unmanned fleet, Deptula
adds, is that every platform has to be controlled by an operator on the
ground. "Those linkages are vulnerable to jamming. To counter that you
need to move toward a greater degree of autonomy, but along with moving
to autonomy you'll encounter a variety of policy issues that when you
have a man in the loop you don't have to worry about that much."

Deptula believes that the issue isn't the technology so much as it is
the Cold War-era organizations that control that technology. "What we
need to be looking at are innovative ways to accomplish the same kinds
of outcomes or desired effects with fewer resources: that being dollars
expended, personnel required, and numbers of systems," he says. "We also
have to think about different ways of doing business. Right now if you
want more capability you add more sensors which adds more data
collection which now requires greater bandwidth to offboard the data."
The key to reducing the amount of data sent to the ground-making it
vulnerable to hacking-is in processing that information on board and
sending back only that is of interest so it doesn't rely on a "man in
the loop" to carry out the simplest tasks. Particularly at a time when
force structure will be strained, adding more autonomy to unmanned
aircraft might be the only way to achieve the level of surveillance that
the armed forces desires.

Marines Fly Integrator
by Gary Mortimer

Marines witnessed the first flight of the service's newest small
unmanned aircraft Jan. 22 at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
in Twentynine Palms, Calif. As part of the RQ-21A Small Tactical
Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) Early Operational Capability (EOC),
personnel from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 2 and 3 and
Insitu operators exercised the current configuration of Insitu's
Integrator for the two-hour maiden flight. "The lessons learned from
this flight and all operations that will be conducted at Twentynine
Palms are invaluable," said Lt. Col. John Allee, STUAS integrated
product team co-lead at Pax River. "It will help our Marines fully
understand how to operate the system when in theater."

Insitu delivered one EOC system, which is the current configuration of
the company's Integrator, to Twentynine Palms early in January. The EOC
contract option allows for up to 30 months of contractor-provided
training and logistics services for the Integrator system. The team at
Pax River received the second EOC system Jan. 12. "This is a
substantial achievement for the team" said Heather Bromley, STUAS IPT
co-lead. "To go from contract award to an operable system in 16 months
is a testament to the responsiveness of both the government and
contractor personnel."

A CONUS-based deployment for EOC allows the Navy and Marine Corps to
train operators, collect additional performance data and support
development for Initial Operational Capability (IOC). The
government-industry team will continue to develop the RQ-21A
configuration for initial and full operational capability while the EOC
system is deployed with VMU-3. RQ-21A will have payload capacity to
support multi missions in a single sortie. Its sensor package will
include Electro-Optic, mid-wave infrared cameras with an infrared marker
and laser rangefinder.

"We are very excited to deploy an asset that has a greater performance
capability with a significantly larger payload, mass, volume and power
than intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services available in
theater today," said Marine Col. Jim Rector, Navy and Marine Corps Small
Tactical UAS program manager. RQ-21A will eventually replace the Navy
and Marine ISR services contract in which current ISR missions are
conducted in Iraq, Afghanistan and shipboard. The system will provide
battlefield commanders with an organic capability 24/7, for real-time,
actionable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. "The appetite
for ISR has been insatiable," Rector said. "There is an increased demand
for ISR capability in theater; and with fewer boots on the ground, we
need this asset more than ever."

Lockheed Martin Honors Pioneers of Recently Declassified National
Reconnaissance Satellites

Sunnyvale, CA - Pioneers of the highly successful Gambit and Hexagon
legacy reconnaissance systems recently unveiled by the National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO) were honored during a Jan. 24 ceremony at
Lockheed Martin's facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif. Gambit and Hexagon
followed Corona, the nation's first photo reconnaissance satellite
system to return an image from space successfully. All three programs
were built by industry teams under contract to the NRO with Lockheed
Martin Space Systems Company as the satellite system integrator. These
programs provided vital national security information from 1960 until
1986.

Approximately 400 former employees involved in some aspect of Hexagon
and Gambit and their guests attended the ceremony which featured
displays and videos highlighting spacecraft production, launch and
technical capabilities including actual Earth imagery. Speakers included
Bruce Carlson, director of the NRO, and Joanne Maguire, executive vice
president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. In his remarks,
Carlson expressed his gratitude to the entire Lockheed Martin team for
their contributions to national security: "Without this vital work, we
would not have had the search, surveillance, and mapping capabilities
that provided the high resolution imagery that gave our nation's
decision makers the ability to deal with our adversaries from a position
of strength."

"The successes achieved by the Hexagon and Gambit teams built upon the
Corona legacy to deliver unprecedented mission capabilities and
longevity," said Maguire. "We are enormously proud of our role in
providing these vitally important remote sensing assets to the nation."
The first Gambit system, launched in 1963, was equipped with a 77-inch
focal length camera system . The second system, Gambit 3 was equipped
with the camera system that included a 175-inch focal length camera. The
system was first launched in 1966 and provided the U.S. with exquisite
surveillance capabilities from space for nearly two decades.

Hexagon was first launched in 1971 to improve upon Corona's capability
to image broad denied areas for threats to the United States. Twelve of
the 19 systems flown also carried a mapping camera to aid in U.S.
military war planning. The United States depended on these search and
surveillance satellites to understand the capabilities, intentions, and
advancements of those who opposed the U.S during the Cold War. Together
they became America's essential eyes in space. In addition, Gambit and
Hexagon were launched aboard rockets built by Lockheed Martin heritage
companies. Gambit 1 was launched on an Atlas rocket with the orbiting
Agena D upper stage and Gambit 3 was launched using a Titan III B
booster. Hexagon was launched aboard the larger Titan III D rocket.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is a world leader in the most
advanced space-based systems for government and global commercial
customers. Its expertise in stabilized, remote sensing spacecraft for
high-resolution remote sensing missions began with Corona, a
ground-breaking system that achieved its first successful launch in
1960. The company draws on its wealth of expertise in building and
integrating remote sensing satellites to provide commercial customers
with advanced systems such as the GeoEye's IKONOS satellite and its
next-generation Earth imaging program, known as GeoEye-2.

U.S. Air Force to Kill Global Hawk UAV
by Andrea Shalal-Esa

The U.S. Air Force has decided to scrap its Northrop Grumman
high-altitude unmanned surveillance plane program and instead extend the
life of its U-2 aircraft into the 2020s, according to a government
official and a defense analyst. Loren Thompson, chief operating officer
of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the Air Force decision
was based on the cost of the Global Hawk unmanned planes, and that the
service would investigate using a Marine version with different sensors
that Northrop is developing for the Navy. The Northrop drone is one of
dozens of weapons programs that face cancellation or cutbacks in the
Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget and five-year plan, which begins to
implement $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade. A U.S.
official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the Air
Force's Block 30 variant of the unmanned plane was being terminated in
the budget request that will be sent to Congress Feb. 13.

Lawmakers have the final say over the Pentagon's budget, and have
reversed other program cancellations in the past. An Air Force
spokeswoman declined to comment. Air Force Chief of Staff General
Norton Schwartz told Reuters earlier this month that the service's
budget proposal for fiscal 2013 would include terminations of some
programs. He declined comment at the time about the Global Hawk
program, saying the service would likely "end up doing what gives us the
best capability for the least cost." The remotely piloted Global Hawk
surveillance planes fly at altitudes above 60,000 feet and can remain in
the air for over 24 hours. The Block 30 airframes sell for roughly $30
million apiece, not including their payloads. Raytheon's optical,
infrared and radar sensors let the aircraft scan large swaths of terrain
and transmit images in near real-time.

The Global Hawk was due to replace the Cold War-vintage U-2 spy plane in
2015, but those planes, built by Lockheed Martin, would now remain in
service until around 2023, the U.S. official said. The planes have been
used over Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya. They also were used over Japan
after the March earthquake, flying from Andersen AFB, Guam, and have
been used to track forest fires in California.

Can a Lighter-than-Air Spacecraft Enter Orbit?
High Power Rocketry

Among many other relevant technologies, JP Aerospace is investigating
the use of low thrust, high ISP ion thrusters to accelerate their
spacecraft from near space to orbit. These are not traditional rockets
made out of metal, but rather lighter-than-air spacecraft which float to
high altitude (over 100,000 feet) and then slowly accelerate and climb
to orbit using propellers and later plasma rockets. This kind of flight
is slow, but also gentle and quite inexpensive once the system gets
working. A minimal amount of fuel is required because much of the lift
and propulsion is done using lift gas and solar power.

When fuel is consumed, perhaps xenon for the plasma engines, it is burnt
at a very high isp, so that only a few kg are required to orbit
payloads. In addition to orbital craft, there are plans for massive
high-altitude stations where astronauts can live for extended periods.
Payloads can be held here for staging to orbital craft as well. Once in
orbit, the craft can drop payload, and slowly return to the Earth.
Because reentry is gradual, there may be ways to prevent the high-energy
reentry with the requisite heat and deceleration. If this can be done,
the spacecraft can reenter deep space, rendezvous with the large
floating station, and pick up a new payload. Refueling can be
accomplished by transferring minimal amounts, dozens of kg perhaps, of
propellant.

National Museum USAF Displays Declassified Reconnaissance Satellites
by Rob Bardua

Military, government and industry officials gathered Jan. 26 to
officially place three formerly classified reconnaissance satellites on
public display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the
U.S. Air Force here. The three satellites -- Gambit 1 KH-7, Gambit 3
KH-8 and Hexagon KH-9 -- were among the most important U.S. photo
reconnaissance systems used from the 1960s to the 1980s, and played a
critical role in winning the Cold War and maintaining U.S. national
security, officials said. Passing in space high over their targets,
these satellites used specially-designed film and cameras to take photos
in orbit. The satellites were unmanned and unlikely to be shot down, and
therefore minimized risks to military personnel while still obtaining
information about areas of the world that the U.S. could not access.
Led by the National Reconnaissance Office, the Department of Defense,
U.S. Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency and industry partners worked
together to create these amazingly complex and capable satellites,
officials said.

According to retired Air Force Gen. Bruce Carlson, the NRO director, NRO
reconnaissance systems -- from planes to satellites such as Gambit and
Hexagon -- have been and continue to be the foundation for global
situational awareness in protection of our nation. "Last year the NRO
celebrated its 50th anniversary, and we announced the declassification
of two NRO systems, Gambit and Hexagon, which were America's eyes in
space and the most sophisticated satellites of their time," Carlson
said. "These systems were critical for monitoring key targets in the
USSR and around the globe and provided much-needed cartographic
information to the DOD to produce accurate, large-scale maps."

Gambit 1 satellites were the first American high-resolution space
reconnaissance systems. This first generation of Gambit vehicle flew
from 1963-1967. Gambit 1 added important new close-up capability to
wide-search satellites already in use and were the first satellites to
feature stereo high resolution cameras. Gambit 3 satellites improved
upon the Gambit 1 by providing much better image resolution in tracking
adversaries' weapons development. Gambit 3 was a long-lived system and
completed 54 missions from 1966-1984. The most notable advancement from
Gambit 1 to Gambit 3 was the addition of a "roll joint" between the
camera module and the Agena control vehicle in the rear. This rolling
joint made the satellite extremely stable as a photo platform, conserved
film and increased the number of targets photographed. In addition, new
super-thin photographic film allowed the vehicle to carry more film.

Hexagon satellites were the largest and last U.S. intelligence
satellites to return photographic film to earth. Hexagon provided vital
intelligence and mapping photos from space that allowed U.S. planners to
counter Cold War threats. Between 1971 and 1984, 19 Hexagon missions
imaged 877 million square miles of the earth's surface. Objects smaller
than two feet across could be imaged from around 80-100 miles altitude.
Analysts could search broad and wide areas for threats with Hexagon and
then focus in on suspect areas with surveillance from Gambit satellites.
Both Gambit and Hexagon systems returned exposed film to earth in
re-entry vehicles or "buckets" that separated from the satellite, fell
through the atmosphere, and descended by parachute. Air Force aircraft
were assigned to pluck the buckets from the sky at around 15,000 feet.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, the director of the National
Museum of the U.S. Air Force, said the three satellites are a great
addition for the Air Force's national museum because the Air Force
played a key role in space reconnaissance from the beginning. "Gambit
1, Gambit 3 and Hexagon satellites are significant and rare artifacts,
which will enable us to better present the story of Air Force operations
in space," Hudson said. "The Air Force has provided launch, tracking,
control and range safety services for reconnaissance satellites
throughout the entire Cold War, and it continues these activities
today." To commemorate the event, Hudson presented Carlson with a
painting of the Hexagon satellite by nationally recognized artist and
Dayton, Ohio, resident Dr. Richard Black, which was commissioned by the
Air Force Museum Foundation. Eventually, the satellites will be placed
in the museum's planned fourth building, which will house the Space
Gallery, Presidential Aircraft Gallery and Global Reach Gallery.

1/24/12

2012-01-24T13:46:00.000-06:00

Title: FY 12 EELV Launch Services

Sol. #:

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Space Command

Location: SMC - Space and Missile Systems Center

Posted On: Jan 17, 2012 1:36 pm

Base Type: Award Notice

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFSC/SMCSMSC/Awards/FA8811-11-C-0001-P00012.html

Video: MSP Overview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDH5il6FFiM

Article: Jim Gooddall on Aurora in Av Week

http://books.google.com/books?id=IDpkBfTEN-4C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=jim+goodall+aurora+socal&source=bl&ots=RqvSLHT00T&sig=QZdQMITA70L1oHKd2pAB67MUgW4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s_QZT8zhAc36ggeE2dT2Cw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=jim%20goodall%20aurora%20socal&f=false

Video: Roll a Tube Composite Structures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ5w8xoi1IU

Image: New Tecnam Aircraft

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/2/6/d2e2c700-d7e3-424f-a6d9-8ffc030829dd.Full.jpg

RQ-170s Still Flying

Strategy Page

The U.S. Air Force recently announced that it knew what had caused one of its RQ-170 UAVs to crash in Iran two months ago. But the air force would not reveal details, except to say that Iran had nothing to do with the UAV crash landing. The air force did say that, because they had figured out what brought the RQ-170 down, they were continuing to fly RQ-170s on reconnaissance missions. The air force also revealed that the RQ-170 lost in Iran was being operated by the CIA. The RQ-170 first showed up in Afghanistan and South Korea two years ago. The U.S. Air Force then admitted that this was a high altitude reconnaissance UAV developed in secret by Lockheed-Martin during the previous decade. It has a 12 meter (40 foot) wingspan. The RQ-170 is believed to be a replacement for some of the U-2s and a supplemental aircraft for the larger Global Hawk (which has a 42 meter wingspan.) RQ-170s have been operating over Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran for at least a year. There are many mysteries surrounding the loss of the RQ-170 in Iran. For example, on December 8th Iran displayed what appeared to be an American RQ-170, which they claimed had landed intact in Iran two weeks earlier. Iran claimed they had hijacked the control signals for the RQ-170 and landed it themselves. This seemed highly unlikely but not impossible. Experts on Iranian military technology immediately suspected something else. First, the Iranians are constantly lying about their military exploits, especially when it comes to developing new weapons and technology. This is apparently done mainly for domestic propaganda as satellite photos never show more than a few prototypes of these wonder-weapons.

Then many Americans familiar with the RQ-170 carefully studied the pictures of the "captured" RQ-170 and immediately suspected something was off. For one thing, the RQ-170 shown was the right size and shape but the wrong color. Not just a different color from that seen on many photos of the RQ-170s in Afghanistan but also a color unknown in American military service. A closer examination of the Iranian RQ-170 photos indicated that the Iranians had reassembled an RQ-170 that had crashed and broken into three or more pieces. Then the Iranians apparently gave the UAV a new paint job (which was obvious to anyone seeing those photos.) At the moment, the only things one can be sure of is that the American operators of the UAV lost the satellite signal connection with the RQ-170 and the aircraft eventually crashed. There was no indication of Iranians jamming the satellite signal. Iran has jammed satellite signals before, but only with wide area entertainment programming, not encrypted UAV control signals. Thus many mysteries remain but some have been cleared up because the Iranians could not resist creating a photo opportunity. Exactly why this UAV came down, and how damaging the loss of aircraft and sensor technology is, won't be known for years. Losses like this have occurred for decades and do have an impact. For example, U.S. cruise missiles that crashed in Pakistan (on their way to Afghanistan) in the 1990s clearly influenced the design of a Pakistani cruise missile. American warplanes that crashed in North Vietnam during the 1960s provided some tech for China and Russia, but nothing decisive.

New Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Unveiled
by Robert Wall

In another indication that the maritime surveillance market is showing no sign of softening even as defense spending comes under pressure, a group of companies -- Indra, Selex Galileo, FLIR Systems, Airborne Technologies and Tecnam -- have unveiled a new maritime surveillance venture. The program is built on Tecnam's light twin-engine P2006T and should be ready for entry into service by year end, Indra says in a statement announcement the effort. The maritime surveillance system is designed to provide surveillance of areas located up to 200 mi. offshore. The goal appears to be to provide a system more capable than helicopters, yet at lower cost than higher-end maritime surveillance aircraft. The sensor suite would include a forward looking infrared/electro-optical device, Galileo's Seaspray 5000E radar, and an automatic ship identification system.

Lockheed Martin Moves Ahead with Developing Green Hybrid

by John Keller

Systems designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. in Eagan, Minn., are moving ahead with a U.S. Air Force-sponsored project to develop and demonstrate a green hybrid small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that runs on renewable energy as part of the second phase of the Air Force Small Unmanned Renewable enerGy long Endurance Vehicle (SURGE-V) program. Lockheed Martin won a $1.1 million contract Friday for development and ground demonstration of the integrated power system and payload into a SURGE-V hybrid UAV aircraft. Lockheed Martin and Elbit Systems of America LLC in Fort Worth, Texas, were selected last May to develop a green hybrid propulsion system for the SURGE-V green UAV program. The SURGE-V unmanned aircraft is to be a hybrid-powered manpackable UAV that weighs less than 20 pounds and is able to carry a 4-pound electro-optical payload on missions over rough terrain lasting for at least four hours. The latest contract, awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, represents the next phase of SURGE-V engine development and demonstration.

The SURGE-V UAV must be small enough to be carried and operated by one person for battlefield situational awareness missions. The hybrid-powered UAV must be able to land on rough terrain, and operate in winds stronger than 35 knots, in temperatures as cold as 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and at altitudes as high as 25,000 feet in sandy, dusty conditions, as well as in fog, light rain and snow, and high humidity. Lockheed Martin will develop the advanced power and propulsion system, as well as the SURGE-V aircraft, in a simulated operational environment. Designers will optimize the power and propulsion system for weight, volume, ruggedization, and performance. Lockheed Martin engineers will test the SURGE-V aircraft and engine to MIL-STD-810G standards for shock and vibration, and demonstrate that the integrated UAV system is aerodynamically stable, capable of producing sufficient power-to-weight ratios for adequate climb performance, and has sufficient endurance in a simulated operational environment. Lockheed Martin may do work on the SURGE-V program at a location other than Eagan, Minn., because the company plans to close the Eagan facility by 2013. Last May Lockheed Martin and Elbit designed the SURGE-V hybrid propulsion system that runs on renewable energy. Now Lockheed Martin will concentrate on demonstrating the integrated power system and payload on a SURGE-V UAV. Ultimately, the Air Force may give Lockheed Martin the go-ahead to conduct flight demonstrations of the integrated system.

1/20/12

2012-01-20T10:31:00.000-06:00

Video: Night Landing in Los Angeles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpA3ORYlgGs

Req: Staff Engineer - Westlake Village
http://www.mbdainc.com/employment/westlake-se11R-09.php

Image: Northrop Stealth Cargo Aircraft
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2012/01/17/ERA%20Cargo%20Aircraft%20560.jpg

MIT Calculates UAV 'Speed Limit'
by Kate Taylor

Many birds can zip at high speed through a forest without crashing into trees. But, say MIT researchers, there's a top speed at which this is possible, and it's an important factor in designing drones. Currently, most UAVs fly pretty slowly, particularly if navigating around obstacles, mainly so that they can stop within the field of view of their sensors. "If I can only see up to five meters, I can only go up to a speed that allows me to stop within five meters, which is not very fast," says Emilio Frazzoli, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. If the northern goshawk, for example, used this strategy, it would travel a lot more slowly, says Frazzoli. Instead, he suggests, the bird likely gauges the density of trees and speeds past obstacles, knowing intuitively that, given a certain forest density, it can always find an opening through the trees. Frazzoli points out that a similar intuition exists in downhill skiing.

"When you go skiing off the path, you don't ski in a way that you can always stop before the first tree you see," he says. "You ski and you see an opening, and then you trust that once you go there, you'll be able to see another opening and keep going." Frazzoli and his team developed mathematical models of various forest densities, calculating the maximum speed possible in each environment. And they found that, for any given forest density, there exists a critical speed above which there is no "infinite collision-free trajectory." - in other words, the bird is sure to crash. Below this speed, though, a bird has a good chance of flying without incident. "If I fly slower than that critical speed, then there is a fair possibility that I will actually be able to fly forever, always avoiding the trees," Frazzoli says. For UAVs, this means that no matter how good robots get at sensing and reacting to their environments, there will always be a maximum speed that they'll need to observe to make sure they survive.

The team's now checking to see whether this theory applies in nature, watching how birds fly through cluttered environments. So far, they say, their observations fit well with the theory. Next, Frazzoli wants to see how close humans can come to such theoretical speed limits, and is developing a first-person flying game. "What we want to do is have people play, and we'll just collect statistics," Frazzoli says. "And the question is, how close to the theoretical limit can we get?"

Lockheed Martin Acquires Procerus Technologies
Press Release

Lockheed Martin today announced the acquisition of Procerus Technologies, a company specializing in autopilot and other avionics for micro unmanned aerial systems. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but are not material to Lockheed Martin’s results. “This acquisition is consistent with our focus on acquiring capabilities that enhance our product portfolio and align with our customers’ strategic priorities,” said Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO. “Small unmanned aerial vehicles are low-cost, highly effective tools for our military, and the expertise Procerus brings will enhance the value we offer to our customers.” Founded in 2004 and based in Orem, Utah, Procerus is a privately held company that provides autopilot, targeting and payload technologies for micro UAS to domestic and international governments, as well as industry and academic institutions. Among its key technologies is the Kestrel autopilot system, the smallest and lightest full-featured micro autopilot system on the market – ideal for surveillance and reconnaissance applications.

“Our purpose is to bring innovative and meaningful technologies to this critical capability for the military and future customers,” said Todd Titensor, chief executive officer, Procerus Technologies. “Becoming a part of Lockheed Martin will allow us to advance these goals and accelerate our ability to reach them more quickly.” Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2) will manage the Procerus business. MS2, based in Washington, D.C., is part of the Corporation’s Electronic Systems business area and has experience within this area with its Desert Hawk, Persistent Threat Detection System aerostats, K-MAX unmanned helicopter system, and high altitude airship programs.

1/18/12

2012-01-18T01:12:00.001-06:00

Title: Shallow Water Agile Submarine Hunting (SWASH)

Sol. #: DARPA-BAA-11-41

Agency: Other Defense Agencies

Office: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Location: Contracts Management Office

Posted On: Jan 13, 2012 12:57 pm

Base Type: Award Notice

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/Awards/HR0011-12-C-0020.html

Title: 15 - Light Air Support Program IDIQ Single Source Award for non-developmental aircraft procured for conducting advanced flight training, surveillance, air interdiction and close air support.

Sol. #:

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Materiel Command

Location: ASC - Aeronautical Systems Center

Posted On: Jan 12, 2012 11:45 am

Base Type: Award Notice

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ASC/Awards/FA863712D6001.html

Video: Burnelli Aircraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosTXSDPAvI

Image: Boeing Low Observable Mystery Missile

http://defensetech.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/JABMR.jpg

Video: SDI MIRACL Laser Weapon System

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1WjrJdFno

Article: Kestrel Aircraft Moving to Wisconsin

http://www.pressherald.com/news/tax-plan-trumps-maines-bid-for-kestrel-_2012-01-17.html

Image: Graphic on RQ-170

http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/fo1208-sentinel-drone2.jpg

An Employee's Experience at NCTF

ATS Forum

Its October of 1976. I am in the US Navy, and stationed as Willow Grove Naval Air Station, PA. I was an AW1, SS1 position on a Lockheed P3B Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft. We were on our way on a cross-country flight to Moffet Field, CA. for a training exercise. Our first stop was NAS New Orleans, a reserve base, where we picked up some frozen shrimp and tucked them away in coolers. After a quick fuel stop, we continued on to Moffet, which would be the next stop. As soon as we entered Nevada, the #4 engine (a turbo-prop) started to go haywire, it started making a vibrating noise, spun down and the pilot got it re-started, and then it caught on fire. Bright flames out of the exhaust and then flames from the cowling area in the front part of the engine nacelle. The pilot directed the fire extinguishing plumbing to that engine, all of them, but it just got worse. He feathered the prop, but the engine remained burning, which seemed a possible fuel leak. He shut off all the fuel to that engine but it just remained on fire. We were in trouble.

These engines use synthetic oil, which is non-flammable. We had an out of control fire, possibly caused by a fuel breach, and could do nothing about it. An engine in an uncontrolled fire, on a wing filled with 1000lbs of fuel is a bomb in about 5 minutes. The pilot started a fuel transfer to the other tanks, but then had to jettison fuel out of the plane. What a fireball that turned out to be, but not as dangerous as the engine itself on fire. The pilot radioed an emergency to the controller in charge, which turned out to be in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas controller did not think the plane could make it that far (nor did our pilot) so they pulled the air emergency, all areas alert, which brought up an air force controller who directed the plane to a place in the desert where there was no navigation on the maps. He took control and vectored the plane in to a place between mountains. We were desperate. Upon touchdown, there were vehicles spraying foam on the runway as we hit the runway way above normal speed.

Fortunately, the pilot locked up the landing gear and we skidded off the runway to a stop. The emergency vehicles quickly had the engine fire out and they sent a bus out to pick us all up. When getting on the bus, there were armed marines on board, and they told us that we were in a place called "Little Rock", and they were going to take us to an air force barracks on the base and put us up. We were told that we were not allowed to leave that area until our plane was repaired, and to just make the best of it until we would be escorted back to the airfield. We were really all tired, and just did what they said. The barracks were nothing like I had ever seen. It was plush, with individual rooms for everyone, a recreation area and private bar, which we got very familiar with. That night, a few air force enlisted came by and talked to us. They told us that this base was a strategic outpost and we could not go anywhere unless they came with us. A few of us needed some supplies, so they took us in a jeep and we went to a small commissary. They would not let us pay for anything, just gave us what we wanted.

Upon talking with some of the enlisted air force guys, they said the place was at least 50 miles from the nearest town, and they had to have musicians and girls bused in there, as they were not allowed to leave by car, which he said none of them had anyway. The only way they could leave that base was by aircraft. He said the civilians that worked there came in on a daily basis from Las Vegas. We had dinner in a fantastic dining facility and then drinks all night at the bar. It was unbelievable actually, but we soon found out we could not call anyone and the 'military' would take care of notifying all of our people back home that everything was alright, and we would be on our way out of there as soon as our aircraft was repaired. Now, the P3B had serious problems, not only was the engine toasted, but we had done damage to the landing gear and tires when the pilots locked her up, as well as other ancillary problems.

We got a great night's sleep, and in the morning were rousted out for a great breakfast, and told the aircraft was again repaired and air-worthy. The plane captain could not believe it, since this was the fastest turnaround he had ever seen. Normally, the plane captain would be part of the repair crew, but they would never let him near the bird all night, and he had to stay with the rest of us. A Lockheed P3B was an aging species, and parts would have taken days to get there normally. We were amazed. They bussed us out to the tarmac , and now that it was daylight, we could see all of these hangars in rows. Each had a marine in front of the door with rifle in hand. This was definitively not your normal air force base. They took us to the plane, all gassed up and ready to go. We took off and made it to Moffet before nightfall and our shrimp were still cold!

As it turns out, we were at Area 51, but in 1976, it was not called that then, as the first person had told us, they called it "Little Rock"., but we were not in Arkansas... I had met up with our navigator years later, and we went through the ground plot of the flight. What a revelation, and What a story , eh? I thought some of you might enjoy this, and welcome to comments of experiences like this, where you just did not know how much value an event had, until years later.

Textron Unveils Modified Aerosonde

by Zach Rosenberg

Textron has unveiled an updated version of the Aerosonde small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) featuring a heavy fuel engine and modified wings. The changes will allow the aircraft to survive harsh recoveries. Referred to internally as the 'RG,' the latest Aerosonde model is a modification of the Mk 4.7 and includes the aircraft's same 6.8kg (15lb) payload capacity. The changes include a 3kW (4hp) heavy fuel engine, built by Orbital, to meet US military requirements. The increased power allows the aircraft to generate up to 300 watts for payloads, allowing greater choice and flexibility for operators. The Aerosonde's wing is mounted slightly lower on the fuselage, replaced by communications equipment that benefits from airflow cooling. The wing is substantially strengthened both internally and externally, allowing the aircraft to survive more recoveries, which are made by flying the aircraft into a net. The launch process has been changed from a fuselage-gripping sling to wing-mounted brackets. The development process took 12 months, according to Textron, and six of the new aircraft have been built to date. The new version of Aerosonde will be included in bids for major US military UAV contracts, including ISR Services and MUAS.

Boeing’s Mystery Missile

Defense Tech

Could this be the secret new strike weapons Boeing executives told a bunch of us reporters the company was working on during the Farnborough air show in 2010? I spotted the mystery weapon in Boeing’s booth at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference here in Washington. I’d never seen the design or the name before so I promptly asked about it; no one staffing the booth claimed to know any more than I did about the weapon (they did, however, give me a refresher on their railgun tech). Here’s what Bill Sweetman wrote at Av Week after a Boeing official’s admission that it had a secret new strike weapon (I’ve got to admit, I was in the room, but chose to write about the new stealthy Super Hornet that Boeing unveiled at the same press conference.):

Boeing is in production on at least one “proprietary” strike weapon system, claims Shelley Lavender, vice president and general manager of global strike systems. But Lavender refused July 20 at the Farnborough International Airshow to provide more information when pressed. “I have nothing further for you on that,” the executive said.

Could it be a Tomahawk cruise missile/AGM-86 replacement; a part of the so called, “family” of next-gen strike systems being designed for use by the Navy and the Air Force? Maybe it will be a stealthy, stand-off cruise missile meant to fit inside the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s internal weapons bay. Remember, the stealthy AGM-158B Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Munition is too large to be carried inside the F-35, meaning that it would compromise the jet’s stealth if carried aboard the wings. Norway is already working on a stand-off missile that would fit inside the F-35’s weapons bay. Competition? Maybe it has to do with this penetrating weapon that’s intended to be a mini–MOP carried by the F-35. It could also be some new, new name for the Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Munition, though the air-breathing weapon above doesn’t look much like an air-to-air missile.

U.S. Still Using Drones Like One Downed in Iran

by Andrea Shalal-Esa

The U.S. Air Force understands what caused the crash of one of its unmanned spy drones over Iran late last year and continues to use that type of drone, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said. Schwartz, in an interview with Reuters this week, said the drones are providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data to military commanders. U.S. officials reject Iran's claim that it brought down the stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel built by Lockheed Martin Corp, but remain tight-lipped about what caused the crash. U.S. officials told Reuters last month that they were investigating a combination of pilot error and technical malfunction as possible causes. Schwartz declined comment on the outcome of the investigation, but said the Air Force now understood what caused the crash and was continuing to use the rest of the service's RQ-170 spy planes to provide data.

"The key thing is that it's an ISR system that we use to provide capabilities to the combatant commanders and we'll continue to do so," Schwartz said in an interview. He also said the crash had not raised concerns about work on the classified spy plane by Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier. The Air Force operates "more than a handful" of the unmanned spy planes, and continues to fly them out of Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to one senior defense official and a former senior official, neither of whom could speak publicly given the sensitive nature of the program. The plane lost in Iran was on a mission for the CIA, but the Air Force also uses the planes for other surveillance missions over Afghanistan, the officials said. The radar-evading aircraft measures over 40 feet from wing tip to wing tip, and carries a full-motion video sensor that was used last year by U.S. intelligence to monitor al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan ahead of the raid that killed him. It features special coatings that make it nearly invisible to enemy radar.

Lockheed has declined comment on the Iran incident or what might have gone wrong with the plane, which came out of the company's secretive Skunk Works facility in southern California. Company officials have referred all questions about the incident to the Air Force, which first acknowledged the existence of the drone in December 2009. Iran announced on December 4 it had downed the spy plane in the eastern part of the country, near Afghanistan. It subsequently showed an image of the apparently intact plane on television and said it was close to cracking its technological secrets. The loss of the plane sparked some concerns that sophisticated technology could fall into the hands of China or other countries that are actively developing their own unmanned planes. The main concern about technology Iran could pilfer from the drone centers on the special coatings on the craft's surface. The computers onboard the drone are believed to have been heavily encrypted and its sensors were not the most sophisticated tools in the U.S. arsenal.

Aircraft Manufacturer Kestrel Picks Wisconsin Over Maine

Portland Press Herald

Kestrel Aircraft, which plans to build a composites-intensive single-engine turboprop, has decided to build its manufacturing plant in Wisconsin after Maine officials failed to secure adequate financing for the company. Kestrel announced in 2010 that it would move to Brunswick Landing, Maine, and employ as many as 600 workers building a new type of six- to eight-passenger turboprop plane. According to the report, the state of Wisconsin developed a stronger plan to provide federal tax credits for the $100 million manufacturing facility. Alan Klapmeier, Kestrel's CEO and chairman, said some Maine officials have failed to follow through on a financing plan that he thought was in place in 2010. "We did not say, 'Tell us your best offer and we'll go and play it against someone else,'" Klapmeier told the newspaper in a Jan. 13 report, and the company isn't interested in trying to "take a bunch of money from people and then go and take a bunch of money from someone else."

According to the Jan. 17 report, on Jan. 13, Maine Gov. Paul LePage announced a total of $7.75 million in possible loan guarantees to bridge a financing gap. Wisconsin proposed financing involving the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program. The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority will provide $30 million in tax credit allocations immediately, a second allocation of $30 million by the end of this year, and a commitment for a third allocation of $30 million in 2013 if the authority has it available, Klapmeier said. By comparison, the company received a $20 million tax credit allocation in Maine and the status of future allocations was unclear. The report says Kestrel plans to keep 25 engineering support and aircraft modification jobs in Brunswick and then add functions, said Klapmeier.

Photo Analysis of the RQ-170 Sentinel Drone in Iranian Hands

Aviation Intel

We were first to post the story yesterday by almost an hour, thanks to some fantastic international patrons of aviationintel.com, and I have yet to find any in-depth analysis of the evidence presented by the Iranian Government of what appears to be an RQ-170 Sentinel displayed in a basketball gym, almost fully intact. The experts have chimed in all over the networks and print media, and I have to say this is even worse superficial analysis than the Stealth Blackhawk tail fiasco back in May (a story we were over a day ahead of anyone else, broken on the Lars Larson National Radio Program). I am not trying to sing my own praises here, I am just trying to underline that you have to be careful who you listen to. Just because they may work for a well-known news outlet it does not mean their commentary is totally informed. One “expert” today even said the drone was a fake because the wings were drooping. Apparently he did not look at the evidence for more than a couple of seconds, as this is fully explained by the pictures that have been distributed. Others have said that the drone is the wrong color. Have they ever been in a gym with sodium lights and wood floors? All whites can look beige, especially to the odd white balance metering in modern SLR and video cameras.

In this piece we are going to look at the photo evidence in-depth, then we are going to talk about the unique appearance and qualities of the RQ-170 and it’s possible origins. Finally, we are going to talk about the circumstances that could have occurred that would have resulted in such an aircraft being left almost totally intact after a supposed crash or loss total of control. This should round out a 360 degree picture of what is going on with the incredible developments on this story in the last 24 hours as well as address the explosion of chatter heard on television, in newspapers and especially on the internet concerning this topic.

The Photographic Evidence:

Red Arrow: This is very reminiscent of the radar diffuser/mesh grill found on the first generation stealth F-117A Nighthawk. This is a key point as the RQ-170 most likely was designed using rapid prototype efficiencies, commercially available subsystems, and a balance between low observability and risk to national security in mind. This is what I call “expendable stealth.”

Blue Arrow: Although the airframe is generally intact, the leading edge has been scuffed and even perforated in some areas. This is a telltale sign of a hard, but flat landing.

Red Arrow: Why nobody has taken the high-resolution photo files and put them into Photoshop to blow out the details is beyond me. A huge tell in whether or not this thing is real or a fake would be what lies behind the intake radar diffuser. In this case it appears to be exactly what should be there, a jet motor with possibly some type of radar blocker covering the fan face. If this was a hastily designed mockup I seriously doubt the Iranians, who had full control of what images were released, would have formed such a smooth inlet and actually placed a motor inside. This is possibly the largest piece of evidence found during my analysis, and you have not seen it anywhere else but aviationintel.com! Sometimes it actually pays to be a professional photographer in these matters because you can utilize basic editing tools to bring out details that are not apparent in the images in the state that they are distributed.

This picture highlights the smooth lines of the specimen, it has well-formed continuous radius edges. When the same picture is filtered, converted to black and white and cropped down we see some sort of seam filler covering something that seems to be designed into the airframe’s leading edge. The black tape is also a mystery but this contoured covering material is there for a reason. Is there a radar array imbedded behind this, similar to the B-2? Or are these possibly antennas for the aircraft’s ESM suite?

This is the top of the same picture blown up and heavily filtered.

Blue Arrow - The “access panel” and fine details on the spine of the machine do match the fuzzy pictures we have seen of the Sentinel flying out of its home base at Kandahar airfield. These broad lines actually appear to have some dimension to them, very reminiscent of the tape and gap fillers used on the F-117, B-2 and F-22 around access points and radar reflecting edges, although even then they a look a little “drawn on” in this picture. Frankly, from this angle it's hard to tell.

Orange Arrow - At first I thought this was truly the tell that would determine that this thing is a bogus specimen. Those screw holes and that access plate looks totally drawn on, in fact it looks like they actually drew one line to long and abruptly stopped once they went past the corner. We have all done that when stenciling as kids right? The screw holes look totally fake, like they were just sharpied on the thing to make it look like a functioning machine. At first glance, this evidence really had me convinced that this was a prop of sorts, built in haste by the Iranians to satisfy a propaganda need at home and the world’s hunger for evidence that they actually did have a Sentinel in their grasp. But then I was able to capture the picture below…

Blue & Red Arrows- Once again, in this picture you can see that stray line that emanates from the bottom left hand side of the access hatch closest to the intake. But on closer evaluation it is apparent that this is most likely a piece of tape sealer that is come up on that edge. Further, an outline of some degrading tape sealer seems to be viewable along the area where the black “screws” are visible. In other words, it looks like these apparent defects are actually just that, defects, and not “drawn on” to the machine to make it look more realistic and representative of the photos available on the net. There may very well be an operational use for indicating where the panel and it’s screws lie underneath a sealant of some type for future maintenance access. So basically this went from a deal breaker for me to an area in question, but in no means a total disqualifier, as the photos available do not show close enough detail to rule one way or another.

Yellow & Green Arrows- This looks very much like the seams and slight variances in color and texture seen in the low quality photos captured out of Kandahar of the RQ-170. Further, these tape sealers or antenna cowlings really run with normal stealth manufacturing still seen today, but its especially prevalent on 20-year-old designs such as the B-2 Spirit. The taping and treating of service panels and radar reflective joints is also the notorious reason as to why operating stealth aircraft is so cost prohibitive. It's simply very time-consuming to constantly have to keep up the stealth coatings, especially in high use areas like access panels. Once again, nothing here is definitive but it’s also not a disqualifier in any means.

Red Arrow - In these two photos (one the original, the other a close-up crop of it) we see what is undoubtedly the largest area of trauma on the RQ-170. It looks as if the wings either broke off, were sawed off, or if this is a fake they were made crudely and separately, so they just put tape and epoxy over the ill-fitting joints. If the wings broke off during a hard landing it may have been due to a weak point in that area where the carbon fiber fuselage was attached to the carbon fiber wings. This would make sense as it would allow for wing flex and transportation. This would also jive with large component, low volume modular construction and rapid prototyping and production techniques (more about this later).

Alternatively, the Iranians very well could have been sawed off the wings in order to transport the aircraft as fast as possible away from the crash site, as the Iranians are knowingly paranoid of being watched at all times via the air (for good reason right?!). Further, they would have known that there would very well be a cruise missile or even an assault force headed their way. In such a case why not just saw the wings off and get it out of crash area? Further, it apparently had to fit in a school gym, and not many gyms I know of have massive hangar doors to move crashed drones in and out of. You may have asked yourself why in the hell is it in a gym, looking very much like a really smart high schooler’s experiment at the championship science fair? Simple, because the Iranians knew this was a BIG deal for the US and that the Americans would want to destroy their secret drone before letting it fall into Iranian hands, and we now know that such a strike and/or raid was being highly considered in Washington at this time. So why not store it in an urban environment, in a place full of children, and most certainly surrounded by innocent civilians? Human shields are simply the largest deterrent in a case like this so a very simple solution ended up probably being the best strategic one for the Iranians, although the “optics” do at first appear very strange.

Finally, there is the possibility that the wings were fabricated separate from the fuselage by the Iranians and they just didn’t fit right when they tried to put it all together, so they just taped and glued it together. I find this highly doubtful as the quality overall is just fantastic, why would the fake wing joints be made so terribly when the rest of the airframe is top notch? No matter what, both wings are broken is similar places on both sides of the fuselage, so something uniform, whether it was a structural failure on landing, cutting for transportation, or super shoddy craftsmanship by an Iranian “hoax” construction team, the aircraft did break in three distinct and symmetrical parts.

Green Arrow - Further evidence of light stress and impact damage along the leading edge. This is a screencap from the video that aired on Iranian Television.

Red Arrow - The seam of the broken wing on the other side of the fuselage.

Green Arrow - The most clear evidence of impact damage on the airframe’s leading edge. It looks like the aircraft actually hit something hard enough to buckle the structural integrity of the leading edge.

Red Arrow - This is the same small dark blister we have seen in all the RQ-170 shots taken over the last few years at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Blue Arrow - Further underside/leading edge damage.

Green Arrow - Incredibly detailed and well matched rear paneling as seen in some of the pictures of the RQ-170 in the past.

Yellow- The “Beak” molding is very accurate when compared to all other pictures of the RQ-170. These are very fluid lines that would seem to be fairly hard to match exactly on this scale off of tiny, low resolution photographs.

Red Arrow - Here is a close-up crop of the same picture. What appears to be some sort of highly detailed exhaust (possibly an environmental control system component like a heat exchanger) or array of some sort has a noticeable “saw tooth” stealth treatment as well as a grill of some sort, possibly similar to the one seen on the RQ-170's intake. This is the largest such component seen on the aircraft’s upper skin so it might have required a slightly more elaborate low observable treatment in order to bring it in line with the rest of the aircraft’s radar signature. This is a very unique and specific detail to have been simply be “dreamt up” by the Iranians in an attempt at hoax. Further, it looks very much like some of the vents and apertures that we have seen on the F-117, B-2 and even the F-22.

Another screen capture from the Iranian TV video. I love this shot, it's the only one from behind the aircraft.

Red Arrow - Fully articulated flaps and ailerons just as they appear in prior photos. This is really heavy detail and unnecessary for a simple “proof of capture” photograph. A high degree of craftsmanship and production quality can be seen by the even seams and tight fit of the control surfaces.

Blue Arrow - More of that incredibly accurate detail work on the rear of fuselage. Lots of taped off panels and surfaces here just as in prior photos.

This is far and away my favorite picture of the lot. Although it does not offer particularly exciting evidence like the enhanced intake shot, it does show how large and elaborate this machine truly is. I have heard “experts” talk a lot about how this thing is way to small compared to their expectations. But the dimensions given by the Iranians of about 26 meters wide with a length of 4.5 meters and height of 1.84 meters puts it exactly where it should be based on the pictures taken at Kandahar over the years. In some shots it was maybe 40% higher than a runway marker, that is pretty damn short, so this specimen makes perfect sense. In addition, flying wings are very deceiving size wise at first glance. Side-on the B-2 looks about the size of a F-111, head-on it looks like a monster, and from above it looks like a flying pancake, so just because something as unfamiliar as a flying wing looks small from a certain angle, it is in fact not small at all, and offers a tremendous amount of volume for fuel and payload. For me, this picture really puts it over the edge. If the aircraft is indeed a fake, it is a finer prop than Northrup Grumman’s X-47B full sized mockup that is used to sell their UCAV concepts. This is something that the NG folks had finished plans of the real McCoy to model it off of and spent weeks, if not months building. Yet you still can easily tell that the X-47 mockup is just a model. The Sentinel in Iranian hands is far, far more elaborate and convincing. And they built this in what? FOUR DAYS?

Here is where I stand on the evidence:

Why It Is Fake:

- The outline that runs a little too long along the top access panel, and the odd over dramatic screw like spots that run along its edge, although another shot lended some explanation to this, something just fills odd about it.

- The fact that we are not able to view the bottom of the aircraft. Then again why would the Iranians want to show damage to the aircraft? It would makes their accomplishment more believable but less impressive. Further, landing gear would be very hard to reproduce or “mockup,” as they are complicated and very distinctive in appearance compared to the rest of the RQ-170's flowing lines and broad, molded surfaces. Also it would give away the Sentinel’s sensor configuration, as that is where the electo-optical turret and faceted window enclosure is located. Think about it, why give the lemons to China and Russia for free when you can just give them a taste of the lemonade?

- The wings being detached and crudely fashioned to the airframe could be interpreted as a sign that it is a hoax, although I doubt this is due to shoddy workmanship as the rest of the article is top-notch, but it's an issue to consider.

- No photos have been provided of the doomed drone right after the crash. Without an idea of how on earth this thing landed or crashed and survived in such great shape will make many think it is just impossible. Pictures of the aircraft at the crash site would explain this mystery to some extent and it would lend serious weight to the Iranian’s claims.

- Some news outlet’s unnamed government sources are saying that the DoD pulled the crash site up on satellite once the location of the Sentinel’s demise was found and saw a large debris field. This would make sense as any uncontrolled crash usually ends up in fiery destruction right? Not always. We will discuss more about this later. But if indeed there was a debris field where the DoD thought it had crashed there is nothing to say the Iranians did not create one once they quickly hauled the wreckage away. People do not give the Iranian military enough credit, aside from the politics of situation, the Iranian military is much more resourceful than most would ever believe.

- The photos EXIF data (data embedded into the image when it is shot) says the pictures of the drone were taken with a 5D Mark II using a 28mm lens and common armature settings on SEPTEMBER 17th 2011. This is strange, but not unheard of. In fact one of my 5D Mark II’s has the wrong date set in it right now! The only explanation for this beyond a simple setting error is that the Iranians were ready for such an occurrence and had an elaborate mockup ready to go. This may be the strongest evidence against the validity of the Iranian’s claim so far and you heard it right here first @ aviationintel.com!

Why It Is Real:

- The fact that there appears to be a motor behind that radar diffuser/mesh grill and a well designed intake leading to jet’s fan face or radar blocker is a detail that did not have to be included for a hoax. This is a pretty hardcore detail that the Iranian’s did not have to provide for simple photographic proof regarding the issue.

- The intake radar diffuser/mesh grill is an interesting add-on to the story and does make a lot of sense with that design. Its dated technology, something that goes along with the “expendable stealth” mindset, and would help reduce any radar returns within the engine inlet. Further, in many pictures taken prior to the incident the inlet appears almost solid in nature. Given strange anomalies with lower end cameras and camera phones, under tough lighting condition this would explain this appearance and it would also explain why the inlet appears black under darker light conditions.

- The damage along the leading edge lends itself to a hard landing in a field, possibly one where the gear collapsed. Remember, as a flying wing, when the aircraft lands hard it has a much lower chance of “digging in” and performing somersaults and tearing itself apart. It spreads its weight along all that bottom surface area making it possible that it could land in a field without destroying itself. At least there is damage present and the omission of the undercarriage would help explain this.

- All the fine details are there, right where they should be based on the photographs we have seen of the Sentinel. Even tight-fitting control surfaces and taped access panels etc. The detail and symmetry of the article presented are simply amazing. Like I said before, Northrop Grumman’s marketing team did not pull off such an accurate and believable replica and they had all the time and money in the world to make it happen.

- The big picture is truly what is most impressive about the aircraft on display, and that is a big deal. The overall size, slope of the edges, the roundness of its beak, everything is present and accounted for. With aircraft models, the fine details can all be present, but if one line is off or one piece of geometry out of whack, the whole thing would look like a Ferrari kit car. Well it does not, it looks exact to an undeniable and elaborate degree. Even how the two communications ”humps” blend perfectly into the body, something that seems fake and unnatural, but it's something that grabbed out attention about the RQ-170 years ago. It simply looks grown not built!

So my final conclusion is this: ITS REAL. Somehow, whether by luck or skill, Iran has possession of an intact RQ-170 Sentinel Drone built by Lockheed Skunk Works within the last decade. I am 75% sure of this at this point, and that is good enough for me to take a position on it, and I am happy to be proven wrong, but I do not think I will be in this case. Yesterday morning, when I was first to post this story thanks to some AWESOME readers from abroad, I was on the other side of this equation. I said at first glance, before I could really go through the evidence, there was a 35% chance of it being legitimate, and a 65% chance that it is a hoax. Now, after hours of close examination, a little Photoshop investigative work, and a lot of deductive reasoning, the tables have totally turned back around and then some, and I am confident that what you see in the photos and in the Iranian TV video is truly what you get.

The Unique “Organic” Look of the RQ-170

A lot of people have commented about how the RQ-170 looks like it was a plastic mold, or made out of paper mache’ even. One “expert” even called the display a “parade float.” Sadly, many of these people underestimate the creativity of the folks over at Lockheed Skunk Works. Not every aircraft or UAV will look like every other one that came before it. The largest leaps in production and design techniques can be made on some of the smallest projects. An area where there has been a tremendous amount of research and development is on rapid prototyping and production techniques. Basically the goal of this concept is to use cutting edge design and fabrication methods to lower the time and cost of small lots of technology demonstrators and even operational aircraft. I have little doubt in my mind that this may be the RQ-170's claim to fame as one of the first operational aircraft that was tested and produced in very small numbers utilizing this cutting edge concept.

So what does that mean for the RQ-170 and how it was designed? What it means is that the RQ-170 looks so smooth and different not just by design necessity but because it was produced using new processes that allow it to be produced cheaper and faster. For instance, instead of making a ton of separate pieces that have to be cobbled together to make a stealthy airframe, then all those joints and rivets have to be hidden etc, why not just design and built the aircraft out of few key pieces, each made up of a single chunk of carbon fiber? For instance, produce a carbon fiber fuselage, two carbon fiber wings, and carbon fiber control surfaces instead of welding and pairing lots of little pieces together that make up a wing, or a fuselage. You would end up with an incredibly strong and lightweight yet simpler and more cost-effective airframe. Further, you are able to do great things with carbon fiber that you could not do with a combination of materials. For instance, you can incorporate the communications “domes” right into the structure of the aircraft instead of attaching them via fasteners and joints.

So what rapid prototyping pushes the designer to do is to create a solution to a mission out of absolutely the minimal amount of parts possible. This drastically increases simplicity, while decreasing production times and price. Finally, by creating an aircraft out of a few key structural components that are smooth and free of welds, joints and fasteners, you can create an aircraft that is stealthy by its very design. You can even pond radar eluding material right into its polymer structure so that it does not need the latest radar absorbent paint and surface coatings to survive over hostile territory. And as part of the rapid prototyping and production ethos you can fill that simple airframe up with components that are currently available of the shelf, so you can once again build small runs or products cheaper, quicker and at lower risk to the customer, both in the terms of cost control and national security secrets.

A probable direct descendant of the RQ-170, the Lockheed Skunk Works P-175 ”Polecat” UAV technology demonstrator utilized the rapid prototyping process through almost its entire design and production phase. Over 90% of the airframe was made out of composite material and built via pieces from a 3D printer that basically produces anything and everything out of polymers and composites straight from CAD design software. Please read this short piece to give you a better idea of what I am talking about:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9602-a-plane-you-can-print.html

So the simple and almost cheapishly abstract appearance of the RQ-170 is just that, it was built to be simple, cheap and available to commanders fast. All the while it is capable of doing amazing, high risk things without putting our cutting edge, high performance, stealth airframe design processes and materials at risk. Which in this author’s opinion makes the Sentinel as remarkable as any super sensitive, high speed stealth spy plane ever could be. One is simply much more humble than the other, but that does not mean it isn’t even more relevant over today’s murky battlefields.

Why Didn't It Break Into a Million Pieces?

So many are rightfully wondering how this little drone did not end up a smoking hole in the ground? Well folks let me tell you, stranger things have happened in the world of aviation. There is a long list of crazy stories where aircraft ended up landing totally intact yet the pilot was no longer in control. Sometime physics just works against all odds! Please read this story, you will see what I am talking about, its insanely relevant to today’s discussion:

http://www.f-106deltadart.com/71fis_PilotlessLanding_580787.htm

Also, we have NO IDEA what course of events actually doomed this drone. The DoD will probably never come clean with the details describing what happened leading up to the loss of contact with the drone in question. Further, we have no clue what the programmed default instructions were for the UAV to do when it could not reestablish a link with its masters. Does it circle? Does it return to base? If it circles what happens when it runs out of gas? Does it have enough artificial intelligence onboard to attempt a rough field landing? What happens if the thing is being electronically jammed, not just its communications links but also its GPS? What are the drone’s default instructions then? What happens if the GPS is out of whack and the inertial navigation system also begins having issues? Exactly how hard is it to hack into one of these things? Could Iran have broken the encryption language onboard? This is high, HIGHLY unlikely but we don’t know any of this for sure. The questions can go on forever, we simply have no context on protocols like this for a secret stealth drone who hangs out a constantly in unfriendly or normally denied airspace.

Why hasn’t anyone addressed the real possibility that the motor quit?!!? It only has one engine remember? It did lose its propulsion while deep into a mission and it had burnt off some gas I bet it would be one hell of a glider. Maybe when the engine quits it tries to hold its attitude until literally it stops moving. In other words maybe it got lucky and did a light pancake landing into a field. Is that really to outside the box for aviation “experts” to comprehend? Maybe they need to take some flying lessons as pilots are always taught to be aware of your options if the motor quits BECAUSE IT DOES HAPPEN. Why is a little stealthy drone running on a single CRJ motor any different? Do you really believe that designers programmed this thing to plow into the ground at high-speed if the engine quit? Obviously they would not want this on a training or test flight, is there a separate program for a real missions? Who knows.

What I am trying to say here is that these things happen. Aviation is a wild business and pretty much nothing is 100% reliable. Humans are imperfect and so are the machines and tools we make. So, definitively saying that the drone put on display by the Iranians is a fake simply because it is intact is so full of assumptions its painful and a disservice to the public who we serve. I hope you enjoyed this analysis, I think it will move the discussion forward. One thing is for certain, there are some very frustrated UAV operators and Skunk Works employees waking up this morning in America and some very happy Iranian Military officials sitting down for dinner in Tehran as this is being published. This year has been a wild year for America’s clandestine stealth technologies, and we still have a few weeks left till 2012!

1/12/12

2012-01-12T21:53:00.001-06:00

Science Applications International Corp., Mclean, Va., is being awarded a $10,647,009 modification to a previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N66001-11-C-4116) for the Deep Sea Operations Program to introduce surveillance that operates at extreme ocean depths to detect quiet submarines. The exercising of this 15-month option brings the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $12,199,237. Work will be conducted at contractor facilities located in Arlington, Va. (27 percent); Long Beach, Miss. (27 percent); San Diego, Calif. (22 percent); Austin, Texas (17 percent); Germantown, Md. (six percent); and Melbourne, Fla. (one percent). Work is expected to be completed April 11, 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Broad Agency Announcement number 11-24 published via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with 16 offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

Paper: Reconstruction of Buildings from an Airborne Image

http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/xxxv/congress/yf/papers/940.pdf

Image: Surfing the Atmosphere: Perlan 2 Project

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2846/28462001.jpg

Into Thin air: Gliding to 90,000 feet

New Scientist

Inside the glider high above the snow-capped Andes of Patagonia, a rush of air blasted from a canister. Einar Enevoldson immediately knew he faced a tough decision. He was attempting to fly a glider to a record-breaking altitude of 50,000 feet (15,000 metres) and beyond - a feat that most pilots considered impossible. With him in the plane was adventure-seeking billionaire Steve Fossett, who was bankrolling the attempt. High-pressure air from the canister surged through soft pipes and into Fossett's orange space suit. It ballooned and stiffened. This wasn't supposed to happen at their altitude. If the suit inflated further, Fossett would be immobilised for hours. Worse, his suit could block the controls, making it impossible to land the aircraft safely. And yet, with the southern winter drawing to a close, this could be their last chance to fly. Enevoldson, who was 74 years old at the time, had spent 15 years working towards this flight, and decades dreaming of it. If they could only get high enough, it would prove his theory that a glider could ride high into the stratosphere. Turn back, and face huge disappointment. Carry on, and it was risky.

That was 2006. Enevoldson and Fossett's flight was part of a bold plan called the Perlan Project. Enevoldson reckons he has found a way to soar higher than anyone had thought possible in a winged craft, by hitching a ride on awesome stratospheric waves powered by the polar vortex. His goal is to fly without fuel or an engine to 90,000 feet, where the Earth's curvature glows against the blackness of space. Up there, the air pressure is less than 1 per cent of the pressure at sea level. That's equivalent to the surface of Mars, and too thin to support the mass of almost any crewed plane. So the Perlan team is building a winged craft unlike any before - a cross between a glider and a space capsule that will be light and fast enough to fly at this extreme altitude. After years of planning, setbacks and tragedy, Enevoldson's Perlan Project is poised to push back the limits of aeronautical exploration. The official altitude record for a sustained horizontal flight in a piloted aircraft is 73,736 feet, set in a Lockheed U-2 in 1989. Other craft have gone even higher into the stratosphere, but not using wings. Fighter-jet pilots, for example, have used their boosters to propel themselves on a parabolic trajectory to more than 100,000 feet, but their mass quickly brought them back down.

With no heavy engine or fuel, a glider's wings could in principle support it in the stratosphere. The problem is getting up there. For their highest rides, glider pilots search for "mountain waves", which form when a weather front spills over a mountain, creating upward draughts on the lee side. They are signposted by lenticular, or UFO-shaped, clouds formed by the rippling air. But there's a limit to how high these draughts go. Just below the stratosphere, winds tend to change direction or stop altogether, killing any mountain wave. So pilots long assumed that the tropopause - between 33,000 and 49,000 feet (10 and 15 kilometres) - was as high as you could go in a glider.

World's tallest waves

Enevoldson was convinced that the received wisdom was wrong. And in the early 1990s he happened across a crucial piece of evidence to support his theory. He was in his 50s at the time, with 13 world records to his name accrued during decades as a pilot for the US air force, the UK's Royal Air Force and NASA. While visiting the Institute for Atmospheric Physics near Munich, Germany, a picture pinned to the wall caught his eye: a pixelated smear of reds and yellows. Pleased by Enevoldson's interest, the lab director explained that it was taken by lidar, a radar mounted on a research plane and pointed upwards at the sky above Sweden's far north. It showed particles rising and falling inside high-altitude pearlescent Arctic clouds. Enevoldson was looking at a stratospheric mountain wave, the same phenomenon that glider pilots had been soaring on for decades in the troposphere, only much taller. At the time, meteorologists were discovering that such waves form at both poles during their respective winters, when cool air sinks towards Earth. As the air descends, the Coriolis effect swings it around and generates a vortex of winds called the polar-night jet, which circle the Arctic and the Antarctic. When these powerful winds meet the Andes, they form the world's tallest mountain waves (see diagram).

And so a decade later, Enevoldson and his financial backer Fossett found themselves high above Argentina searching for a stratospheric ride. Their glider was named Perlan 1, after the picture of pearlescent clouds in Germany. To avoid having to build an expensive pressurised cabin, they had borrowed spacesuits from Enevoldson's old buddies at NASA. It was the second day in a row that Fossett's suit had malfunctioned. Enevoldson opened the air brakes and tipped the glider's nose toward Earth. Mission aborted. "Wait a minute," he heard Fossett calling. As they had dropped, he had felt his suit deflate. "With anybody else I'd go down, but with Steve - Steve was cool," recalls Enevoldson. He told Fossett to keep away from the plane's controls, and up they went again, 33,000 feet, 35,000 feet. But then, no further. Fossett's suit was working properly again, but they had reached a plateau. Enevoldson ventured in one direction, then in another, feeling the air for a hint of lift. Nothing. He pushed west, over the crest of the Andes. Far below them, Chilean authorities were putting out puzzled enquiries about the unrecognised craft that was venturing into their airspace. The plane was losing altitude, so they turned back east.

Suddenly, there it was. The unmistakable upwards propulsion of a new wave. Later, GPS and meteorological models would show that Enevoldson had guided Perlan 1 from the crest of one wave to the bottom of a taller adjacent one. The crucial manoeuvre allowed them to burst unequivocally into the stratosphere and set the world record for glider altitude. It also provided the first direct confirmation of meteorological models of stratospheric waves in the southern hemisphere. By the time they reached 51,000 feet, the pair had been in the air for over 5 hours and cabin temperatures had dropped to -10 °C. They were exhausted, so decided to descend - but tantalisingly, the rising air had shown no sign of stopping. Before the wheels had touched down, Fossett declared it was time to build a bespoke pressurised plane and fly higher. Next time they would go to 90,000 feet, which would be the highest winged flight ever piloted. Fossett wouldn't live to see it. Just over a year later, he set off alone at the controls of a single-engine plane from a private airstrip in Nevada, and vanished. Enevoldson was part of the search party that scoured the Sierra Nevadas for the billionaire. Fossett's shattered plane, along with his remains, were not found for nearly 13 months. Enevoldson had lost a friend, a co-pilot and, bluntly, his funding. The Perlan adventure seemed to be over.

To the edge of space

Fast-forward to 2011. Once a month, Enevoldson makes a 9-hour drive north from his home near Berkeley, California, up the foothills of the Cascade mountains and across the elevated plains of southern Oregon, to a small town called Bend. Wooden barns dot irrigated fields interspersed with cattle pastures and pine trees. His destination is a small, private airfield with five unmarked hangars. Inside, sparks fly, drills screech through metal, burrs carve into styrofoam and workers lay tacky carbon-fibre sheets into moulds. This is Windward Performance. Greg Cole, the company's owner, is an aeronautical engineer, designer, craftsman and above all a perfectionist. That's why Enevoldson chose him and his team to build Perlan 2: the plane that will take him to 90,000 feet. If the project is Enevoldson's baby, the plane is Cole's. His team is building almost every component, from the fuselage to the 13-metre-long wings. The plane will account for the lion's share of the $2.5-million cash injection that saved the project in 2010. That lifeline came from multimillionaire Dennis Tito - the world's best-known space tourist - who will also get a seat in the plane. Perlan 2 is a cross between a glider and a space capsule. Its cabin is not only pressurised, it is completely sealed. For safe crewed flight at high altitudes, jet planes pressurise their cabins by constantly sucking in outside air, but with no engine on board, that is not an option for Perlan 2. Instead, it will use compacted air stored in its tail to adjust the pressure in the cabin. The pilots will breathe from a separate tank.

Everything about the wings and fuselage is designed to make Perlan 2 go fast at high altitudes. The higher you climb, the faster you have to go. Fly too slow and not enough air molecules flow around the wings to keep you aloft. But as you fly faster, two factors can create drag on the wings, slowing you down. Each of these problems has been solved in countless plane designs before, but Perlan 2 will be the first to tackle them simultaneously, says aeronautical physicist Mark Drela at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first is the "Mach number" problem. As a plane approaches the speed of sound, Mach 1, shock waves can form at the rear of its wings where the air flow is fastest - this increases drag. The second, the "Reynolds number" problem, also slows aircraft. The air right up against the surface of a wing is known as the boundary layer. It essentially adds to the wing's shape as it cuts through the surrounding air. Low air density makes that layer thicker, and so enhances drag. This is particularly likely to affect a fast, relatively small plane like Perlan 2, which is 10 metres from nose to tail. To avoid these problems, Cole came up with a unique wing design. It looks like every other glider wing to the untrained eye, but is subtly different. Its leading edge, for instance, is fatter than a normal glider wing and the tail end of the wing turns down slightly. "It's very subtle but it's actually a significant difference," says Drela. "The Perlan airfoil is similar to something that you would find on a small radio-controlled glider." Cole's wing could fly on Mars, so it's not out of the question that the design will find its way onto other planes, and even spacecraft.

Whether it is successful on Earth should be revealed later this year, when tests begin in the Californian Sierras. If all goes well, in 2013 Perlan 2 will be packed into a container and shipped off to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there, the container will head 2700 kilometres south over land, until it reaches the tiny lakeside airport of El Calafate. At the other end of the lake, a glacier sheds its icy load as it emerges from the stony flanks of the Andes. Enevoldson has assembled a team of eight expert glider pilots, including himself. He anticipates the record will be set in stages, each flight rising a little higher than the previous one, testing the plane as it goes. To maximise their chances, they are taking meteorologist Elizabeth Austen, from consulting firm Weather Extreme of California. Austen will run forecasts in near-real time. They also hope to collaborate with researchers from institutions including the Naval Research Labs in Monterey, California, and Yale University. Their aim is to study stratospheric mountain waves using lidar, as part of a project called the Southern Andes Antarctic Gravity Wave Initiative.

The hope is that the SAANGRIA research plane will fly in the same airspace, at the same time, providing the latest, most accurate data. In return, the meteorologists are keen for Perlan 2 to collect in situ data at altitudes they cannot reach on their own. They are particularly interested in what happens when atmospheric waves "break", and why it happens. Breaking waves are the principal driver of air movement in the stratosphere, and if weather models do not represent them properly, air flows like the jet stream can start moving in entirely the wrong direction in atmospheric computer simulations. The researchers also want to find out why the region generates more stratospheric waves than anywhere else in the world. When Perlan 2 lifts off the runway, it will be almost 110 years since the first crewed plane left the ground. In that time, brave pilots have continually pushed back the limits of what we thought possible in an aircraft. Today, there are few places left on Earth where wing-borne planes have not flown, but that's where Perlan 2 is headed.

How will Enevoldson know when it is too risky to carry on? It'll be a buffeting in the wings' tips, a shake in the fuselage - an indication that something in the air has changed. As soon as he steps inside the glider, it becomes an extension of his body. In all his years as a test pilot sending fighter jets into dizzying freefall spins, he was always in control. At some point, Enevoldson will have to turn back. Until that moment, he will keep climbing higher: past the point where the sky above darkens into outer space and the Earth reveals its curve, and into realms that can only be reached by aviation's pioneers.

RQ-170 Sentinel Origins Part II: The Grandson of "TACIT BLUE"

Aviation Intel

My first piece on the ancestry of the RQ-170 Sentinel, America’s secret unmanned stealthy sensor truck of choice, got a lot of traffic and was the topic of one of my recent colorful interviews on John Batchelor’s national radio program (http://johnbatchelorshow.com/). Yet after writing the piece something about the genesis of the now infamous bat-winged tactical reconnaissance platform sat odd with me. I had heard of it’s unique mission requirement somewhere along the abstract timeline of aerospace technology I have built in my head over the years, long before even the whole TIER3- concept officially existed. In fact this machine even predated Operation Desert Storm and the rumblings about the possible existence of a TR-3A “Black Manta” like stealthy manned tactical loitering reconnaissance aircraft that surfaced during the late 1980's and hit a crescendo after the first Gulf War. Then it hit me, Northrop’s enigmatic “Whale,” yes, that was it! The progenitor of the USAF’s TIER3- requirement of the mid 1990's, and thus the resultant RQ-3 Darkstar which subsequently lead too the RQ-170 Sentinel, was most definitely the humble yet intriguing “Tacit Blue” program that dated back to the dawn of the stealth age. After much investigation I realized that by understanding Tacit Blue we can understand it’s grandchild, the RQ-170 Sentinel, better than ever before.

America’s “stealth revolution” took place in the mid 1970's, spawned by advances in computer processing and aircraft manufacturing techniques, as well as the ongoing Cold War. By the turn of decade multiple “low observable” programs, spearheaded by a variety of manufacturers, were well underway. Most notable of all of these programs was Lockheed’s notorious bleeding edge “Skunkworks” design house’s “Have Blue” demonstrator, aka the “Hopeless Diamond.” The successful Have Blue program would eventually morph into the world’s first true “Stealth” production aircraft, the infamous F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter (the Nighthawk was really an attack aircraft but marketing is a powerful thing even in the Pentagon’s black budget world). Yet another smaller, less glamorous, but arguably as influential top-secret technology demonstration was also underway around this same period in time, known ambiguously as “Tacit Blue.”

The Tacit Blue aircraft, known affectionately as “The Whale” amongst those who were involved with the program over at legendary aerospace manufacturer Northrop, had an entirely separate set of objectives than Lockheed’s proposed stealth attack aircraft, although radar invisibility was one they both had in common. Whereas Lockheed, leveraging it’s innovative “ECHO1? radar predictability software, found the “faceted,” diamond like structural approach suitable for a stealth tactical attack aircraft, where speed and agility were on the requirement list, a few years later Northrop would take an almost entirely opposite route to achieve groundbreaking “low observable” results.

In the late 1970's the DoD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was working hard at breaking open stealth technology’s virtual “pandoras box,” and diligently figuring out new ways to leverage the still very young and emerging capability. Never before could America actually build an invisible warplane, and the creative minds over at the Pentagon were deciding exactly where this new revolutionary method of designing aircraft could make the most impact. One of the areas where they wanted to push the stealth envelope was in the business of battlefield reconnaissance. At the time, tactical aerial intelligence was collected via fighter jets, or other very un-stealthy aircraft, that were fitted with cameras and sent out to make daring runs, sometimes at very low-level and at very high speeds, over enemy territory. At best these systems could capture a snapshot in time of the enemies force posture, which could never be exploited in real-time, and was only gained at incredible risk to the aircrews involved. Other strategic surveillance assets, such as the SR-71 Blackbird and especially reconnaissance satellites had similar, if not even more severe drawbacks, as the information they gathered was momentary in nature, and resolutions were at times inconsistent. With these limitations in mind, DARPA hired the Northrop company to answer a simple question: Could emerging “low observable” aircraft technology be used to build an aircraft that could survive while loitering for hours at a time deep behind enemy lines, all the while collecting real-time battlefield tactical intelligence that commanders could exploit in real time, while being located safely behind friendly lines?

During this same period of time the USAF was looking to develop an aircraft that could take advantage of recent air to ground radar technology revelations. The concept behind such emerging capabilities was to use a large phased array radar, mounted on an airplane, to provide real-time Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) intelligence. GMTI is a radar mode that basically sees the movement of vehicles across large land masses, as well an associated Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode that could theoretically map the battlefield using high-resolution radar beams and computer processing instead of optical photography. Both modes are able to peer through inclement weather with ease, can be implemented at long-range, and are persistent in nature. In other words, they can be used to survey enemy territory for long periods of time, looking for not just targets but operational trends in the enemy’s force posture, under almost any conditions. This new radar technology development program was known as “Pave Mover,” and it would prove to have drastic effects on the future of airborne intelligence collection.

With the “Pave Mover” radar concept and Northrop’s stealthy and persistent tactical intelligence aircraft in mind, the folks at DARPA decided to combine the two into a top-secret program now known officially as the Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX), code name “Tacit Blue.” By combining the deep penetrating radar capabilities of “Pave Mover” and Northrop’s stealthy surveillance platform, commanders would theoretically be able to look deeper into enemy territory than ever previously imagined, and the products of such a capability could truly be war winning. The only problem would be, how would Northrop engineers leverage a new design philosophy that was still in it’s infancy to be able to carry a massive radar array while staying invisible to radar at the same time? Further, how would they ensure that the radar itself was not detected through its high power emissions? The programs goals were truly groundbreaking and in being so they were also incredibly challenging. Literally, the BSAX had to not just blaze a single trail, but many in order to be successful.

Around the turn of the decade, Northrop had designed an aircraft that was so ugly that it had to be genius, and it was. Resembling a whale, including its blow-hole on top (the jet air intake!) the Tacit Blue was a marvel of function over form. Instead of using the faceted, almost diamond like approach to designing their stealth aircraft, as Lockheed had done a couple of years prior, Northrop engineers took a different approach, one of continuous curvatures, chined edges, and masked vulnerabilities. Much of this design philosophy was demanded by the “loiter” part of Tacit Blue’s mission requirements. The aircraft had to feature “all aspect stealth,” whereas an aircraft like the F-117 could be optimized for front and rear, or “coming and going” stealth aspects, as their mission was sneak inside a defense network, drop bombs, and high tail it out of danger. Tacit Blue had no such luxury as it would have to loiter for hours over enemy territory, and thus every angle would be susceptible to radar surveillance for prolonged periods of time. Tacit Blue’s rounded approach to stealth, known as curvilinear design, would be a massive development that would affect future stealth technology arguably more than the famous F-117's “faceted” approach to masking radar signatures.

The Tacit Blue Weighed in at some 30,000lbs, measured around 55'X55' and looking more like a motor-home than an aircraft. With a massive phased array radar, provided by Hughes, shoehorned into it’s boxcar fuselage, the ugly Whale was one unaerodynamic flying creature. It’s surfaces were so smooth that it almost took on a sculpted appearance. This does make some sense as one of it’s main designers actually sculpted its unique fascia while sitting on a park bench after being stumped on how to come up with a solution for DARPA’s BSAX challenge. By it’s very nature, Tacit Blue was a highly unstable design and thus had to utilize an advanced fly-wire-system similar to the one used on YF-16. Making the aircraft even more awkward, the design team utilized many parts from existing aircraft to minimize design time, complexity and cost. At a price tag of about $130,000,000 to build, with a total program cost of about $170,000,000, the Whale was an expensive ugly duckling, but it would pay for itself in spades over some 135 test flights between 1983 and 1985.

During these 135 test flights Tacit Blue and the whole BSAX team would not only pave the way for a multitude of stealth and surveillance technologies, but in doing so it would make the exact case for a TIER3- unmanned stealth and persistent tactical reconnaissance requirement that would spawn the RQ-3 Darkstar some ten years later, and eventually the RQ-170 another decade after that. In many ways Tacit Blue was the manned experimental RQ-170 of decades past. Here are some of the key BSAX program’s accomplishments:

1.) “Curvilinear” and “All-Aspect” Stealth- Tacit Blue’s design was incredibly unique for its time, and many, if not all of its features can be seen today on modern stealth aircraft and UAVs. Its continuously curving architecture was revolutionary and would pave the way and help validate the design for Northrop’s B-2A Bomber, still America’s most valuable (that we know of) deep penetrating weapon system some 20+ years after it’s unveiling. Also, the “Whale’s” exact design was almost exactly copied for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM), although the program was cancelled in 1993 due to budget and technological reasons, similarities are still abundant on the JASSM missile system currently in service. Its chined forward fuselage bears a close family resemblance to that seen on the YF-23, and it’s elliptical exhaust can be identified on the RQ-170 Sentinel. It’s overhead stealthy jet inlet, and deep buried motors are both concepts utilized to a great degree on the B-2 and RQ-170 as well.

Tacit Blue’s “all aspect” stealth design philosophy has been used in almost every low observable product in existence today and can be seen extrapolated to a greater, more refined degree on the f-22 and F-35. In fact the “curvilinear” design method, aided by much more powerful computer aided design software and processors, would allow stealth aircraft to be configured more freely for many different kinds of missions and uses as compared to the F-117's inefficient and limiting faceted architecture. Although the Tacit Blue’s design was so ahead of its time it seems as if it is still being used today with minimal modifications. Case in point is General Atomics’s new Predator C, also known as the Avenger, which possesses and uncanny resemblance to Tacit Blue some 25 years after it’s last flight. In summary, structurally alone, the Tacit Blue changed the way America builds aerial weaponry forever, arguably more so than the more popular “Have Blue” demonstrator and it’s infamous F-117 successor.

2.) Infra Red Heat, Noise, and Optical Signature Reduction- It is said that the Tacit Blue was literally the coolest aircraft ever tested at the time. The aircraft ejected it’s exhaust before and above the end of aircraft’s tail section. This made the motor’s direct heat signature masked to anyone viewing the aircraft from below. It is also said that Tacit Blue’s exhaust was “after cooled” or chilled after being ejected from the aircraft’s engine, and this, combined with chemicals injected into the exhaust, all but eliminated the possibility of creating a contrail or being detected with infra-red sensors. Further, it’s light paint was optimized for medium and high altitude operations during daytime, and its deeply buried motors made the aircraft incredibly quiet. All of this and of course the unlikely overall shape of the Tacit Blue would make the aircraft almost entirely undetectable. These low-signature revelations would be exploited in advanced military aircraft design for decades after the Whale’s last flight.

3.) Low Probability Of Intercept (LPI) Radar- The Tacit Blue’s design was extremely stealthy, but packing a huge radar that emits tremendous amounts of energy over or near an enemy battlefield is not stealthy to say the least. Passive detection devices and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) could alert the enemy to the BSAX’s whereabouts almost as easily as radar detection if it’s radar were to be employed in a normal fashion. So engineers from Hughes and Northrop worked on cutting-edge ideas to make what was already a breakthrough radar technology, that being Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) capability, all that more revolutionary by making its electronic emissions almost impossible to detect by the enemy.

LPI radar works using a variety of tactics that combine collectively to lower the possibility of a radar being detected while turned on. Advanced methods such as utilizing agile frequency modulation over a very wide band, emitting a much more finely tuned beam at lower power for short bursts instead of long continuous emissions, all via a phased array radar design that is paired with advanced back-end computing power fantastically lowered the chances of the Tacit Blue being detected via its emissions. Today LPI radar techniques, especially when joined with new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar sets has changed the way radar is used in aerial and sea combat. The technology was most certainly used in the ATB program which produced the B-2A Spirit that was fielded just a few years after the Whale made it’s last flight. At the time the B-2 was a fantastic asset to migrate LPI airborne radar technology into because it had massive real estate on it’s leading edge for a pair phased array radar arrays to be installed, and it could utilize them while under it’s stealth cloak. Today, stealth fighters like the F-22 and F-35, and even modern combat ships use advanced LPI radars to their advantage, allowing them to keep tabs and engage their enemies while maintaining a high degree of invisibility. Further, the exact LPI and GMTI technology pioneered by Tacit Blue, improved and miniaturized over time, most likely makes it possible for the stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel to penetrate deep into enemy territory and actively gather high-resolution radar intelligence without being detected. This has been further confirmed by Pentagon officials in a recent piece posted over at Aviation Week where sources said that the RQ-170 started out as a radar platform and then was refitted for electre-optical streaming video as well a few years back.

4.) Data Links: Unlike Tacit Blue’s larger, standoff oriented successor, the Boeing 707 based E-8 J-STARS, which emerged as the chosen production platform as a result of the multi-tiered “Pave Mover” demonstration program, Tacit Blue had no radar and intelligence support operators on-board. Seeing how the requirement for real-time intelligence was a key part of the “Pave Mover” program and thus the BSAX program, engineers had to figure out a way to not only control the radar but also broadcast the stealthy Tacit Blue’s intelligence data back to operators on the ground for immediate exploitation. This was a massive departure from airborne intelligence collection of the day, which either saw large airframes utilized so that operators on-board could control the surveillance systems and utilize the information collected, or smaller airframes would be utilized to go out and collect intelligence that could only be leveraged once deciphered by specialists well after the mission ended. The incredibly high-risk nature of a deep penetrating, loitering, airborne surveillance platform’s mission set could be somewhat offset by relocating the radar operators and intelligence professionals off the aircraft and far behind friendly lines. These operators would be connected to the small stealthy airframe via a data link. Without breakthroughs data link technology Tacit Blue’s objectives would have been virtually impossible to achieve.

Tacit Blue used line of sight data links that were also low probability of intercept in nature and thus difficult to detect by the enemy. All the data collected over “enemy” territory was transferred back to the control station it was “tethered to,” theoretically far away from the front lines of the battlefield. At the time data links were used mainly between air superiority fighters to sort targets and to provide other situational awareness functions that would help crews be less reliant on radio communications, or in TV guided weaponry like the “Popeye” series of missiles.Tacit Blue stepped way beyond this capability and truly blazed the way for modern UAV technology and their related ground control and information exploitation concepts as we know them today. Most notably those used to satisfy the TIER2+ (which became the RQ-4 Global Hawk) and TIER3- (which became the RQ-3 Darkstar) requirements put forth by the USAF almost a decade after the Tacit Blue took its last flight. Today, data links, and LPI optimized data links, are used in almost every combat aircraft flying in the US’s inventory. These links primarily exist in the form of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS)/Link-16 architecture. Further, a new data link optimized for stealth aircraft, which utilizes cutting edge LPI technology, is currently under development. This system is known as Multifunctional Advanced Data Link (MADL) which will be fielded on America’s stealth F-22, B-2, F-35 and Next Generation Bomber force. Modern data links have been described as the most game changing weapon system of the 21st century, and offer a single pilot a gods eye view of battlefield around him, with massive amounts of data being fused into a single tactical picture right at his or her fingertips. Never before has such a widespread capability existed, and it is arguably the most significant “force multiplier” concept combat aircraft have seen for decades.

5.) Ground Moving Target Indicators (GMTI) Radar Technology: As the deeply classified arm of the “Pave Mover” program, the Whale proved that such technology could be shoehorned into a relatively small tactical asset, when paired with a tethered ground station, and this aircraft could also be invisible to radar, loiter for hours in denied air space, peering deeper into enemy territory than a standoff asset could, literally into a foe’s vulnerable rear echelons. The testing done with Tacit Blue no doubt added greatly to the E-8 J-STARS program, and was further leveraged in the RQ-4 Global Hawk over a decade later, of which GMTI capability was one of the main capability requirements. It is also widely speculated that the RQ-170's original mission was to provide high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) pictures and possibly GMTI data back to commanders on the ground to be used in real time. GMTI is not only effective at tracking armored columns, but it is also effective at cataloging critical “pattern of life” intelligence data in and around a target area. Since Tacit Blue flew with it’s mini-van sized Sideways Looking Aerial Radar (SLAR), such radar technology has been miniaturized to a massive degree. These radars can now be packed inside the dimensions of a targeting pod, while offering much more capability, and have become ideal for UAV operations.

6.) Dual-Role, Stealthy Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) Concept: Although the Tacit Blue may never have flown with passive ELINT hardware on-board, those involved with the program have made it clear that they were very aware of the “Whale’s” unique potential for carrying automated electronic listening equipment to passively collect the enemy’s electronic order of battle and their communications without them ever knowing. This ELINT suite of equipment could be manipulated and it’s products exploited in real-time by the ground control station just like the radar array. This information could then be used to great effect for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and general intelligence purposes. In other words, Tacit Blue could provide similar functions as the much larger, standoff in nature RC-135 “Rivet Joint,” as a secondary mission while conducting radar surveillance. Since the aircraft was already being theoretically risked over enemy territory it was only logical that such a risk be leveraged to it’s maximum potential in order to gain the maximum amount of rewards. This “cherry on top” added capability is very similar to what we know about the F-22 and it’s ALR-94 ESM kit, which some say is the most potent part of the Raptor weapon system, and supports what many hypothesize about the RQ-170, that it has a secondary ELINT capability built in.

7.) Advanced Fly-By-Wire: The malformed Tacit Blue was unstable in both pitch and yaw and depended on a quadruple redundant fly-by-wire system in order to literally keep its nose pointed in the right direction. The aircraft was proven to flip on its back and weather-vein tail first into the airstream during wind tunnel tests! It has been said that the Whale was the most unstable aircraft mankind had ever flown at the time, a situation fraught with danger and pitfalls. Yet engineers were able to refine the flight control system enough so that the aircraft would fly reliably, although it was in no way a hot rod or high-performance machine. Lessons learned during the design and implementation of the “Whale’s” flight control system would be used later on as aircraft designs became more function over form. Thus opening up the opportunity to fly aircraft of strange, inherently unstable shapes, such as the B-2 flying wing bomber, and later the RQ-170 Sentinel. In the end, and against great odds, Northrop built an invisible sensor truck, and a flyable one at that.

As you read through the incredible accomplishments of the Tacit Blue / Whale / BSAX or whatever you want to call it, there can be little doubt that this aircraft was the progenitor of the TIER3- program, and thus the RQ-170 Sentinel as we know it today. The BSAX program definitively marks the first time in aerospace history where such a concept was envisioned, tested and validated. Additionally, as part of the decision to fund the Tacit Blue program, the USAF had a strong interest in utilizing the technology for an unmanned aircraft, a concept that was really beginning to emerge as the possible future of air combat at the time. Tacit Blue’s mission, persistent tactical reconnaissance over enemy airspace, is a very risky one. By taking human risk out of the equation the concept could be more readily applied during a time of conflict and the USAF new this, although the technology to make such a capability reality simply did not exist at the time.

Almost everything we know about the TIER3- program that emerged in the mid 1990's and the subsequent RQ-170 Sentinel that sprang from it’s ashes can be traced directly to Tacit Blue. It’s curvilinear low observable design was utilized extensively on the B-2 and can be seen leveraged to even a greater degree on the RQ-170. The same can be said for the RQ-170's overhead inlet, deep buried motor and light paint optimized for daytime operation. Even the exhaust of the RQ-170 matches that of the Whale’s to an uncanny degree. Then there is the Tacit Blue’s data link systems, cutting edge at the time, that now represents the genesis of all unmanned aerial vehicles control interfaces. In effect the offspring of the Tacit Blue’s ground control stations and data links would make the unmanned aircraft concept as we know it today actually feasible. By the 1990's breakthroughs in computer automation and satellite communications would let unmanned aircraft dream become a reality.

Low probability Of intercept surveillance radar and advance data links would make it so the RQ-170 could penetrate deep into enemy airspace and operate for hours without a high risk of being detected by passive listening systems. Even the proposed secondary ELINT capability of the BSAX is almost certainly on-board the RQ-170. Beyond logical deduction there were multiple reports from sources in the Pentagon that the RQ-170 not only transmitted real time video on the night of the Bin Laden raid but that it was also providing key ELINT information so that commanders could monitor the Pakistani’s response, or lack thereof, at critical times during the fragile operation. Even the concept of using an aircraft as a sensor platform only, and communicating it’s collected data back to a ground station in real time for interpretation, was the forerunner of the RQ-170's real time tactical reconnaissance capabilities.

The definitive proof that establishes a direct ancestral link between Tacit Blue and the RQ-170 Sentinel can be found in the very reason why the BSAX was created in the first place, to prove that a small stealthy tactical intelligence platform could loiter for long periods of time over denied airspace undetected, all the while transmitting it’s high fidelity intelligence back to commanders on the ground in real-time. Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, as this is the exact same unique mission requirements as the unmanned TIER3- concept that emerged almost a decade after the Whale’s last flight. Further, the BSAX was really a minimally manned asset, the pilot providing the flight control only because remote systems were simply incapable of doing so at the time, and were not needed in order to prove the concept during controlled tests. So although the larger 707 based E-8 J-STARS become the known winner of the “Pave Mover” program, the idea of a stealthy and persistent tactical surveillance aircraft was proven by Tacit Blue with flying colors. Further, it was realized that by simply replacing Tacit Blue’s radar, or in addition to it adding advanced imaging equipment, you would have an asset that would be almost entirely undetectable and capable of collecting multiple forms of intelligence during its high risk missions.

It would take a decade for satellite data links and computer hardware to catch up with the BSAX in order to make the concept an unmanned reality. Even the TIER3- requirement of the early 1990's stated the need to leverage miniaturized LPI radars as part of the program, along with fully passive electro-optical surveillance payloads. And from the TIER3- minus requirement, and the program’s resulting RQ-3 Darkstar, the RQ-170 Sentinel was borne, as was detailed in my prior piece linked above. So the Sentinel’s direct lineage, it’s exact reason for existing, dates back some 30 years to the birth of the BSAX program and Tacit Blue.

In the end the RQ-170's pedigree is a long one of secret successes and public failures, culminating in a drone so effective and so critical to national security that it was used on the most sensitive American mission since the Doolittle Raid on Japan at the beginning of WWII. The fantastically successful Tacit Blue demonstrator, the clear father of the troubled Darkstar, the grandfather of the history making Sentinel, and the uncle of so many other successful aircraft that used smaller parts of it’s innovative technologies to accomplish their own diverse missions, leaves a legacy that is truly stunning. Yet one question does emerge out of this epic family saga: After learning so much about the success of the Tacit Blue, did this aircraft and it’s mission set in fact go the way of the RQ-3 Darkstar, being evolved into a more operational form under a dark classified cloak? Even the Tacit blue took over a decade from it’s last flight to become partially declassified. What is to say that a follow-on, much more capable system was not fielded once the BSAX technology demonstration program shutdown? Just as the standoff oriented “TIER2+” RQ-4 Global Hawk was pursued in the white world and the “TIER3-” RQ-170 was pursued in the black, maybe the similarly standoff oriented E-8 J-STARS and a stealthy tactical Tacit Blue follow-on blazed a similar path? Isn’t this more probable than not when compared to historical patterns of evolution regarding such programs and game changing capabilities?

Was Tacit Blue’s first actual offspring the fabled manned TR-3A “Black Manta” that was spotted around the globe, supposedly assisted the F-117A over Baghdad, and possibly crashed at Royal Air Force Base Boscombe Downs in the 1994, or an aircraft similar to it? Only a couple of months after this mysterious crash at Boscombe Down of an aircraft that fits the proposed tactical manned stealth reconnaissance aircraft mold the SR-71 program was reactivated against huge odds. Regardless of any speculative details it just seems somewhat apparent there may in fact be a manned missing link in the RQ-170's murky family tree. Something existing between the Tacit Blue technology demonstrator and the TIER3- unmanned requirement of the mid 1990's seems like almost a given considering the continuity of such programs. Or are we really to believe that the USAF, after the conclusion of the Tacit Blue program, with such an innovative and proven tactical battlefield intelligence technology in hand, decided not to pursue a follow-on in any form until the curious announcement of the TIER3- program that resulted in the still-birth of Darkstar in the mid 1990's? Was there really no aircraft to fill this role, even in very small numbers, between the triumphant Tacit Blue’s last flight, and the far-reaching unmanned TIER3- program? Would the existence of such a craft in fact also provide an answer to the odd SR-71 Blackbird retirement initiative of in the late 1980's?

The SR-71 was designed during a time when true stealth was a pipe-dream and thus it had to leverage high altitudes, great speed, and some rudimentary low observable techniques to survive. It would make sense that once the proverbial stealth genie was out of the bottle there would be no need for hugely expensive ultra high-speed reconnaissance over enemy territory. In fact a theoretical aircraft like the TR-3A that utilized subsonic, and/or moderate super-cruise operating speeds while at medium altitudes, and offered near radar invisibility, could actually possess an advantage over one that utilized blistering high speeds and altitudes. Slower speeds would give the platform more time to soak up intelligence data while remaining undetected, and if need be, like the Tacit Blue, it could loiter for long periods of time over denied territory. Did this reasonably faster, more capable and survivable offspring of Tacit Blue nicely fill the gap, along with modern strategic satellite reconnaissance, left by the retirement of the SR-71 Blackbird? One that not only inhabited Tacit Blue’s unique mission set and exploited it’s groundbreaking innovations, but also one that incorporated some of the innovations applied to the B-2 bomber, and the technologies that were publicly showcased during the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program in the form of the YF-23, although a few years prior, while they were still under a dark shroud of secrecy? Was this in fact Northrop’s ASTRA (Advanced Stealth Reconnaissance Aircraft) that was rumored to exist during the time period in question? It sure makes a lot more sense than people’s obsession with the existance of the “Aurora” high speed, high altitude spy place, that would have been unbelievable expensive to develop and operate, while only furnishing similar capabilities that spy satellites already provided.

If you asked me my opinion on this a month ago I would have said it would be anyone’s guess, but after the hours of research on the RQ-170's lineage, it would appear that there is indeed an aircraft flagrantly missing from it’s family tree. Some 10+ years would have gone by between the time that this invaluable capability was proven and when we would see a public requirement from the USAF to fill such a role in the guise of the unmanned TIER3- program. But was the TIER3- the first attempt at an operational stealth tactical reconnaissance capability, or was it set in place to replace an aircraft that already existed, its main weakness being that human beings were at risk in the cockpit?

I believe that the BSAX did in fact result in a semi-operational manned airframe of a different configuration, but one of the exact same mission, that leveraged both Tacit Blue, and it’s emerging B-2 cousin’s technology innovations. Such an aircraft would help more evenly fill the gap left by the aging and vulnerable SR-71s on a tactical level, leaving satellites for the strategic reconnaissance mission. Theorizing freely, possibly this program never reached its full potential and was abandoned after a fatal crash at RAF Boscombe Down in 1994, thus ushering in the Blackbird as a stopgap and the TIER3- as a final replacement. Like so many things that prowl the skies above central Nevada desert, we may never truly know their whole story, although we can apply logic, patterns in aerospace development, known facts and liberal creativity to create a story that is more probable than possible, and probably more believable than the actual truth.

1/11/12

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000-06:00

Video: Al Romig on Future Skunk Works Projects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROHyfpeiom4

Chief Skunk on Sixth Generation Fighters, 2 Seat F-35 & Classified UAVs

by Stephen Trimble

Nashville, TN - It was a presentation this morning by Alton "Al" Romig, the new chief of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, on unmanned air vehicle technology, so you know he had to say something about the RQ-170 Sentinel. Anticipation only grew as he began his lecture to the 50th annual Sciences Meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with this sentence: "I want to tickle your curiosity with the art of the possible," Romig said. Alas, even among his peers, Romig stuck to the unclassified, non-proprietary script on the RQ-170, which was referenced in text-form only on his second slide. Yes, the RQ-170 exists, he conceded. "And before you can ask me, that's all I can say about that," he said.

On the subject of UAVs, Romig allowed that Skunk Works has much more than the RQ-170 in its classified product stable. "There's a whole large collection of classified programs (within Lockheed) in the area of small UAVs," Romig said. A major effort at Skunk Works is now underway to make UAVs more autonomous. Internal demonstrations have proven that a single operator can control more than two UAVs simultaneously. "How large that number can get is unclear," he said. Intriguingly, Romig said that if the US Air Force returns to the days of "back-seat" electronic warfare officers, the F-35 could control a swarm of four "buddy" UAVs. He didn't directly say that Lockheed is considering two-seat F-35s, but the possibility tantalizes. (Two years ago, we reported that Israeli industry officials already anticipated the emergence of a two-seat F-35 eventually.) In the short clip below, Romig answers an audience member's question about the possibility of a sixth generation fighter.

Antisatellite Shot Thwarted Mars Probe, Russian Space Chief Suggests

Global Security Newswire

An antisatellite armament might have thwarted a Russian space probe's flight to a Martian moon following the research instrument's liftoff two months ago, the head of Russia's space agency said in remarks made public on Tuesday (see GSN, Jan. 4). Rocket boosters did not free the Phobos-Grunt probe from the Earth's gravitational pull, and Russian technicians said it would return into the atmosphere around the end of the week. “We don’t want to accuse anybody, but there are very powerful devices that can influence spacecraft now,” Russian space agency chief Vladimir Popovkin told the newspaper Izvestia. “The possibility they were used cannot be ruled out.” “The frequent failure of our space launches, which occur at a time when they are flying over the part of Earth not visible from Russia, where we do not see the spacecraft and do not receive telemetric information, are not clear to us,” Popovkin said.

The senior Russian official did not refer explicitly to the United States in his remarks, but a former head of Russia's missile alert apparatus in November said radar transmissions from Alaska could have harmed the scientific probe. The U.S. Strategic Command indicated it was monitoring the Russian craft and said it would probably return to Earth within seven days. “Predictions of re-entry date, time and location can change significantly due to many changing factors, such as solar weather and orientation of the spacecraft,” the command said in release remarks. “These predictions become more accurate as the event approaches” (Andrew Kramer, New York Times, Jan. 10).

Navy Using Northrop High Altitude Drone to Monitor Persian Gulf

Bloomberg

The U.S. Navy is using its first high-altitude drone, part of a potential $11 billion program, to monitor Iranian military activity and vessel transit in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to service officials. The unmanned aerial vehicle built by Northrop Grumman Corp. is providing broad coverage of the strategic waterway from 60,000 feet, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said yesterday in an interview. Black-and-white still images from the drone, known as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAV, are beamed to a ground station in Maryland and re-transmitted to 5th Fleet naval vessels in the region within minutes on average, Program Manager Captain Jim Hoke said. The drone operation, a 24-hour mission every three days, complements the 12-hour sorties flown by manned P-3 aircraft, with the potential to alert the P-3 to focus on specific targets, according to the officials. The drone been used in the region since 2009. “You get a look at the entire Hormuz swath,” Greenert said. While the BAMS drone currently provides still images, the Navy’s goal is “to get full mission video,” Greenert said in Washington. When airborne, it can survey about half the Gulf, officials said. The drone’s use demonstrates the importance of unmanned aircraft in the Pentagon’s strategy unveiled last week. The Navy by 2019 wants to base a BAMS drone in five locations, including in the Pacific region, for worldwide coverage.

Resolution, Clarity

“It’s got persistence, it’s got nice resolution and clarity,” Greenert said. “It’s durable and operating very reliably.” The head of Iran’s army warned the U.S. against sending an aircraft carrier back through the Strait into the Persian Gulf, the state-run Fars news agency said Jan. 3. A week earlier, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency as saying that his nation would block oil shipments through the Strait if economic sanctions are imposed to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program. Iran has the ability to block the Strait “for a period of time” and the U.S. would take action to reopen it, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey said in an interview broadcast January 8 on the CBS “Face the Nation” program.

70 Aircraft

The BAMS UAV is the leading edge of what Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman anticipates will be an $11 billion program to produce 70 aircraft. Five demonstration models, such as the one in the Gulf, are on contract. The Navy plane is part of an international task force that includes aircraft of the U.S. 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. The drone was first deployed to the Gulf in 2009 on a six- month stint to demonstrate the technology. Navy officials in 2010 extended the deployment a year at the request of the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. The Navy late last year “indefinitely” extended the drone’s Gulf region deployment, said service spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove. Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates pressed the military to make greater use of drones. The Pentagon’s current aviation plan calls for increasing by 2020 the number of high-altitude drones to more than 800 from the 220 today, most operated by the Air Force.

Oil Chokepoint

The Strait, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, is a chokepoint for seaborne oil trade, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Almost 17 million barrels a day, or about a fifth of oil traded globally, crossed the waterway last year, the department said in a report Dec. 30. Northrop Grumman in 2008 beat Chicago-based Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Maryland, for a $1.8 billion contract to develop and build the first two demonstration aircraft in the Navy program. Northrop will also build three more advanced models under contract. The Navy will seek Pentagon permission in 2013 to begin building the remaining 65 aircraft, Hoke said. “The current plan is that Northrop Grumman would be the prime” contractor throughout the program, Hoke said in a telephone interview.

Northrop Grumman spokesman Randy Belote referred all questions to the Navy. BAMS imagery is beamed via satellite to a ground processing station at the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River Naval Station, Maryland. The black and white images are re-transmitted within minutes to the Gulf and can be accessed with computers by 5th Fleet vessels equipped with the Pentagon’s secure SIPRNET Internet, said Hoke. “They’ve got it down to minutes from the time something is imaged and customers are ready to look at it -- anybody with a SIPRNET terminal would be able to look at product,” he said. The 5th Fleet watch office is also sending out the BAMS images to Navy vessels, he said.

Aurora Flight Sciences to Build Component for Boeing's Vulture

by Zach Rosenberg

Aurora Flight Sciences announced an award to construct major components of the Boeing Solar Eagle, a 400ft (122m) wingspan solar-powered demonstration project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Aurora will build ribs and skins for the aircraft's wing, which will support solar cells. Aurora was previously a competitor under the Vulture program, having won an award to build its own aircraft, a unique Z-wing entry dubbed Odysseus. "Aurora will have to push the limits of materials and the imagination to create answers to the demanding requirements of this very large yet gossamer aircraft," said Tom Clancy, Aurora's Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "We are delighted to have been chosen for such an important role. Boeing recognized the value that Aurora brings to the program through our combination of experience in rapid prototyping and our expertise in composite structures." SolarEagle is a subscale demonstrator, designed to stay airborne for 30 days at high altitude. The full-scale aircraft, with a 400ft wingspan, is designed to stay aloft for up to five years, allowing long-term surveillance of a nature previously reserved for satellites. Aurora has a carved an industry niche in building high-altitude and long-endurance aircraft. Previous projects include the Orion and Theseus series.

1/9/12

2012-01-09T12:09:00.000-06:00

Link: AMARC Database

http://www.amarcexperience.com/AMARCArticleD21Drone.asp

Article: Farther, Faster, Smarter (LRASM)

http://www.seapower-digital.com/seapower/spsample/#pg20

Image: Reconstructed Lockheed F-X Fighter Concept

http://up-ship.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Lockheed-FX-Model.gif

Militarily Critical Technologies List (MCTL)

SP Forum

One of the best ways to learn about the current state of the art in Counter Low Observables is to read through some of the Militarily Critical Technologies List (MCTL). Unfortunately, the MCTL was taken off the public internet in the last year, though you can ask for a printed copy. There are versions of this documents from 1998 floating around the internet still. There is evidence that CLO, and even Counter-CLO technologies have been at Groom. Most CLO technologies though are not standalone systems, but upgrades or changes to how existing systems are used. Networking together multiple sensors, radar software upgrades, things like that.

Camping on Mountains

ATS Forum

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/CURRENTOBS.html

Link has current weather conditions. Often at night the hills are warmer than the valley. You can compare locations to see this for yourself. During the day, the high elevations are colder than the valley. I've found if you camp with a hill towards your back (obviously in a direction you don't want to view) you can capture a bit of the valley heat at night as it rolls up the hill face. The hill towards your back also means you can't scan in that direction well. The spot at Stonewall has a hill towards your back as you face the range. Tempiute has similar locations and has lots of wood to gather or cut. Brings a good lighter and camp fuel since the cut wood is green. R-place in Alamo sells firewood. In the winter, it pays to dig the latrine in the afternoon when the ground isn't frozen.

USAF Classified Space Plane is Spying on China?

The State Column

Is a classified Air Force space plane spying on China? That is the question on the minds of a number of astute observers who say the secret Air Force program is the latest attempt by the U.S. to gain a foothold on the Chinese. The space place, which resides under the name of X-37B, is a small robotic space shuttle which first came into development at NASA in 1999, before being taken over by the shadowy US military agency, DARPA, in 2004. The vehicle has no pilot flying it while it is in the air, considering how it was launched into orbit in March 2011 by the US Air Force, and it does not seem as though it will be making a touchdown on planet earth anytime soon, according to recent reports. The orbital path of the X-37b is known, as it has been picked up by amateur skywatchers, and it appears as if every 170 orbits around the Earth it intersects very closely with the Chinese Space Station, Tiangong-1. A number of amateur astronomers have noted the similarities between the two orbits. “Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China’s nascent space station,” Spaceflight editor David Bakee told the BBC. What to know more about X-37B? Here is the official statement from NASA:

NASA’s X-37 is an advanced technology flight demonstrator, which will help define the future of space transportation – pushing technology into a new era of space development and exploration at the dawn of the new century. The X-37 will test and validate technologies in the environment of space as well as test system performance of the vehicle during orbital flight, reentry and landing. Results from the X-37 will aid in the design and development of NASA’s Orbital Space Plane – designed to provide a crew rescue and crew transport capability to and from the International Space Station. Capable of being ferried into orbit on an expendable launch vehicle, the X-37 will operate at speeds up to 25 times the speed of sound (Mach 25) and test technologies in the harsh environments of space and atmospheric reentry. As part of the X-37 project, the Boeing Company’s Phantom Works division of Huntington Beach, Calif., is developing two vehicles: the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle and the X-37 Orbital Vehicle.

These autonomous space planes, which have no crew, will play a key role in NASA’s effort to dramatically reduce the cost of sending humans and payloads into space. The Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV) will validate system performance of the approach, landing, and turnaround operations needed for flight. It will demonstrate an integrated Flight Operations Control Center, range and vehicle flight test operations. In addition, the vehicle will validate aerodynamic stability and structural integrity. Finally, this vehicle will demonstrate autonomous, or unmanned, operations in the approach and landing range environment. The X-37 test vehicle will be released from a B-52 plane at altitudes of up to 46,000 feet to demonstrate descent and landing. The trajectory will duplicate to the maximum extent possible the expected reentry trajectory of the Orbital Vehicle. Five flight tests for this test vehicle are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2004.

Based upon the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle, the X-37 Orbital Vehicle will test key, embedded technologies and flight experiments in relevant environments of ascent, on-orbit, reentry and landing phases of flight. Technologies to be tested include propulsion, advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures, conformal reusable insulation, and high-temperature seals. In addition, the X-37 Orbital Vehicle will demonstrate autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing. The X-37 Orbital Vehicle is being designed so that it is capable of orbital operations for periods of up to nine months. Several locations are being studied for the landing site. The orbital flight test is scheduled for summer 2006.

In July 1999, Boeing Phantom Works began work to develop the X-37 via a four-year cooperative agreement with NASA. In November 2002, Boeing was awarded a $301 million contract to continue the development of the X-37 flight demonstrator. The contract includes the development of a X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle with a progressive series of approach and landing tests and the development of a X-37 Orbital Vehicle with an orbital flight test. The X-37 is nearly 27.5 feet long and weighs about 5 tons at launch. Its wingspan is approximately 15 feet, and it contains an experiment bay 7 feet long and 4 feet in diameter.

The X-37's shape is a 120 percent scale derivative of the Air Force’s X-40A, also designed and built by Boeing. The X-40A lacks the X-37's advanced thermal protection materials, propulsion system, experiment bay and other spacecraft systems. To reduce technical risk before flight-testing the X-37, the X-40A was released from a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter for seven free flight tests in 2001, and it completed each of the seven successfully. The X-37 government team, led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., also includes NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; Dryden Flight Research Center and the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center, both at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The X-37 industry team is led by The Boeing Company of Huntington Beach, Calif. Boeing facilities participating in the program are located in Seattle, St. Louis and Palmdale, Calif.

Flight demonstrators, like the X-37, have a critical role in demonstrating technologies that cannot be validated on the ground. NASA is pursuing technologies that will enable the Agency to achieve its goals of establishing safe, reliable, affordable access to space. The X-37 project is part of NASA’s new innovative business strategy to dramatically reduce the cost of space transportation. For the first time, NASA will be able to readily test and validate new, state-of-the-art space transportation technologies on orbit during the orbital and reentry phase of flight. The X-37 project office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the X-37 project for the Orbital Space Plane Program.

Next Generation Bomber Elevated by Obama

Aviation Intel

This is great news for the incredibly relevant 2018 / Next Generation / B-3 Bomber. Under a President Obama and SecDef Panetta future defense plan, a lighter and smarter military will set it’s gaze toward the Pacific. This is an abrupt change from a previous Gates ran Pentagon, where there seemed to be an almost myopic stare on the wars we were involved in at the time, not those of the future. Fielding a cutting edge, low observable, bomber sized airframe that is modular in nature, and configurable to fit other roles than just deep strike, is a capability that will be absolutely essential when fighting a war in the vast expanses of the Pacific. Fighters are great, but they rely on fairly close proximity basing and/or very unstealthy tankers. Having a machine that can cover long distances without the need for vulnerable tanking assets will give America many more options during a protracted conflict in that region.

I know many of my daily readers have heard me harp on the USAF’s need to prioritize a stealthy regional or long-range bomber, fielded in decent numbers, over every other asset, including the F-35. After years of Secretary Gates’s living in denial of the threat posed by China it would seem this “long range, highly survivable” mindset has finally taken hold in the Pentagon. Further, I believe the next generation bomber concept, utilizing modular payloads for true multirole capability, has been demonstrated and tested by the USAF, and these tests proved to be game changing in nature. Many see this new weapon system as the true culmination of lessons learned over decades of flawed defense programs, namely its cousins the F-22 and B-2. This new aircraft will most likely be designed and fielded using a “spiral development” model, where new missions and more advanced capabilities get added to the airframe over its effective lifetime, as opposed to stuffing every bell and whistle imaginable into the jet from day one. This allows for a much shorter and more cost-effective development and testing program, resulting in a much faster fielding of hardware. It also allows dollars to be spent wisely by leveraging new technologies as they emerge that may make old requirements vastly outdated. In other words, it takes a sensible and low risk developmental process and applies it to a high-tech, high risk by nature product.

This new aircraft may serve many roles, including deep strike bomber, battlefield jammer, network connectivity node, reconnaissance platform, flying “picket ship” for counter air operations, and possibly even a low observable tactical tanker. Further, this aircraft will most likely be built to be “optionally manned,” where the first blocks of aircraft will be only manned, but over time an unmanned capability will be retrofitted. The key is that this would be a survivable design, meant to fly often and will be constantly evolving in capability. The Next Generation Bomber would also most likely use a version of the F-35's PW-F135 motor for risk reduction and commonality purposes. I decided not to write a long piece today about Obama’s unveiled vision for a reduced size DoD, that mirrors the economic realities of our time, because there simply is not a lot of details available as of yet to flesh out such a policy’s long term strategic effects. Yet this single development alone, along with what seems like an actual coming to terms with just how large the Chinese threat may grow, is a great step in the right direction for the historically misguided DoD.

Reconstruction of Lockheed F-X Future Fighter

Up Ship Blog

Lockheed Martin recently revealed a single illustration of what *may* be LockMart Skunk Works thinking on a Sixth Generation fighter for the 2030 or later timeframe. It wasn’t revealed in a report or press release, but instead in a calendar. It’s unclear whether this is a serious design effort or is just some computer generated doodling. The design is jam-packed full of aesthetic neatoness. It appears to be a supercruising stealthy fighter, substantially more sleek than the F-22. It is a manned design, which has caused some quarters to get rather irritated at the whole idea, since the assumption is that a sixth-gen fighter will almost inevitably be an unmanned vehicle, either remotely piloted or autonomous. But as the recent RQ-170 landing in Iraq incident showed, unmanned aircraft do not seem to be entirely bug free (Conspiracy Theory Moment: “The Air Force made the UAV land in Iran to make sure that pilots keep their jobs.”)

I can’t say whether the fighters of the 2030-and-beyond period will all be unmanned, or whether there’ll still be some manned ones. But I can say that it’s damned sad that the next fighter isn’t expected to be available for twenty years. Anyway, the illustration (which can be seen at the first link above) shows the design from an angle that does not well display the planform, but mostly from the side. Still, seemed like a design screaming out for a three-view. I gave it a shot… I like the side view, but I’m underwhelmed with my top views (there are three, since I’m very uncertain of the planform).

1/6/12

2012-01-06T09:12:00.001-06:00

DRS Systems, Inc., Parsippany, N.J., was awarded a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price delivery orders for the purchase of Spot on Target in support of U.S. Special Operations Command Procurement Division. The estimated contract value is $40,218,000. The work will be performed in Dallas, Texas, and Melbourne, Fla, and ordering will be completed by November 2016. U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., is the contacting activity (H92222-12-D-0003).

Title: 15 - Exercise option on CLIN 0008AA

Sol. #:

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Materiel Command

Location: ASC - Aeronautical Systems Center

Posted On: Jan 05, 2012 1:45 pm

Base Type: Award Notice

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ASC/Awards/FA862010G3038004004.html

Image: Northrop Grumman N27NG or N29NG Beech/Raytheon 1900D at the Ranch

http://www.lazygranch.com/images/a51pan/beech_1900_at_new_hangar.jpg

Document: Boeing StrutJet Engine

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19990009345_1998432260.pdf

Article: Girls Sneaks into Russian Rocket Factory

http://gizmodo.com/5873441/this-girl-sneaked-into-this-russian-military-rocket-factory

Image: First Re-Winged Lockheed P-3 Orion

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/news/2012_News_P3_12_19G_1269967624_6097.jpg

Article: Boeing Shuts Kansas Factory

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?c=AIR&s=TOP&i=8748293

Images: NASA Channeled Centerbody Inlet Experiment (CCIE)

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/1/18ae1f45-c7c8-4bcd-b19a-699e94244198.Full.jpg

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/14/11/fec9e17c-4b27-4394-9b39-c64cd08f3bde.Full.jpg

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/1/16114067-a166-4e6b-918c-7db786e6cff6.Full.jpg

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/10/3a1dcb63-48da-48bf-aa4d-140f33a71937.Full.jpg

Image: Lockheed 6th Generation Fighter Concept

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2012/01/04/LMT%20Fighter%20560.jpg

Article: U.S. Non-Lethal Weapon Work Revealed

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&newspaperUserId=27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a2b0dd141-6409-4e8b-94be-e7913da32f86&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

F-22 Technology On RQ-170 That Crashed in Iran

by Bill Sweetman & David Fulghum

The first clear pictures of the center-line reconnaissance bay on Lockheed Martin’s RQ-170 Sentinel show that the small unmanned aircraft was carrying sensor balls mounted in an internal compartment with specially treated transparent panels—developed for the F-22 - when one of them crashed in Iran on Dec. 4. The new pictures were taken at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan on Sept. 30. The images show that a wheels-up landing would have inflicted massive damage to the bay and sensor package. That package is “similar to some of the podded electro-optical/infra-red [EO/IR]systems” used by other non-stealthy aircraft and unmanned aerial systems, says a veteran black-world engineer with insight into U.S. UAS programs. The accident was caused by a “lost [data] link, followed by, or simultaneous with, another malfunction,” says a second official involved with the program. Putting the loss into perspective, “We’ve lost over 50 MQ-1s [Predators] and 9s [Reapers], so this should not be a surprise.”

The U.S. Air Force squadron that flew Sentinels was activated in 2005 and the stealthy, unmanned aircraft was first photographed at Kandahar in 2007. Early RQ-170 operations were conducted from both Afghanistan—with CIA involvement—and South Korea. The RQ-170s were brought back to the U.S. in 2009, re-equipped with a full-motion video (FMV) camera, and then redeployed to Afghanistan, say USAF intelligence officials. At that time it was operated by the USAF 432nd Wing’s 30th Reconnaissance Sqdn. (RS), then at the Tonopah Test Range Airport in the northwest corner of the USAF Nevada Test and Training Range. The wing also flies the Predator and Reaper, and the Tonopah base was once the clandestine home of the F-117 stealth fighter. Prior to refitting, the aircraft carried a long-range, EO/IR camera thought by U.S. analysts to be used for monitoring missile tests and other activities in sparsely populated eastern Iran.

The RQ-170’s operational altitude of 50,000 ft. gives it an advantage over other lower-cost UAVs and the manned RC-135 Cobra Ball (for monitoring foreign missile tests) that are restricted to about 30,000 ft. and below. However, the Sentinel is not a high-end, very low-observable stealth design with sophisticated sensors. It is instead a robust, reduced-signature, sensor truck designed to maintain high sortie rates. Other stealth design features include a variant of the “toothpick” leading-edge profile developed for the B-2. Stealth dictates sharp leading edges, but bluff shapes are better for aerodynamics and stability. The compromise on the RQ-170 and B-2 is to make the edges sharp at their ends, where more radar scattering is most likely, and more blunt at the mid-point. Initially, flights are thought to have been conducted along the borders of Afghanistan. avoiding the airspace of neighboring countries. However, after adding shorter-range FMV, the aircraft operated in Pakistan’s airspace to monitor the compound of Osama bin Laden, and later over Iran, defense officials say.

The RQ-170 has a dual history of operations for both the CIA and Air Force. Some analysts believe the aircraft was originally funded after the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems demonstration program was terminated in early 2006, as a near-term platform with adequate—but not advanced—stealth qualities to support a USAF airborne electronic attack (AEA) technology demonstration. However, the 30th RS was activated on Sept. 1, 2005. That may indicate that other, unknown UAVs are in its stable. That effort culminated in an experimental deployment to South Korea in the summer and fall of 2009, and paved the way for a larger, classified UAV now under development. By the fall of 2007, however, the CIA had acquired the first of a small number of RQ-170s, fitted with what appears to be an off-the-shelf, full-motion-video sensor and a satellite communications (sitcom) system. The choice of FMV suggests that Iranian nuclear and missile research facilities may not have been the primary target of the CIA’s mission. A long-range oblique photography (Lorop) camera would be better suited to such fixed targets. FMV is more valuable in operations like the bin Laden raid—where the sensor can monitor activity around a target—and the CIA may well have been concerned that Pakistani air-defense radar tracking of Reaper operations would leak to Pakistan-based insurgents.

FMV is a key component in the new field of activity-based intelligence analysis conducted by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. NGA analysis brings together all available intelligence data to build a more complete picture of a target of interest. In preparation for the Pakistan raid, the presence of bin Laden was deduced without a man fitting his description actually being seen. A helicopter crash during the raid also revealed the existence of a small fleet of helicopters modified for low noise, radar and heat signatures. The new photos confirm that the RQ-170 is a small aircraft, with a wingspan of 45 ft. and an overall length of just over 17 ft. Major components of the landing gear appear to be drawn from the T-6 trainer, but with the wheels, lower struts and linkages rotated through 90 deg. so the main gears retract forward and the nose gear retracts to the right of the centerline.

The sideways-retracting nose gear is unusual, but leaves more of the limited centerline length available for payloads. The photos clearly show that the primary reconnaissance payload is a sensor ball covered by a “greenhouse” comprising three panels of radar-reflective, infrared-transparent material. Such materials may be classified, but they are not new. They were developed for the F-22 when it was still expected to carry an infrared search-and-track system. The V-shaped canoe fairing also could accommodate a small side-looking radar. The twin overwing bulges most likely accommodate dual satcom antennas. This would allow the RQ-170 to use whichever antenna is on the “shadow” side of the vehicle, relative to the most severe radar threat. The center section is too short to accommodate a serpentine inlet duct—hence the reversion to the grid-shielded inlet used on the F-117. It is not clear how the problem of inlet icing is addressed. The F-117 used a retractable wiper/chemical spray system, stowed in a step in front of the inlet and operated by the pilot, who was supposed to detect ice visually with the help of a lamp in the fuselage side.

Channeled Inlet Means Better Supersonics

by Graham Warwick

NASA has flight tested an inlet that promises to improve the efficiency of supersonic and hypersonic engines. The Channeled Centerbody Inlet Experiment (CCIE) was flown at speeds up to Mach 1.74 mounted on a pylon under NASA Dryden's F-15B. As its name suggests, the CCIE has channels in the inlet centerbody. These slots increase the amount of air flowing into the engine, improving its performance at off-design Mach numbers. The CCIE is a fixed-geometry test version of the translating channel centerbody (TCCB) inlet patented by Ohio-based TechLand Research and originally designed to work with a NASA-designed rocket-based combined-cycle (RBCC) engine. A typical supersonic inlet is designed to reduce the airflow to subsonic speed before it enters the engine. Supersonic fighters like the F-16 and F-18 have external-compression inlets - the terminal shock is located at the entrance to the inlet and all flow from there to the engine face is subsonic. But the SR-71 and advanced supersonic transports being designed by NASA and others have mixed-compression inlets - the terminal shock is inside the inlet and can be repositioned by moving the centerbody fore and aft, improving efficiency over a range of Mach numbers.

TechLand's TBCC was designed to address the problem of the changing mass-flow requirements for a supersonic inlet operating across different flight conditions. At the design cruise speed, inlet throat area and mass flow can be matched to maximize engine efficiency, but "off-design" at transonic and low supersonic speeds the inlet needs a much larger throat area to meet the engine's demand for air. This requires an inlet that can accommodate a wide variation in throat area, otherwise engine efficiency suffers. In the TBCC, the centerbody not only translates fore and aft to reposition the terminal shock (as it did in the SR-71), but channels open and close to adjust throat area and vary mass flow into the engine depending on conditions. The CCIE test article has fixed open slots in the centerbody, and the F-15 flights are intended to collect data to compare both channeled and smooth centerbodies and to see how well the flight results compare with CFD calculations. The advantage of the channels, NASA says, is that they allow the designer to select a mixed-compression inlet design with lower internal compression. A smooth centerbody would have a smaller throat area and would require higher internal compression to meet the engine's mass-flow demand. Lowering the internal compression reduces the risk the inlet will "unstart" - pushing the terminal shock forward, all the way out of the inlet, suddenly and dramatically increasing drag and potentially damaging the engine or even the aircraft.

What We Know About the Next Bomber

by David Hambling

The youngest active stealth bomber in the U.S. turns 15 this year, and the other 19 B-2s in the Air Force fleet are nearly five years older. Meanwhile, the integrated defense systems they face have become much more sophisticated. Multi-static radar, which is now relatively common, is so sensitive that it can detect certain stealth craft. To stay ahead of such defense systems, the Air Force has budgeted $3.7 billion over the next five years to develop a successor to the B-2 that could be active by 2020. Actual designs of the new bomber are classified, but some secrets are already out. Patents and bid proposals from Northrop Grumman, maker of the B-2, suggest that the new bomber will be narrower than the B-2 but maintain the familiar flying wing design, which reduces radar reflection by minimizing hard edges. Engineers are also testing new types of radar-absorbing coatings that could be customized to individual defense systems. And so a picture of the next generation of stealth bombers is beginning to emerge.

Custom Coatings

Most stealth coatings consist of a radar-absorbing material, typically a form of iron, suspended in paint. But they are heavy (which lowers fuel efficiency), need to be reapplied frequently, and don’t absorb all radar frequencies. Ceno Technologies, a particles-science company in Sanborn, New York, has developed a lighter, more durable coating that uses hollow ceramic spheres, called cenospheres. Because the spheres can be covered in carbon, silver or other metals that absorb slightly different wavelengths of radar, the coating can be customized to deceive specific radar systems.

Smoother Shape

The B-2 has two semi-flush air-intake vents, the hard edges of which can reflect radar. In one design seen in a patent from Northrop Grumman, the new bomber has four small vents rather than two large ones. The smaller vents can be buried more deeply in the wing, reducing the possibility of radar returns.

Smarter Decoys

To confuse radar defense systems, the new bomber will probably carry something like the Miniature Air Launched Decoy made by Raytheon. The modified drones use radar reflectors to create bomber-like signatures that divert attention from the actual bomber. The decoys fly on a preprogrammed course for up to 575 miles and may carry radar jammers to further confuse air defenses.

Retractable Wing

In one design from Northrop Grumman, engineers included a canard wing on the plane’s nose, which would provide extra lift during takeoff and flight, allowing a smaller bomber to carry a heavier weapons payload. Because its straight lines and hard angles would reflect radar, the canard wing will most likely be designed to fold flush with the bomber’s body as the craft comes within range of defense systems.

Heavier Weapons

The new bomber will most likely have a single weapons bay, as opposed to the twin bays on the B-2. It will still be able to carry conventional GPS-guided JDAM missiles, nuclear warheads and even the new 30,000-pound, bunker-busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator, but a single bay would reduce the cost of manufacturing—a major concern for designers on a relatively tight budget.

Low Observables

SP Forum

RCS itself is a measure of power the target reflects back at the radar - this is why it's typically expressed as dBsm. The dBsm is expressed as -20dBsm, etc. -20? Well, 20 less than what? 20 less than a (theoretical) perfectly conducting metal sphere at least several wavelengths in diameter. A sphere reflects in all directions equally for all viewing aspects. To calibrate a radar (or RCS test), a sphere is used for just these reasons. Once calibrated, you have the numbers for your ideal sphere - which removes frequency from the process (this is why the ideal sphere is x wavelengths in diameter).

The idea that RCS is dependent on the "size/frequency ratio" is not accurate, because RCS itself has no frequency component. As stated above, frequency is removed on purpose. When testing a scaled model though, frequency is a factor because those several wavelengths for the idea sphere have to be scaled as well. So RCS itself has no frequency, and is not affected by scale. Scaled model RCS testing does, because the whole point is to scale the results to a real world object.

Knott's "Radar Cross Section Measurement" has a chapter on scaling laws, as applied to measuring scale models as RCS targets. For example, if you are testing a 1/48 scale model the test frequency must be 48 times the "real world" frequency (i.e. if you designed for a 1GHz radar, you test with a 48GHz radar on your 1/48 model). To take the result of that scaled testing and apply it to your real world vehicle, multiply the test result by the square of the scaling factor (i.e. 48^2).Because for air sampling, you don't fly OVER the target, you're flying wherever the wind is taking the output of the target. So if you're collecting on a target in Florida, you might be sampling in North Carolina, or Boston. The need for a VLO platform isn't really there, since you can usually find a way to sample in a permissive environment.

Jeffrey Richelson's "Spying On the Bomb" has several good accounts of air sampling missions.

http://books.google.com/books?ei=54riTvrVJ5TaiQL31ZTJBg&ct=result&id=gJcgAQAAIAAJ&dq=spying+on+the+bomb&q=sampling#search_anchor

1/3/12

2012-01-03T15:37:00.000-06:00

Images: Scaled Composites ARES-151

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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KA6_J9rd-uk/Tv3QAprji1I/AAAAAAAAKjA/nSfzj4HHcG4/s1600/DSC_8897s.jpg

Superior in Running for Aircraft Facility

by Shelley Nelson - Superior Telegram

The city of Superior is in the running for an airplane manufacturing facility that could create 300 permanent jobs initially and up to 600 jobs by 2016. Kestrel Aircraft Co. — led by founder and former head of Duluth-based Cirrus Aviation, Alan Klapmeier — has been in negotiations with the city and state of Wisconsin since mid-July to discuss the possibility of sitting a manufacturing plant in Superior. The city’s Redevelopment Authority is slated to hold a public hearing Jan. 16 to consider a development agreement with the company. The deal hasn’t been finalized but a formal announcement could be coming in the next couple of weeks, said Mayor Bruce Hagen. In fact, state officials with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority were presenting the company with their proposal on Thursday, the mayor said. He expects a decision sometime after the company has a chance to review the proposal. With design operations in Duluth and office in Brunswick Maine., Kestrel Aircraft Co. plans to manufacture a single-engine turboprop, largely carbon fiber composite plane designed to carry up to eight passengers and a pilot, according to the business plan presented to the city.

“This is a significant number of jobs, right now, but it will continue to be a significant number of jobs in the years to come,” said Jim Caesar, an economic development consultant contracted by the city. “They have plans beyond this prototype that will require additional workers well into the future … this is an ongoing thing.” Dave Minor, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber said he expects the facilities to rival employment in shipbuilding in the Twin Ports during World War II if the project becomes a reality. Under the terms of the development agreement, the city would provide assistance with the project with the sale of land, grants, and tax increment financing to encourage the development. In addition, the state could provide tax credits to make the project a reality, said Port and Planning Director Jason Serck.

Superior is just one site among many being considered for the manufacturing facility. “We’ve had our ups and downs because we were in competition with not just Maine, but other states,” Hagen said. “It sounds like a big announcement but it’s just a step in the process of putting it together. This has been an extremely close project and process that extends all the way to Madison,” Hagen said. Company spokeswoman Kate Dougherty declined to comment on the proposal.

USAF Buys an General Atomics Avenger, its Biggest and Fastest Armed Drone

Los Angeles Times

The Air Force has bought a new hunter-killer aircraft that is the fastest and largest armed drone in its fleet. The Avenger, which cost the military $15 million, is the latest version of the Predator drones made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., a San Diego-area company that also builds the robotic MQ-9 Reapers for the Air Force and CIA. The new radar-evading aircraft, also known as the Predator C, is General Atomics' third version of these drones. The Air Force picked up only one of them, strictly for testing purposes. "There is no intention to deploy the aircraft in the war in Afghanistan at this time," said Pentagon spokeswoman Jennifer Cassidy. The Avenger represents a major technological advance over the other Predator and Reaper drones that the Obama administration has increasingly relied on to hunt and destroy targets in Central Asia and the Middle East, defense industry analysts said. It may be several months — even years — away from active duty, but the Avenger represents the wave of the future, said Phil Finnegan, an aerospace expert with the Teal Group, a research firm. "As the U.S. looks at threats beyond Iraq and Afghanistan — where it has complete air dominance — it needs aircraft that are going to be stealthier and faster so they won't be shot down by enemy air defense," Finnegan said.

With a length of 44 feet and a maximum takeoff weight of 15,800 pounds, the Avenger can carry more weaponry than its predecessors. The Reaper, for example, is 36 feet long and has a maximum takeoff weight of 10,500 pounds. The largest bombs it carries weigh 500 pounds and hang from its wings. The Avenger, on the other hand, has an internal bomb bay like other modern fighter and bomber jets. It was designed to carry 2,000-pound bombs, as well as missiles, cameras and sensor packages. Both the Reaper and Avenger have 66-foot wingspans and can reach a maximum altitude of about 50,000 feet. The Reaper can stay aloft for 30 hours at a time –- 10 hours longer than the Avenger. But with the power of a turbofan engine, the Avenger's top speed is about 460 mph, much faster than the propeller-driven Reaper's 276 mph. The Avenger is considered one of the contenders to replace older Predators and Reapers. It's also likely to be in the running for the Navy's upcoming carrier-launched drone program.

General Atomics builds its drones in 10 buildings in Poway. The sprawling complex harks back to an era when Southland aerospace pioneers such as Lockheed Aircraft Co., Douglas Aircraft Co. and North American Aviation built aircraft from start to finish, manufacturing nearly all of the components in-house. The company first flew the Avenger in April 2009 at the company's Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale. David A. Deptula, a retired three-star general who focused on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance during his career in the Air Force, said the military would check out how detectable the Avenger is when faced with radar. The military will also test the aircraft's weapon delivery system and its overall performance in a simulated battle environment. "They're going to test out all of its capabilities before they make a commitment to buy more," he said.

Raven Industries Tactical High Altitude Balloon Systems Used in Successful UAV Flight Testing

Press Release

Sioux Falls, SD - Raven Aerostar aided the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Vehicle Research Section on September 1, 2011 on achieving successful unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program. The flight demonstration series, located at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona, consisted of eight high altitude balloon releases at altitudes of up to 57,000 feet. The balloon demonstration facilitated Close-In Cover Autonomous Disposable Aircraft (CICADA) vehicles to come to rest within 15 feet from their intended landing targets. The ADD program equipped small UAV’s with sensor payloads, launching them from balloons or aircraft. The ADD field trials successfully demonstrate that the CICADA can perform a precision delivery of a notional payload after being carried aloft by a hand-launched balloon.

“The ADD balloon support operation is very simple and well developed,” said Mike Smith, Senior Aerospace Engineer at Aerostar International. “The preflight checks, balloon inflation, launch and tracking operations can be carried out by two people in one vehicle from almost any remote location.” The balloon tracking system consists of a small radio frequency (RF) modem attached to a laptop computer. Throughout the testing, the UAV package was lifted to altitude using hand-launched balloons manufactured and operated by Aerostar International. Aerostar’s hand-launched balloons are, decades proven, tactical polyethylene balloons which can be flown in two different modes, either as a sounding balloon or as a free-floating zero pressure balloon. They are used for communications, data relay, surveillance and intelligence. The Tempest UAV, with two CICADA vehicles attached on wing-mounted pylons, was carried aloft by the balloon up to altitudes approaching 60,000 feet. The Tempest UAV was released from the balloon, autonomously executed a pull-up maneuver, and then carried the two CICADAs to a drop location. Each CICADA vehicle was then released from the mother-ship and autonomously flew to the preprogrammed target waypoint.

“Many remote sensors are currently hand emplaced,” says Chris Bovais, NRL Vehicle Research Section Aeronautical Engineer and Flight Test Coordinator. “The CICADA allows for the low-cost delivery of multiple precision-located sensors without placing the warfighter in harm’s way.” Aerostar’s high altitude research balloons can carry payloads from just a few pounds up to 6,000 pounds and can reach altitudes up to 45 kilometers capable of sustaining altitude for several months. “This capability, affordably and reliably getting high-cost, high-return sensors to the edge of the atmosphere is what Aerostar has been doing for NASA since the 1960s,” said Lon Stroschein, Vice President and General Manager of Raven Aerostar. Aerostar’s tactical hand-launched balloons are an industry best value, costing only a few thousand dollars, versus other UAV platforms that may cost hundreds of thousands to do similar work. “We appreciate that NRL takes the ease of use and affordability into consideration for such missions,” Stroschein said.

Rare Scaled Composites ARES 151 Jet Stops in Amarillo, TX

Steve Douglass

A rare one-of-a-kind military prototype made a surprise stop at Rick Husband Amarillo International today. It's called the Model 151 Ares and was designed as a proof-of concept demonstrator for the US Army's requirements for a low-cost - fast and agile attack aircraft - a sort of mini A-10 Warthog - the current US militarys' premier tank killer. Designed in the early 90s, by Scaled Composites out of Mojave, California - who built the first private space ship (Virgin Galactic's Space Ship One) and Space Ship Two (the first commercial space ship soon to be taking well-heeled passengers into space - ARES 151 landed shortly before noon to refuel. The aircraft (thought to be in mothballs) has been taken out of retirement and is being used as a test-bed for the NAVY, its' mission - classified. It is interesting to note the ARES 151 sports a new low-vis flat grey paint job and a few more (new?) antennae - slightly modified (more rounded) lines and was absent it's 25 mm GAU-12/U Gatling cannon as seen in the video below.

The aircraft flew on to Smyrna Georgia and is rumored to be heading to the Naval Air Warfare Center at Pax River in Maryland. The ARES has quite unique shape compared to other aircraft. It incorporates canards which enable safer flight at low altitude. The canards serve as the pitch control and are designed so that the canard surface reaches critical angle of attack sooner than the main wings, protecting the aircraft from stall while full roll control is retained. The canards have a wingspan of 19.2 feet (5.85 m) and are swept 7 degrees forward so they can be placed behind the cockpit. The main wing has a span of 35 feet (10.7 m) and a reference area of 191 sq. ft. (17.7 m2), not including the strakes. It is swept aft 16 degrees at the leading edge. The strakes are swept 49 degrees at the leading edge. These strakes, combined with a wet wing center-section area, form the bulk of the 2,200 lb (1000 kg, approximately 333 U.S. gallons) fuel capacity. The wing has conventional ailerons on the outboard trailing edge, and spoil-flaps (similar to the dive-brake flap) on the inboard trailing edges. The ailerons are actuated by push-rods, and the spoil-flaps are hydraulically operated.

Directional stability is provided by twin boom-mounted fins, each of 18 sq ft (1.7 m2). area. Each has a cable-actuated rudder at its trailing edge. The rudder actuation system also drives the full-time mechanical nosewheel steering for ground operations. The engine inlet is another major unique feature of ARES. Since gun gas ingestion posed significant problems in other aircraft development programs (like A-10), the configuration of ARES was designed to avoid this problem: the engine inlet is entirely contained on the left side of the aircraft, and the gun is installed on the right side. The inlet has a circular cross section, and is straight into the fan face. The engine is mounted slightly transversely in the fuselage, with an 8-degree misalignment from the aircraft's longitudinal axis.

The engine exhaust is turned back to the longitudinal axis by a curved composite tailpipe. A composite tailpipe was to help get the gun recoil reaction closer to the aircraft lateral center of gravity (CG) location, the gun is sub-merged as deeply as practical into the right side of the fuselage. Also, the fuselage is not centered about the aircraft centerline, but is offset to the left by three inches. This results in the firing barrel of the gun being only about 18 inches from the lateral CG. This minimizes the yaw movement caused by the recoil of the gun. The aircraft fuselage is almost completely made of fiberglass composite material installed over the foam core. The technique of making of composite aircraft fuselages has been perfected by Scaled Composites in previous aircraft.

Performance

Maximum speed: 464 kt (763 km/h)

Range: 1200 nm (2200 km)

Wing loading: 34 lb/sq. ft (166 kg/m2)

Thrust/weight: 0.43 (at maximum weight)

Armament

25 mm GAU-12/U Gatling cannon

AAMs: AIM-9 Sidewinder

air-to-ground weapons include: Unguided rockets

12/29/11

2011-12-29T10:46:00.000-06:00

Title: Hard and Deeply Buried Target (HDBT) Functional Defeat

Sol. #: RWK-RFI-12-0001

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Materiel Command

Location: AFRL - Eglin Research Site

Posted On: Dec 28, 2011 5:29 pm

Current Type: Sources Sought (Modified)

Base Type: Sources Sought

Base Posting Date: Nov 29, 2011 11:36 am

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLERS/RWK-RFI-12-0001/listing.html

Link: Chicago Tribune Job for Unmanned Rotorcraft Engineer

http://www.authenticjobs.com/jobs/11045/helicopters-html-democracy-be-a-hacker-journalist

Article: U.S. Reportedly Lost Another Drone in Afghanistan

http://www.businessinsider.com/looks-like-the-us-just-lost-another-drone-this-time-its-in-afghanistan-2011-12

Images: NRL Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD)

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http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/1/15/c1d0d329-2861-4f9e-8f12-9938bccbe814.Full.jpg

Avenger B Morphs into MQ-X

Strategy Page

The U.S. Air Force has decided to take a shortcut in developing its next generation tactical reconnaissance UAV (MQ-X) and simply adopt a beefed up version of the existing Avenger ("Predator C"). This jet powered aircraft was developed privately by the firm that makes the Predator and Reaper UAV that MQ-X will replace. Avenger took its first flight in early 2009. The air force has already agreed to buy at least one Avenger and send it to Afghanistan. Avenger test flights over the last two years were encouraging enough for the air force to adopt Avenger as the base design for MQ-X. Development of the Avenger began nearly a decade ago. The first flight was supposed to have been four years ago but there were technical problems that kept coming up. Apparently it was worth the wait, as the U.S. Navy was impressed and particularly interested in using Avenger to replace the soon-to-be-retired EA-6Bs in their most dangerous attack missions. The air force likes the ability to arm Avenger with a smart bomb, including the 900 kg (2,000 pound) GBU-34 penetrator version.

Avenger appears to be a larger jet powered version of the five ton Reaper (Predator B). Avenger is 13.2 meters (41 feet) long, with a 20.1 meter (66 foot) wingspan, and built to be stealthy. The V shaped tail and smooth lines of the swept wing aircraft will make it difficult to detect by radar. There is a humpbacked structure on top of the aircraft for the engine air intake. There is an internal bomb bay to hold about a ton of weapons, sensors or additional fuel to provide another two hours of flying time (in addition to the standard 20 hours endurance). The 4,800 pound thrust engine is designed to minimize the heat signature that sensors can pick up. Total payload is 1.36 tons (3,000 pounds) and total weight of the aircraft is nine tons. Cruising speed is 740 kilometers an hour. The Avenger is designed to fly high (up to 20,000 meters/60,000 feet) and cross oceans. Until 2009 the Avenger didn't officially exist and was a "black" (secret) program. Avenger is, like Reaper, a combat UAV that will often carry weapons as well as sensors. Each Avenger costs about $15 million. The Avenger B would probably be a little larger, and more expensive. The air force has not yet revealed their wish list of changes for Avenger B.

All this attention to stealth should be no surprise. The Avenger manufacturer, General Atomics, has a division devoted to building stealth features into aircraft. This includes the world's largest indoor radar cross section testing facility. Despite the bomb bay the Avenger is expected to be used primarily to carry ground surveillance radar, which could be mounted on the bottom of the aircraft in an aerodynamically smooth enclosure. The U.S. Navy has been interested in Avenger since the beginning of development. Thus the Avenger wings can be built to fold for use on carriers, and have a tail hook needed for carrier landings. The Avenger can operate from carriers. The Avenger uses landing gear from the F-5, an aircraft of the same weight class. The naval version is now called the Sea Avenger. The navy, and several air forces, are also looking at the Avenger as an ELINT (electronic intelligence) aircraft. The ability to carry a ton of sensors and stay in the air for twenty hours per sortie has a lot of appeal for an aircraft that is already stealthy and doesn't carry a pilot. Moreover, the Avenger can perform ELINT missions entirely autonomously, making it more difficult to detect. General Atomics believes it can get the Predator C to operate (takeoff and land) from a carrier before any of the other contenders (mainly the 19 ton X-47). The Avenger weighs less than half as much and has an exemplary track record.

Remote Sensors Glide into Position

by Graham Warwick

Miniature gliders released from an unmanned aircraft dropped from a high-altitude balloon - that was the US Navy Research Laboratory's (NRL) Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD), completed in September but only revealed in December. The ADD consisted of eight balloon drops at altitudes up to 57,000ft to demonstrate that small, virtually undetectable unmanned air vehicles carrying sensor payloads could be dispersed in selectable patterns, eliminating the need to put remote sensors in place by hand. The sensor-emplacement vehicle is the NRL-developed Close-In Covert Autonomous Deployment Aircraft (CICADA) Mark III. Two of these tiny gliders were carried under the wing of a UASUSA-built Tempest UAV, which was lifted to altitude by an Aerostar International balloon. After release at up to 57,000ft and stand-off ranges up to 30nm, the 10.75ft-span Tempest mother ship carried the CICADA vehicles into the target area and released them to glide autonomously to a landing within 15ft of the desired locations, says NRL. That accuracy was achieved despite the relatively simple vehicle having only a 5Hz GPS receiver and two-axis gyroscope for guidance and control, and no air data sensors, the lab says. The airframe of the CICADA Mark III is essentially a printed circuit board (PCB) that also serves as the autopilot. This robust construction technique reduces cost and assembly time, NRL says, and allows sensor payloads to be added by changing the PCB design.

RQ-170 Sentinel Origins: Darkstar Has Grown Up

Aviation Intel

Since the “Sentinel Down” escapade began I have wanted to do a piece about the probable origins of the RQ-170, in an attempt to answer many of the looming questions as to where it came from and why it exists. Please keep in mind this piece will deal with logical assumptions, previous facts, articles produced by respected sources and will rely on years of watching development patterns of US weapons programs. The idea of a stealthy tactical reconnaissance platform is nothing new. The ability to leverage high-fidelity, near real-time intelligence over enemy territory, without the risk of losing a pilot or even being seen by the enemy, has always been on the wish list of any military commander with a creative imagination. The possibility of the existence of such an asset first came forward briefly following Operation Desert Storm, when there were shadowy reports of a manned reconnaissance companion aircraft to the infamous F-117 Nighthawk, the shining star of the Desert Storm air campaign, that provided tactical intelligence and possibly target designation before and after F-117 strikes.

This aircraft was nicknamed the TR-3 ”Black Manta” due to its proposed semi elliptical design. Some trace the TR-3's lineage as far back as a the mid-1970's to the Teledyne-Ryan corporation, that was later acquired by Northrop, via the patent shown in the link below. Others say the “Black Manta” was a direct offshoot of the B-2 program and possibly was developed from one of its technology demonstrators. These are all impressive theories although the reality is that no hard evidence really supports the existence of the TR-3 “Black Manta,” and some think the rumor of its existence evolved more out of the confusion surrounding the renaming of U-2 fleet, from TR-1 back to U-2, and the launch of the “TIER 3? unmanned reconnaissance program during this same period of time. None-the-less, whether this aircraft, or one with a similar mission to it, ever existed is not as important as the fact that the idea of this aircraft and its mission did exist during the late 80's early 90's. This lays the groundwork perfectly for the Tier III MINUS and TIER II PLUS programs that mark the first confirmed embarkation point where we can begin tracing the RQ-170's Sentinel’s shadowy lineage with some certainty.

Teledyne Ryan Patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=VxY2AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Seeing as the TIER 2- would be an unmanned replacement for the U-2, it is curious that the TIER 3- had no predecessor, a seemingly blatant hole in the US’s force structure which does lend itself to the possibility that something like the “Black Manta” did exist, although sadly we have no way to confirm this. The TIER 2+ requirement for an unmanned high altitude, long endurance, standoff surveillance platform would result in the selection of the Teledyne-Ryan (now Northrop Grumman) RQ-4 ”Global Hawk,” while the TIER III- requirement for a stealthy medium endurance and medium altitude penetrating surveillance platform would result in the RQ-3 ”Darkstar.” The Darkstar was designed by Lockheed Martin’s famed “Skunk Works” utilizing composite materials and manufacturing practices we now know as “rapid prototyping,” although at the time this concept was still in its infancy.

Rapid prototyping has been discussed here at Aviationintel at length, but basically, in its current form, it utilizing advanced computer aided design and software modeling to minimize the part count needed to produce a product. It also utilizes cutting edge composites and polymers instead of traditional metallic building materials, thus saving weight, cost, time, and complexity. Further, utilizing ultra modern “3D Printing” hardware and fabrication machines, rapid prototyping allows for large sections of aircraft to be “printed,” or automatically fabricated instead of being built and assembled by hand out of smaller pieces. This technique is especially relevant for proof of concept demonstrators or small production runs as it is cost prohibitive to create large amounts of tooling and infrastructure just to produce a handful of aircraft. This technique is also conducive to stealth aircraft design as fewer pieces mean less radar reflecting seams and crevices, and the ability to fabricate large flowing structures in a precise way which is great for radar evading designs. Another great advantage of utilizing composites and plastics instead of traditional materials is that it may be possible to include radar absorbing materials directly into the polymer structure of the aircraft, instead of applying it to the skin as is done traditionally. This would drastically simplify maintenance and sustainability requirements for a low observable aircraft. Many factors point to the fact that this “rapid prototyping” concept was being evolved by the major aerospace defense contractors during the mid 1990's and was known to have been used in other stealth test aircraft, such as Boeing’s striking ”Bird Of Prey” technology demonstrator.

The RQ-3 Darkstar was designed to penetrate deep into enemy airspace, at an altitude around 50,000 ft, and provide continuous, real-time tactical intelligence to commanders in theatre, and it had to do all of this at an affordable price. Its size would be roughly half that of its TIER 2+ Global Hawk cousin, and it would share the same “semi autonomous” command and control functionality and ground control hardware developed by Raytheon for its operation. This system would allow the aircraft to go about its mission as planned, without a “man-in-the-loop” flying the aircraft in a traditional manner, yet at the same time it would be able to be re-tasked or it’s mission modified at any time. The aircraft would be able to loiter for some eight hours at a time, utilizing its electro-optical sensor suite or low probability of intercept synthetic aperture radar to keep watch on its target in unprecedented close proximity if need be. A key difference between the Darkstar’s and Global Hawk’s payload capability was the Darkstar could only carry either it’s miniaturized EO or SAR radar suite at one time, whereas the both could be carried at once aboard the larger Global Hawk. All “final product” intelligence gathered would then be processed once again through Raytheon’s common ground station that would serve both platforms. It was also rumored that as the Darkstar developed and advanced radar warning and geolocation gear continued to shrink in size and increase in capability, some sort of secondary ELINT and even a possible tactical jamming capability could be added later on.

Darkstar entered flight testing in 1996 and the first prototype crashed on only its second flight. A modified design flew in 1998 and racked up about a half-dozen flights before the program was mysteriously cancelled in 1999, even though two other prototypes were built for the flight test program and were ready to fly. At the time the common story within the aviation community was that the aircraft would never meet design requirements so the program was abandoned, but many thought this was a simple cover story, not to hide the fact that the Darkstar’s potential was so bleak, but to hide the fact that it’s potential was so great. None-the-less, the prototypes were sent to museums and the program was shuddered, at least to the public’s view. Then, on a clear morning in September the Twin Towers fell and Pentagon was torn in two. The Global War on Terror had begun, and the United States’ brand new focus in the new millennium would no doubt realize an urgent requirement that would lead to the Darkstar’s rebirth.

Although it is highly probable that the TIER3- program had continued in the black after the RQ-3's public cancellation, it is doubtful that it was running at anywhere near the pace it would have following the September 11th attacks. The looming Global War On Terror and the great fear of the proliferation of nuclear weapons surely would have given the TIER3-’s deep penetrating persistent reconnaissance concept a whole new focus beyond that of a general weapon system to be used during periods of peer warfare. Instead the TIER3- was the perfect surveillance weapon system to be utilized in America’s looming unconventional wars.

Following the invasion of Afghanistan, the realities of the budding Global War On Terror would most certainly have highlighted the fact that US would urgently need a way to spy on not just its enemies but also it’s fair weather friends. Nuclear programs would have to be watched, high value targets would have to be surveyed, terrorists would have to be tracked, special forces would need support from an all-seeing persistent eye in the sky, and something that could even send back moving video, in real-time, to operational commanders in the field would be a dream weapon. In other words, traditional “moment in time” satellite or high speed reconnaissance aircraft produced imagery would just not cut it for these unique applications and requirements. Further, rapid advancement in UAV technology, flight control systems, data links and the total validation in unmanned operations by the Predator drone program made it clear that such an asset would be surely unmanned. And although there was a new need for such capabilities and mission requirements were of an urgent nature, the platform, or at least the concept behind it already fully existed. And so Darkstar and the whole TIER3- concept would rise once again, this time with the urgency and cash behind it that program managers could only have dreamed of in the 1990's.

Even if the RQ-3 program continued well into development after getting publicly cancelled two years before the events of September 11th, 2001, it’s need and prominence would have turned it into an absolute necessity on September 12, 2001. Once the invasion of Iraq became a reality there were many rumblings within the military technology community that certain cutting edge, black surveillance platforms were thrust into operational testing over the skies of Baghdad, after only short development periods. Most notable were publicized accounts of U-2 pilots seeing aircraft flying in their airspace when they most certainly should not have been there. Even grunts on the ground had reported seeing strange shaped aircraft loitering over their positions, high in the sky, sometimes for hours on end. After these reports had began to emerge aviation journalists started to pry at their contacts within industry and the Pentagon about the supposed mysterious aircraft in question.

The good folks over at Aviation Week produced a piece linked below that is absolutely eerie in its accuracy when it comes to what we know about the RQ-170 Sentinel today, and what was leaked to them then. In the piece unnamed officials stated that the aircraft was not in an operational configuration yet but was rushed into operational testing for Iraqi Freedom. It’s use during the conflict would accomplish two goals: one, to furnish it’s much-needed and unique deep penetration, persistent surveillance capabilities to commanders on the ground, and two, to prove to the USAF that the aircraft was worth putting into some scale of production. The Global Hawk also went through a similar testing phase during Iraqi Freedom, although in a less secretive manner, that proved most valuable to commanders in theatre.

Other defense department and industry sources explained that this aircraft was a close descendant of Darkstar and to the original TIER3- concept, some even going as far as describing it as a “Darkstar like thing” but with updated flight controls, command and control interfaces, low observable apertures, and low probability of intercept communications. Another source even went as far as describing the need for satellite communications antennas to be located on top of the aircraft, so that surveillance data could be uploaded in real-time via satellite link, a feature that is unmistakably prominent on the RQ-170 as we see it today. Another source talked about its utilization of an updated version of the cancelled A-12 Avenger II’s Westinghouse AN/APQ-183 low probability of intercept, high-resolution synthetic aperture phased array radar! Apparently this aircraft operated out of Al Udeid air base during the conflict due to the base’s expansive facilities, high security and almost total concealment from public view. Further it was said that at the time there were only a couple of airframes, a ground control station and spare parts in existence as the program was vying for production dollars.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/07073news.xml&headline=null&next=0

Years would pass after the opening hostilities over Iraq until there would be the most notable revolution regarding the existence of a TIER3- asset yet. In 2006, at the Farnborough air show, Lockheed presented to the world the newly declassified and puzzling P-175 “Polecat” technology demonstrator flying wing UAV. The aircraft’s origination is said to date back to 2003, and the airframe was flying less than two years later. Lockheed says the aircraft was designed to further evolve “rapid prototyping techniques,” and was made up of 90% composite material and only 200 individual parts. It was also said to help prove the flying wing UAV design, as well as “autonomous operations.” Further Lockheed stated that the aircraft was somehow related to surveillance missions yet at the same time it was to help evolve future possibilities of an unmanned long-range strike platform. The whole Polecat story at the time seemed vague, looking back it seems downright puzzling.

The aircraft was lost within months of its unveiling to the world after terminating itself after malfunctioning on a test flight over the Nellis Ranges while it was said to be still under full monitoring via the ground station it was ”tethered to.” Lockheed stated the following: ”an irreversible unintentional failure in the flight termination ground equipment, which caused the aircraft’s automatic fail-safe flight termination mode to activate.” Apparently this flight termination mode was automatic as it was in place so that the aircraft would not stray on its own into civilian airspace outside of the Nellis Range Complex. A very interesting fact seeing as the number one question everyone was asking after the loss of the RQ-170 Sentinel over Iran was “why did it not-self destruct or fly itself into the ground at high-speed?” Through this Lockheed admission, we now know that such a mode does exist on semi-autonomous UAVs developed by Lockheed Martin, that they can destroy itself, at least during testing and when programmed to do so, if something goes terribly wrong. Interesting to say the least in light of current events!

Knowing what we know now about the RQ-170, the Polecat’s story seems incredibly odd. The two aircraft look strikingly similar, especially when it comes to wing design and engine exhausts and so on, although the P-175 Polecat looks much lighter and flimsy than the stout Sentinel. But aside from maybe a more aggressive use of rapid prototyping techniques and maybe higher operating altitudes what really was the purpose of the Polecat? Lockheed already had, or was about to have a fully operational flying wing stealth UAV design that had been evolved over more than a decade. Yet the Polecat was not only designed and built at the cost of tens of millions of dollars, but it was also fairly quickly declassified. This begs the question, was the Polecat actually the technology demonstrator, built and flown years earlier, for the RQ-170 Sentinel? What is significant is that the P-175 Polecat, and its crash over the Nellis Range Complex was an ominous sign of things to come, as just months later the aviation world would be set abuzz with the spotting of what would become one of the most mysterious flying machines ever built.

In 2007, an individual working with the French contingent based at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan snapped some incredibly low quality pics of what was undoubtedly an unmanned flying wing drone of some sort. Speculation ran rampant as to what it was and why it was there. Many of the less visually gifted analysts pointed directly to the recently declassified P175 Polecat as the aircraft pictured, others disagreed as the drone looked larger, more robust and operational in nature. Well known defense journalist Bill Sweetman apparently slapped the now infamous and downright catchy “Beast Of Kandahar” nickname on the mysterious drone, and from then on that has been its unofficial nickname.

At the time many people who concern themselves with military aviation matters did not seem to make the connection that the aircraft had no direct role over the skies of Afghanistan. There was simply no mission for a stealthy, high-tech reconnaissance drone in a country where there is absolutely no surface to air or fighter aircraft threat whatsoever. The aircraft was clearly produced to spy invisibly on Afghanistan’s neighbors, both friendly and otherwise. Of special interest were Iran and Pakistan’s nuclear programs. The need for intelligence on Iran’s development progress as well as the need for monitoring of Pakistan’s nuclear sites, mainly so that the US could know what to destroy if that country were to fall into total anarchy, would have been of paramount importance. Further, high value terror targets were known to have lived and operated not just in the unruly NW federal lands of Pakistan but also in and around some of the country’s main population centers. Predator and Reaper class drones were of perfect design for plying through skies over Baluchistan or other loosely controlled Taliban and Al Qaeda hiding spots, but what about over and around Islamabad, where an integrated air defense system is on constant high alert due to continuing tensions with India? That is where the stealthy RQ-170 comes it, whose goal is not simply peak and dash but to loiter and record the subtle details of everyday life, perfect for hunting individuals who most certainly do not want to be found!

By 2009 more pictures, some of fairly good quality, had surfaced depicting the “Beast” in grand fashion. Still some analyst could not come to terms with the fact that aircraft was almost certainly unarmed and that is was not a massive flying wing that it seemed many wished it was. In photos depicting the drone on the Kandahar runway it was clearly apparent that the drone was actually relatively small, this author estimated it’s wingspan at maybe 65-75 feet and its height at about five feet or so. By December of 2009 the USAF, after being flooded with questions about the strange aircraft operating in broad daylight out of Kandahar, came forward a declassified the RQ-170 verbally. Stating that the asset in question was owned by the USAF, it’s name was the “Sentinel,” it’s home was Tonopah Air Base and it’s handlers were the 30th Air Reconnaissance Wing. Tonopah is quite the famous place among military aviation enthusiasts. It seems to be the place where “black” programs go when they are in classified “purgatory.” A state where they have reached operational status but still need to be hidden from direct public view. This place was made famous by the F-117 Nighthawk which inhabited the airfield for years before the program was declassified. In fact all the F-117s returned to their former home when the program shut down a few years ago, and all of the jets are stored in the hangars there. Who knows, maybe the F-117's true replacement lives right alongside it today!

This humble videographer that somehow penetrated within 60 miles of downtown Islamabad, right over a major Pakistani military installation, was in fact the RQ-170 Sentinel. The ”Beast of Kandahar” finally had a claim to fame, and there could not have been a mission that Americans cared more about than this one for it to be a part of. Later we would find out that the RQ-170 had also flown dozens of mission over Abbottobad with the objective of providing invaluable “patterns of life” surveillance over the Bin Laden compound. Further, some sources have said that the Sentinel, possibly a second airframe, also provided a valuable signal intelligence role at the time of the raid, allowing intelligence specialists to monitor the Pakistani response to the raid in real-time.

We have discussed this raid, and the Sentinel’s role in it at incredible length over the last 7 months, you can click the link under categories, “Stealth Blackhawk & Bin Laden” to the right of this article if you would like to read through previous articles on the subject. But what this raid told us was that the RQ-170 was very capable of penetrating an integrated air defense network, and it could send real-time streaming video over the horizon and around the world. Further, in many ways the Bin Laden raid was the greater public’s first knowledge of the RQ-170, as the majority of the world does not read military technology magazine or websites, and what may have been a two minute segment on the nightly news just didn’t have the sticking power to really burn the ”Beast” into the public’s conscious like it’s assistance on the greatest American raid since Doolittle’s flight off of the USS Hornet some 60+ years prior. By the fall of 2011 America’s collective mind had heard so much about that Bin Laden raid that it would seem that the American people were moving on, grateful that a miserable chapter in the history of the country had come to some sort of a closure. An election cycle was hogging most the news and stealth drones just were not of people’s interest in the same way that they were months prior. Then, in early December 2011 the short but mysterious tale of the RQ-170 Sentinel would take a massive turn for the worst, one had apparently gone missing and it would subsequently turn up in the most un-ideal of places and in the most frightening of conditions.

In early December there was chatter amongst various news agencies that a US drone had been shot down by the Iranians. This was really not much of a revelation as many drones have been lost over Iran over the last half decade or so, but something about this time seemed to be different, Iran was claiming this was not just any drone but was infact the US’s prized RQ-170 Sentinel. The DoD went through a strange series of admissions regarding the drone that they too corroborated was “missing,” although they claimed it had gone rogue over Afghanistan, not deep inside Iran as the Iranians were claiming. Nor did they admit that the drone in question was an a stealthy Sentinel. None-the-less most everyone within the military aviation community was thinking the same thing, that Sentinel was most likely shot down doing what it had always been intended to do, spying on Iran’s nuclear program. But there would be another twist in the story, Iran was further claiming that they electronically hijacked the drone, and that is was intact.

On the morning of December 8th, 2011, Iran made good on its word that they would indeed show pictures of the captured Sentinel drone that they had claimed they masterfully commandeered. The Pentagon and apparently the CIA’s worst fears were true, the Sentinel was being held prisoner by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and it was startlingly intact. The world would have its first detailed look at America’s fabled drone, one that the American public actually did have some connection with as it directly helped avenge those lost on 9/11. But these pictures were not for a ticker tape parade, or featured in colorful press release distributed by the USAF. Quite the contrary, these pictures would end up of proving that America’s Sentinel had gone from secret to very much un-secret due to some sort of major malfunction, or even worse, some sort of cyber hijacking deep inside Iranian territory. One thing is certain, whatever was unique about this drone would be not so any longer, as Iran and most likely China and Russia will be able to poke and prod the machine until they are completely satisfied with their investigations.

The Darkstar had fallen just as its popularity had reached a crescendo. This is the story of the RQ-170 the best way I think it can be told. I do find one major piece of the Sentinel’s story a bit out of phase, and that is the timing of P-175 Polecat. Sure the aircraft could very well just have been a small technology demonstrator for Lockheed, but does it take that big of an investment to realize that you can continue evolving rapid prototyping technologies or that a similar aircraft to the RQ-170 can be optimized for possibly higher operating altitude by adding a motor, cutting weight and changing the wing design a bit? I don’t see how this would have been worth the millions Lockheed had invested into it, at a time when they already had the real deal in operation. I have a feeling that the P-175 Polecat may have been the technology demonstrator that followed the RQ-3 Darkstar and that subsequently lead to the RQ-170 Sentinel as we see it today. Am I certain of this? NO, not at all. Do I have a strong hunch? YES. Further, why would they declassify the Polecat mere months before the RQ-170 would be operating during daylight hours out of a multi-national airfield that the US does not have full control over? I will let you do the simple math on that one.

Much can be taken from this story of a unique and somehow overtly engrossing weapon system. The TIER3-, Darkstar, Sentinel or whatever you would like to call it, story would have seemed to have come full circle. From its troubled development, to its rebirth as the right weapon at the right time to fight America’s War On Terror, to its baptism by fire over Iraq, to its triumphant assist in killing the free world’s public enemy number one, and finally to its totally puzzling and almost heartbreaking fall into enemy hands, one thing seems clear, the Darkstar concept appears to be too valuable to abandoned. Quite the contrary I am certain that out of the ashes of the current debacle a new and improved TIER3- Darkstar descendant will rise. Who knows, maybe it already has, possibly even years ago.

Declassified Secrets

by George Smith

Back when I still had hope, twenty years back, I once wrote about a very secretive government agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, for a daily newspaper in the heartland. The NRO operated our spy satellites and I'd discovered (I was not the first) that its head had graduated from the same school I had, Lehigh University in Bethlehem. I'll get to this in a minute. On Christmas Day the AP published a story on declassification of HEXAGON, one of the NRO's old spy satellite programs. The piece created the impression that it was still a big secret. However, even by the time I stumbled across it, 1991, it wasn't, really. HEXAGON, along with the spy satellite agency, was an open secret. And while it may not have been known to average Americans it had been written about for years by a number of DC journalists and authors who delved intelligence matters. That was over twenty years ago.

Reported the AP: "For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets. "They wore protective white jumpsuits, and had to walk through air-shower chambers before entering the sanitized 'cleanroom' where the equipment was stored. "They spoke in code. "Few knew the true identity of 'the customer' they met in a smoke-filled, wood-paneled conference room where the phone lines were scrambled. When they traveled, they sometimes used false names. "At one point in the 1970s there were more than 1,000 people in the Danbury area working on The Secret ..." "The Secret" was the "Big Bird" spy satellite, its optics made by Perkin-Elmer in Danbury, also called the Hexagon KH-9. The AP story informs HEXAGON was declassified in September. And for its piece it digs up a bunch of the old pensioners who worked at Perkin-Elmer, delivering its custom-ordered mirrors, lenses and machinery for the government's spy birds. The news agency and the old folks labor to inject some gee-whiz character into the narrative.

However, now it's just odd and quaint. Twenty years has been a very long time. In passing e-mail today, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy blog, remarked it "seems excessive." In the intervening period the country has seen radical change. The old threats are gone. And all of the people involved in the matter are either retired and nearing the end or passed on. Even Lehigh University, the engineering and science school in Bethlehem that trained the National Reconnaissance Office chief who was the subject of my old news piece is no longer the home of "the Engineers." Now, it's the school of the "Mountain Hawks," a lame change, made because it currently enrolls more liberal arts majors than those working toward technical degrees. The Associated Press interviews the spouses and offspring of some of the satellite workers long since departed. And it seems a bit cruel that they all had to wait until just a couple months ago to find it was OK to be told what their loved ones worked on. "He was a Cold War warrior doing something incredibly important for our nation," one son says of his father to the news agency. "To know that this was more than just a company selling widgets ... that he was negotiating contracts for our country's freedom and security," a departed engineer's wife adds at the piece's conclusion.

However, even back then it wasn't really a secret, anymore. If you wanted to know you just had to do a little digging. In 1991, for the Morning Call newspaper, I tried to interview Martin Faga, then the head of the National Reconnaissance Office, although not identified as such anywhere in the government record. His press officer/secretary successfully fended off the effort. The Call was also interested in getting some background on the man from his alma mater. None of the engineering people I called at Lehigh were interested in admitting much. Even though I was nice in the newspaper they were clearly annoyed anyone would inquire about such important and allegedly still "secret" things.

At the time, I wrote (here are some excerpts): Quick: Name the U.S. intelligence organization so ultra-secret the majority of Americans have never heard of it more than three decades after its creation -- an organization so critical to national security that it commands a bigger budget than the CIA. Of course you're stumped. Top secrets are supposed to be that way. And, odds are, you've never heard of Martin C. Faga, a Bethlehem native and Lehigh University graduate, who supervises the Pentagon's clandestine National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which runs America's most covert satellite and aerial spying programs. Lacking any formally identified office, its letterhead classified, it is one of the last intelligence organizations that the government declines to acknowledge in any way -- a status similar to that of the National Security Agency (puckishly referred to as the No Such Agency) in the mid-1970s. Created as a joint Air Force-CIA effort to run spy satellites for the intelligence community and the military, the NRO was originally envisioned as an unclassified operation. But operating from offices on the fourth floor of the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., it quickly became the holiest of secrets during the Kennedy administration, when Cold War tensions with its target, the Soviet Union, escalated precipitously.

When the Challenger blew up in the mid-1980s, derailing the civilian space program, it took with it the secret agency's ability to lift 15-ton photo-intelligence birds at a time when close surveillance of the Soviet Union was of highest priority in the Reagan administration. During his tenure as head of the NRO, Faga has had to grapple with the task of restoring the NRO's capability to orbit heavy spy payloads independent of the Space Shuttle. Because of political decisions made when the NRO was led by Hans Michael Mark, under secretary of the Air Force under Jimmy Carter, the clandestine organization had hitched its wagon firmly to NASA. Left without a means to reliably orbit key equipment, the NRO moved to restore its autonomy under Edward Aldridge (NRO chief during the Reagan years) and, later, Faga, by redesigning the retired giant Titan ICBM as its primary workhorse and expanding launch facilities at Vandenberg, Calif., and Cape Canaveral, Fla., so spy satellites could be efficiently launched from either coast. That effort has been continually plagued with problems. Titans failed catastrophically in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster, destroying themselves and two Keyhole satellites, a HEXAGON in 1985 and a more-advanced model, known as a KENNAN, the following year.

In 1991, the number of journalists and authors aware of NRO operations in anything more than a general sense can be counted on the fingers of one hand: William Burrows, a New York University journalism professor and author of "Deep Black"; Vince Kiernan, a military space reporter for Space News; Weiner, and Jeffrey Richelson, an investigator who has published a number of carefully researched books on the U.S. intelligence community. Richelson, Weiner, Kiernan and FAS scientist [John Pike, now director of GlobalSecurity.Org, a national security affairs public information site for which I am a Senior Fellow] all named Faga as head of the NRO during interviews in preparation for this story. During attempts to interview Faga for this article, his public information officer, Air Force Capt. Marty Hauser, requested a list of questions that might be asked of the assistant secretary.

After the questions were reviewed by Faga's office, Hauser said that Faga would not be able to address two general queries concerning surveillance of Iraq's clandestine nuclear efforts and the classification of current and future "technical collection" programs. However, Hauser said that Faga would be willing to speak about the path that led to his career in intelligence. Later calls to his office elicited no response. At Lehigh University, the assistant secretary studied electrical engineering and physics. Enrolled in the Air Force's ROTC program and active in Bethlehem's Trinity Episcopal Church, he is remembered by professors at the university as reserved, an extremely organized student who "knew his stuff," according to LU Dean John Karakash.

After graduating from Lehigh in 1964 with a master's degree in electrical engineering, following a bachelor of science degree in 1963, Faga entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the Air Force's Systems Command, a huge organization which oversees the research and development of military space technologies. While there, Faga worked on laser and infrared applications in reconnaissance. (The NRO also operates from within Systems Command as the Office of Space Systems at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.) From 1968-'69, Faga was employed as a technical representative for Perkin-Elmer Corp., a manufacturer of scientific instrumentation. Perkin-Elmer's optical division, a highly classified installation in Danbury, Conn., developed the HEXAGON spy satellite's 6-foot reflector-equipped Cassegrain-focus telescope in the early '70s. Hughes, a defense contractor, now owns and runs the division. Today, at Lehigh University, Faga is listed as part of its engineering advisory council. Along with a rather avuncular and jolly-looking portrait. "Mr. Faga has served on the Commission for the Protection and Reduction of Government Secrecy," it reads.

Perhaps so. But Faga's contribution to any reduction in secrecy or increase in transparency regarding now historical matters would appear indiscernible to all but a few. Reading about HEXAGON again only underlines the passage of years and hardening of the national arteries. The secrets -- if and when they are eventually told -- are just curious old tales of now-antiquated technical triumphs and past glories in a country that no longer exists.

12/28/11

2011-12-28T08:24:00.001-06:00

Link: Chicago Tribune Job for Unmanned Rotorcraft Engineer

http://www.authenticjobs.com/jobs/11045/helicopters-html-democracy-be-a-hacker-journalist

Article: U.S. Reportedly Lost Another Drone in Afghanistan

http://www.businessinsider.com/looks-like-the-us-just-lost-another-drone-this-time-its-in-afghanistan-2011-12

Images: NRL Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD)

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/14/15/7ed549ef-d295-4bdc-bf92-594bfd843c4a.Full.jpg

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/1/15/c1d0d329-2861-4f9e-8f12-9938bccbe814.Full.jpg

Avenger B Morphs into MQ-X

Strategy Page

Remote Sensors Glide into Position

by Graham Warwick

RQ-170 Sentinel Origins: Darkstar Has Grown Up

Aviation Intel

Teledyne Ryan Patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=VxY2AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Shortly after the success of Operation Desert Storm there was a flood of comprehensive ”after action” reports that were being distilled by the DoD and defense contractors in an attempt to create platforms that could plug the holes identified in US capabilities during the conflict. At the same time the DoD was trying to change gears away from its Cold War, strategic focused mindset, to one that is more flexible and tactical based. Further, the retirement of the SR-71 and the rapidly ageing and vulnerable nature of the U-2 fleet would see a new USAF requirement for an unmanned, modern, survivable tactical reconnaissance platform and a separate strategic, high-altitude replacement for the U-2. These programs, known as TIER 2+ and TIER 3-, would be led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. Seeing as the TIER 2- would be an unmanned replacement for the U-2, it is curious that the TIER 3- had no predecessor, a seemingly blatant hole in the US’s force structure which does lend itself to the possibility that something like the “Black Manta” did exist, although sadly we have no way to confirm this. The TIER 2+ requirement for an unmanned high altitude, long endurance, standoff surveillance platform would result in the selection of the Teledyne-Ryan (now Northrop Grumman) RQ-4 ”Global Hawk,” while the TIER III- requirement for a stealthy medium endurance and medium altitude penetrating surveillance platform would result in the RQ-3 ”Darkstar.” The Darkstar was designed by Lockheed Martin’s famed “Skunk Works” utilizing composite materials and manufacturing practices we now know as “rapid prototyping,” although at the time this concept was still in its infancy.

The RQ-3 Darkstar was designed to penetrate deep into enemy airspace, at an altitude around 50,000 ft, and provide continuous, real-time tactical intelligence to commanders in theatre, and it had to do all of this at an affordable price. Its size would be roughly half that of its TIER 2+ Global Hawk cousin, and it would share the same “semi autonomous” command and control functionality and ground control hardware developed by Raytheon for its operation. This system would allow the aircraft to go about its mission as planned, without a “man-in-the-loop” flying the aircraft in a traditional manner, yet at the same time it would be able to be re-tasked or its mission modified at any time. The aircraft would be able to loiter for some eight hours at a time, utilizing its electro-optical sensor suite or low probability of intercept synthetic aperture radar to keep watch on its target in unprecedented close proximity if need be. A key difference between the Darkstar’s and Global Hawk’s payload capability was the Darkstar could only carry either it’s miniaturized EO or SAR radar suite at one time, whereas the both could be carried at once aboard the larger Global Hawk. All “final product” intelligence gathered would then be processed once again through Raytheon’s common ground station that would serve both platforms. It was also rumored that as the Darkstar developed and advanced radar warning and geolocation gear continued to shrink in size and increase in capability, some sort of secondary ELINT and even a possible tactical jamming capability could be added later on.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/07073news.xml&headline=null&next=0

Following the USAF’s superficial declassification of the program, news about the newly revealed Sentinel was sparse. There were supposed spottings of it in Japan and South Korea, and even a story published in a South Korean newspaper stated that the RQ-170 was going to take over the monitoring of North Korea from the U-2, a claim that was clearly without merit or true understanding of the subject matter. It was clear that although the RQ-170 could augment the U-2, it could not directly replace it. Eventually that would be the RQ-4 ”Global Hawk’s” job as was always envisioned under the TIER2+ / TIER3- synergistic force structure. Then, the world was stunned on a Sunday night in early May, 2011 when it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed in what would be described as a commando raid right out of Hollywood blockbuster, complete with ultra secret stealth helicopters and full motion surveillance video shot by an invisible eye in the sky, and transmitted in real-time directly to the Situation Room in the White House. This humble videographer that somehow penetrated within 60 miles of downtown Islamabad, right over a major Pakistani military installation, was in fact the RQ-170 Sentinel. The ”Beast of Kandahar” finally had a claim to fame, and there could not have been a mission that Americans cared more about than this one for it to be a part of. Later we would find out that the RQ-170 had also flown dozens of mission over Abbottobad with the objective of providing invaluable “patterns of life” surveillance over the Bin Laden compound. Further, some sources have said that the Sentinel, possibly a second airframe, also provided a valuable signal intelligence role at the time of the raid, allowing intelligence specialists to monitor the Pakistani response to the raid in real-time.

In early December there was chatter amongst various news agencies that a US drone had been shot down by the Iranians. This was really not much of a revelation as many drones have been lost over Iran over the last half decade or so, but something about this time seemed to be different, Iran was claiming this was not just any drone but was in fact the US’s prized RQ-170 Sentinel. The DoD went through a strange series of admissions regarding the drone that they too corroborated was “missing,” although they claimed it had gone rogue over Afghanistan, not deep inside Iran as the Iranians were claiming. Nor did they admit that the drone in question was an a stealthy Sentinel. None-the-less most everyone within the military aviation community was thinking the same thing, that Sentinel was most likely shot down doing what it had always been intended to do, spying on Iran’s nuclear program. But there would be another twist in the story, Iran was further claiming that they electronically hijacked the drone, and that is was intact.

The Darkstar had fallen just as it’s popularity had reached a crescendo. This is the story of the RQ-170 the best way I think it can be told. I do find one major piece of the Sentinel’s story a bit out of phase, and that is the timing of P-175 Polecat. Sure the aircraft could very well just have been a small technology demonstrator for Lockheed, but does it take that big of an investment to realize that you can continue evolving rapid prototyping technologies or that a similar aircraft to the RQ-170 can be optimized for possibly higher operating altitude by adding a motor, cutting weight and changing the wing design a bit? I don’t see how this would have been worth the millions Lockheed had invested into it, at a time when they already had the real deal in operation. I have a feeling that the P-175 Polecat may have been the technology demonstrator that followed the RQ-3 Darkstar and that subsequently lead to the RQ-170 Sentinel as we see it today. Am I certain of this? NO, not at all. Do I have a strong hunch? YES. Further, why would they declassify the Polecat mere months before the RQ-170 would be operating during daylight hours out of a multi-national airfield that the US does not have full control over? I will let you do the simple math on that one.

12/27/11

2011-12-27T10:29:00.000-06:00

Title: Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) Innovative Naval Prototype (INP)

Sol. #: ONRBAA12-004

Agency: Department of the Navy

Office: Office of Naval Research

Location: ONR

Posted On: Dec 22, 2011 7:39 am

Base Type: Presolicitation

Link: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/ONR/ONR/ONRBAA12-004/listing.html

Article: Conventional Prompt Global Strike Takes 2012 Hit

http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/pentagons-conventional-prompt-strike-effort-takes-2012-funding-hit

Article: How to Root the Nook Tablet

http://www.gizmag.com/root-nook-tablet-add-android-market-honeycomb/20926

Image: Design Evolution of Vought ADAM Aircraft

http://up-ship.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/adam-types.jpg

RQ-170 Sentinel Pictures in Combat Aircraft Magazine

by Aviation Intel

If you have interest in this story (and if you check aviationintel regularly I am sure you do!) you NEED to go download or purchase the December issue of Combat Aircraft Monthly. The CA crew have obtained high-resolution shots of the RQ-170 flying in and out of its nest in Afghanistan. In the images you can see all the drone’s unique details and they match up exactly with the Iranian article. Of further interest is the optical turret’s faceted housing, the very durable appearance of the Sentinel’s gear and bay doors, as well as what looks to be a side scanning synthetic aperture radar installed in a ”v” shaped housing underneath its fuselage.

This configuration would make sense as it would allow the Sentinel to carry an electronically scanned array on each side of the “v” shaped housing. This setup would be conducive to continuous racetrack coverage of a target at standoff distances. The shape and construction of the electro-optical housing also is good evidence that the RQ-170 was meant to “standoff” from its target as opposed to flying directly over it. I also have to say that the unique underbelly housing that most likely holds a pair of radar arrays could also be interpreted as a clamshell bomb bay. Although I highly doubt this as it would really make the use of such a drone incredibly hazardous politically, but the ability to carry one or two sub-500lb guided munitions could be of incredible use on such an asset for certain missions. In the Iranian Sentinel case I think it is highly unlikely that the aircraft in question would have been even capable of hauling munitions, and there also exists the possibility that there are multiple configurations for this drone type. One being a deep penetrating surveillance drone, another being a deep precision strike platform possibly optimized for irregular warfare and targeted assassination. None the less, YOU NEED TO BUY THIS MAGAZINE to see the shots.

For all you Apple Iphone and Ipad folks out there just go to Itunes and search “Combat Aircraft Magazine,” you can download the December issue for just a couple of bucks. For those who like the pulp in their hands, go to your local magazine stand and purchase the one that looks like the cover I have posted above. Beyond the Sentinel shots, the bottom line is that Combat Aircraft Magazine is the best military aviation magazine in the world and if you do not current subscribe you are missing out on the most enjoyable monthly available. Although I am a contributor to the magazine I was reading it almost religiously for years and years beforehand. It simply is a must to have on your reading list and a subscription is also a great Christmas stocking stuffer for anyone who is interested in the exciting world of military aviation.

Bigger Avenger UAV Being Developed for Combat Use

by David Fulghum

A larger, more powerful version of the General Atomics' Predator C/Avenger, its first jet UAV, is being developed for combat operations in Afghanistan. A $15 million contract from the U.S. Air Force is intended to buy the service's first Avenger. Rumors are that the program will quickly grow in size. "General Atomics Systems Inc. has shown the ability and willingness to quickly ramp up production capacity if the Air Force and other customers decide to rapidly field the Predator C," says an acquisition document. Those other customers are U.S. intelligence agencies including the CIA. That means the Predator "C-plus", with more and larger sensors and weapons, could become the next generation stealth UAS design. That would relieve the Pentagon of having to create a new MQ-X in a budget environment that is guaranteed to quash new programs. General Atomics is the “only company that has built and flown a demonstrator with the required capabilities [which include some stealth and heavier weapons] and is developing a larger, more capable version suitable for deployment,” the Air Force document says. The project was underway before the loss of a reduced signature UAV near Kashmar in northeastern Iran Dec. 4, say U.S. officials.

The U.S. Air Force’s secretive Big Safari -- a special, rapid-acquisition organization -- is overseeing the project. However, Air Force officials say the effort is expected to quickly expand beyond a single-aircraft demonstrator program. They also contend that the Avenger’s radar reflectivity can be made smaller and that UAS stealth is one of the capabilities that will be studied in the test program. The $15 million sole-source procurement contract to General Atomics is to provide a test aircraft for the project. The contract was to have been awarded in Nov., but budget complications have kept in pending. According to the justification for “other than a full and open competition,” the test aircraft is needed to develop “next-generation UAS sensors, weapons and tactics, techniques and procedures” and thereby allow “quick, smooth and efficient fielding of these advanced capabilities to the area of operations.” The argument put forward by the 645th Aeronautical Group, stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, included a determination by the Pentagon that there are insufficient assets in Afghanistan to gather the necessary information and to fully engage the present threat and prepare for the next generation of conflict.

UAVs Launched from Balloons

UPI

Small sensor-carrying unmanned aerial vehicles were launched at altitudes of as much as 57,000 feet from an aerostat in an ADD program tests in Arizona. Raven Industries said that in the demonstration by its subsidiary Aerostar International, in support of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Vehicle Research Section, Close-In Cover Autonomous Disposable Aircraft vehicles launched from the balloon were to come to rest just feet from their landing zone. "The (Autonomous Deployment Demonstration) balloon support operation is very simple and well-developed," said Mike Smith, senior aerospace engineer at Aerostar International. "The preflight checks, balloon inflation, launch and tracking operations can be carried out by two people in one vehicle from almost any remote location." The tests were conducted at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. Raven Industries said the ADD program's objective is to launch the small, sensor-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles from a hand-launched balloon or an aircraft at altitude.

In the demonstration, a Tempest UAV was attached to wing-mounted pylons on an Aerostar balloon and released at nearly 60,000 feet. The Tempest flew to a designated drop zone and released the two CICADAs it was carrying. The CICADAs flew autonomously to a "programmed target waypoint." "The CICADA allows for the low-cost delivery of multiple precision-located sensors without placing the warfighter in harm's way," said Chris Bovais, NRL's flight test coordinator and engineer. Raven Industries said tactical, hand-launched balloons create an inexpensive way of launching the small CICADAs.

U.S. Navy Subs to Deploy Switchblade UAV

by Graham Warwick

The U.S. Navy plans to launch AeroVironment's Switchblade small, expendable unmanned aircraft from a submerged submarine during the RIMPAC 2012 naval exercise in the Pacific. A contract has been awarded to Raytheon, which has developed the submerged launch vehicle (SLV) that allows the UAV to be deployed via the submarine's trash-disposal unit when the boat is at periscope depth. The SLV gets the UAV to the surface dry and then ejects it into flight. The contract for five sets of SLV and UAV is a continuation of the Submarine Over-The-Horizon Organic Capabilities (SOTHOC) program, under which Raytheon in 2008 demonstrated the "over-the-side" deployment of the SLV and UAV from a surface ship. In the SOTHOC concept, the SLV and electric-powered UAV are stored on board as an all-up round. Ejected from the submerged submarine's trash-disposal unit, the SLV is weighted to descend to a safe distance from the boat, then shed the weight and inflate a float collar.

The collar is pulsed to control the rate of ascent. As it approaches the surface, the SLV deploys a water drogue to provide stabilization and a vane to align it into the wind. The tube then pivots to a 35-deg. angle and ejects the folding-wing UAV. According to a "justification and approval" (J&A) on fbo.gov for award of the sole-source contract to Raytheon to support RIMPAC 2012, the company has been working on SOTHOC since 2007 and deployed the Switchblade from a submerged submarine at periscope depth for the first time under a fiscal 2008 follow-on contract. Under a fiscal 2010 contract, the J&A says, Raytheon upgraded the Switchblade for the SOTHOC concept, conducted land-based testing and supplied five SLVs and seven UAVs for a tactical development exercise. The latest award is being made under the same IDIQ umbrella contract.

Military Drones Began with Tinkering in a Garage

Daily Herald

In 1980, Abraham Karem, an engineer who had emigrated from Israel, retreated into his three-car garage in Hacienda Heights outside Los Angeles and, to the bemusement of his tolerant wife, began to build an aircraft.

The work eventually spilled into the guest room, and when Karem finished more than a year later, he wheeled into his driveway an odd, cigar-shaped craft that was destined to change the way the United States wages war.

The Albatross, as it was called, was transported to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where it demonstrated the ability to stay aloft safely for up to 56 hours -- a very, very long time in what was then the crash-prone world of drones. Three iterations and more than a decade of development later, Karem's modest-looking drone became the Predator, the lethal, remotely piloted machine that can circle above an enemy for nearly a day before controllers thousands of miles away in the southwestern United States launch Hellfire missiles toward targets they are watching on video screens. The emergence of hunter-killer and surveillance drones as revolutionary new weapons in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in counterterrorism operations in places such as Pakistan and Yemen, has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry, much of it centered in Southern California, once the engine of Cold War military aviation.

Over the next 10 years, the Pentagon plans to purchase more than 700 medium- and large-size drones at a cost of nearly $37 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office study. Thousands more mini-drones will be fitted in the backpacks of soldiers so they can hand-launch them in minutes to look over the next hill or dive-bomb opposing forces. This booming sector has its roots in the often unsung persistence of engineering dreamers who worked on the technology of unmanned aviation when the military establishment and most major defense contractors had little or no interest in it. Innovators such as Karem were often sustained by grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and a handful of early believers, including the CIA. Karem said he imagined his drones involved in a "tactical conflict with the Warsaw Pact, be it on the plains of Germany or as part of our Navy and Marines." He had to sell his company, and with it the prototype of the Predator, long before it became the icon of a new kind of warfare. "I did not envision the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of warfare with non-state adversaries," said Karem, an aeronautical engineer who served for nine years in the Israeli air force before settling in the United States in 1977.

In the past decade, drones have become an integral part of U.S. military doctrine -- so much so that it is difficult to recall how marginal they once seemed. The military had less than 200 drones the day before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; today it has more than 7,000, including mini-drones. Before Sept. 11, drones weren't "on the road map," said Tim Conver, chairman and chief executive of AeroVironment, which builds close-in surveillance drones for the military. "It wasn't something that [the Defense Department] had said: 'We need this. Let's build a program around this.' " Before 2001, AeroVironment, through various small contracts, sold a drone called the Pointer in small numbers to the military. "Nobody ever really used them," Conver said. Since the invasion of Afghanistan, the company has sold the military thousands of small drones.

The companies that design and manufacture drones have experienced massive growth that shows no sign of slowing, even with the end of the war in Iraq and the planned drawdown in Afghanistan. The technology is significantly cheaper than traditional aircraft, and its potential uses increase as the craft become faster and stealthier. Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va., market analysis firm, estimates that nearly $100 billion will be spent globally on drones between now and 2019.

"The needs for [unmanned aerial vehicles] are unsatisfied," said Phil Finnegan, Teal Group's director of corporate analysis. "The military wants a lot more. Worldwide you have very limited adoption of UAVs, but foreign militaries have seen the success in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they want them." The rise of drones has been a small boon for Southern California, where the aerospace industry has contracted painfully in the past two decades. About 10,000 state residents are directly employed in the drone sector. And for national security reasons, much of the supply chain is kept onshore, generating jobs among contractors and subcontractors. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which makes the Predator and the next-generation Reaper drone, is in Poway, north of San Diego. AeroVironment, which makes an array of backpackable mini-drones, such as the Raven and the Wasp, is in Simi Valley. Northrop Grumman is testing the X-47B, a carrier-based fighter drone, for the Navy in Palmdale. The RQ-170, the stealth drone manufactured by Lockheed Martin and used by the military and the CIA, is believed to have emerged from the company's classified facility, the Skunk Works, also in Palmdale, near Edwards Air Force Base.

In the mid-1970s, Paul MacCready, an aeronautical engineer and the first American to become a world gliding champion, needed cash fast to cover a bad loan he had guaranteed. MacCready, the founder of AeroVironment, and a team of engineers at the company decided to chase the Kremer Prize, the reward for besting a challenge that had gone unmet for 20 years: a human-powered aircraft capable of flying a figure eight around two markers half a mile apart. In 1977, MacCready's Gossamer Condor, piloted by Bryan Allen, took the prize, then worth about $100,000. Two years, later Allen flew another version of the bird across the English Channel.

AeroVironment, which consulted on air quality, began a sideline in aviation firsts. You had these incredibly talented people attracted to something this cool," Conver said. "All the airplanes were extraordinarily light. All were focused on things that hadn't been done before." The group eventually flew a solar-powered craft from Paris to England, built a working model of Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine and created a flying model of a pterodactyl.

In 1987, AeroVironment flew the first backpack-portable unmanned military aircraft, a nine-pound plane with a camera in its nose. It was called the Pointer. "They were bought for evaluation," Conver said. "They were prototypes." When the first Special Operations teams went into Afghanistan in October 2001, they brought with them two Pointer systems that they used for low-altitude surveillance. Soon, word was going up the chain that the troops wanted more Pointers for Afghanistan's difficult terrain. High above them, the Predator and Global Hawk were also proving themselves. "The Predator is my most capable sensor in hunting down and killing al-Qaida and Taliban leadership and is proving absolutely critical to our fight," Gen. Tommy Franks wrote in a 2003 Air Force background paper. The drive for drones was on, and the effect on companies such as AeroVironment was profound. In 2001, the company had annual revenue of $29.4 million. In the decade that followed, that number swelled to nearly $300 million, nearly 85 percent of it from the sale of drones. The company, which employs 768 people, up from 163 in 2001, went public in 2007.