Unmanned Intel Aircraft
Preface
This document is dedicated to all the men and women who are involved with ensuring the national security of the
United States.
The following information was derived from these sources:
Body of Secrets by James Bamford.
Wizards of Langley by Jeffrey T. Richelson.
Top Secret Tourism by Harry Helms.
The Bureau by Ronald Kessler.
Newsweek magazine articles.
Time magazine articles.
Although I have attempted to gather and arrange the data into a comprehensive, understandable format, any errors and
omissions are mine and not attributable to
any other authors or works. This document was created prior to the reorganization of the intelligence community
following 9/11, so in many respects, it is
out-of-date.
This paper is designed to provide basic information to persons wishing to enter the US Intelligence Community and
those who desire a broader knowledge of it. This
paper is not intended to cover every aspect of the intel community.
Unmanned Intelligence Aircraft
UAV (Unmanned Arial Vehicle)
Unmanned Arial Vehicle: an unmanned airborne intelligence collection vehicle. A UAV can be armed or unarmed and either
controlled from a remote location or be
completely automatic, as in the case of the Globalhawk. After September 11, 2001, UAVs flew surveillance missions over
the White House. A video presentation of
UAVs, from which some of this information was obtained, is available from PBS at 800-255-9424.
UCAV
Unmanned Combat Arial Vehicle. Although some UAVs, such as the Predator, mount weapons systems, future UCAVs will
primarily fulfil a combat role.
UTA
Unmanned Tactical Aircraft.
RPV
A remote piloted vehicle.
DARO (Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office)
DARO is the entity that controls UAV and some manned reconnaissance programs. 30 percent of its budget supports UAVs.
The office also provides budgets for
manned reconnaissance programs of the SR-71, U2, and RC135 Rivet Joint operations. DARO supports the Air Force's Global
Engagement Program (GEP) that
includes vehicles that provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Battlelab
The UAV Battlelab at Eglin AFB, FL. It looks at innovative ideas that could, without much expense, improve the
effectiveness of the USAF. The Suppression of
Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) role has a high visibility in the military. One scenario is to use the UAV as the hunter with
a precision locator that finds and hands
off the target to a manned fighter. The Air Force Requirements Office (AFRO) has said it plans to deliver a
SEAD-capable UAV.
Globalhawk
Globalhawk, built by Teledyne Ryan, is a jet-powered, unmanned, fully-automated airborne vehicle that cruises at
65,000 feet, has a 24 hour endurance, a range of
3,000 miles, a 116 foot wingspan, a length of 44 feet, and a speed of 397 miles per hour.
Globalhawk is in the Tier II-plus segment of UAVs which is identified as fast, high-flying UAVs. Tier II-plus
machines have less capability than the Tier III-minus
aircraft.
This aircraft carries high-resolution video, infrared, and synthetic radar imagery technology equipment for transmission
via satellite to ground stations for real-time
intelligence information. It looks like a long-winged cruise missile and is about the size of a U2.
This large airplane costs $40 million per article, has a "V" tail, and a fuselage-mounted single jet engine. The main
gear sits on dual trucks. There is no joystick
control from the ground as there is for other UAVs, so there is no way to take manual control of the aircraft. The
plane is completely self-controlled.
It carries no weapons and is solely for surveillance. Its cameras can produce a resolution of three feet. Two Global
Hawks crashed in Afghanistan and one crashed
near Edwards Air Force Base during tests when it went into a spin and never recovered. The controllers were able to
dump fuel from the wingtips as the plane went
down, in an attempt to lighten it so that it might begin flying again, but to no avail. The problem was traced to a
software problem. On the positive side, a Global Hawk
flew from California, USA to Australia, non-stop, unrefueled.
DarkStar
DarkStar is a fast, high-altitude reconnaissance vehicle built by Lockheed Martin that uses GPS for navigation. It is
believed that the DarkStar program has been
canceled. It was part of the Tier III-minus segment of the UAV program, an indicator of fast, high-fliers.
Predator
The MQ-9 Predator is an unmanned, rear propeller aircraft that carries high resolution video, infrared, and synthetic
radar imagery technology that can be transmitted to
ground stations for real-time intelligence information. The synthetic radar can discern clear images through clouds.
The plane can carry laser-guided smart bombs and
wing mounted missiles, including the Hellfire missile, and designate targets with a laser illuminator.
Built by General Atomics, it has a speed of 138 mph, flies at 26,000 feet, can fly 500 nautical miles, and has a 40-hour
endurance. It is joystick controlled from a
pilot on the ground, and can be set to fly on autopilot. It requires line-of-sight (LOS) communication to a
transmitter/receiver (transceiver) to send control inputs to
the aircraft and receive telemetry and images back. The transceiver can be at a ground station, on an arial platform,
or satellite-based. The cost for one article
is $40 million. The wingspan is 50 feet. The tail is an inverted "V" to protect the propeller from ground
trikes.
The Predator was first used in Bosnia in 1995 with great success, but had problems with wing ice. An improved version
of the plane was flown in Afghanistan and
Yemen to strike Al Qaeda and Taliban targets. By 2002 the CIA had taken over Predator responsibility for the Yemen
operations, and a highly publicized action
was the elimination of a car with five Al Qaeda operatives by a Hellfire missile launched from a Predator in November
2002. Some Predators have crashed in
Afghanistan, and night operations are safest for it when flown at lower altitudes. As of November 2002, there were a
dozen Predators in stock and 2 coming off the
assembly line each month.
The final buy of Predators is still being determined, but there could be as many as 60 vehicles and 12 systems under
current planning.
A single Predator "system" consists of four airplanes, the van, generators, and an Army-derived intelligence
distribution system called "Trojan Spirit." It can be
deployed in a C-130. In the deployment to Taszar, Hungary, two airplanes and a Ground Control Station (GCS) were
involved for Bosnia overflights.
Hunter
Hunter, built by TRW, is a low-cost unmanned aircraft that provides real time imagery of ground forces, day and night.
It is classified as an Unmanned Tactical
Aircraft (UTA). It is intended for operating with other Hunter UAVs (Unmanned Arial Vehicles). This aircraft has a
front-mounted engine, a speed of 122 mph, can
fly up to 15,000 feet, has a range of 144 nautical miles, and an endurance of 12 hours. This aircraft has twin tail
booms and looks similar to a Cessna 337
Skymaster.
The Hunter program was canceled due to technological challenges after only 7 articles were built.
Pioneer
Pioneer is a low-cost unmanned aircraft.
Outrider
Outrider, built by Alliant Tech Systems, is a low-cost unmanned aircraft. This aircraft can fly up to 15,000 feet, has a
range of 200 nautical miles, and an endurance
of 3 to 4 hours. It has electro-optical, infrared, and synthetic aperture radar systems.
Dragon Eye
Dragon Eye is a very small, portable, midget UAV with a wingspan of approximately three feet. Squadron commanders use it
in the field so they can reconnoiter the
local area. It is controlled from a laptop computer that receives real-time color video pictures from it. It can support
scout teams that have the dangerous mission to
clear areas with buildings, trees, large rocks, or other items where the enemy might be hiding in ambush.
Black Widow
This is an unmanned, short-distance mini-air vehicle that transmits high-quality images of ground troops by radio to a
nearby ground control unit. The camera is about
the size of a penny. The plane is about this size of a portable CD player with a length of 6 inches and a span of 6
inches. It has a speed of 43 mph, a maximum altitude
of 800 feet, a maximum range of 1 nautical mile, and an endurance of 30 minutes. The miniature aircraft looks like an
octagonal plate with some small vertical
surfaces and a front propeller. It is unstable in poor weather.
Helios
Helios is a solar powered, lightweight UAV that can fly at 100,000 feet and stay aloft for months at a time. Built like
the Gossamer Condor that crossed the English
Channel by a man pedaling, Helios uses light plastic coverings over the wings and fuselage. Propulsion is provided by 8
electric tractor engines, 4 mounted on each
wing. The plane's outer wing has a high dihedral to improve stability. It is believed that this project has been
canceled.
Micro UAVs
Research is continuing to develop UAVs that are about the size of a bumblebee and use the same wing-flapping technique
as insects. Research has shown that
insects create vortices and then use the accelerated air in those vortices for lift and directional motion. Robofly is
a large, experimental insect-type wing used to test
theories of insect flight.
These tiny surveillance platforms could be used to search buildings for documents, illegal activities, prisoners, etc.
Major problems to be overcome include the
perfection of insect-like propulsion, the reduction of camera size, and a small power source. The power may be external,
such as solar, because a battery may be
too big and heavy to be carried on such a small platform.
X-43A
The X-43A, a remote piloted vehicle (RPV) built by Microcraft, Inc. of Tullahoma, TN, is a research vehicle that may
be a precursor to mach 15 reconnaissance
aircraft of the future. Tests have been performed at the Western Test Range off of southern California with flights at
mach 7 and mach 10. To achieve these speeds,
the aircraft employs scramjet technology whereby the airflow through the engine remains supersonic.
White Scarf Syndrome
This is a theoretical condition that may occur when military pilots try to thwart the UAV programs so that they may fly
combat missions that, otherwise, might be
assigned to UAVs. However, the facts is that most pilots support UAVs because they can fly dangerous missions that put
them in harm's way where any aircraft in
that area could be shot down.
Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD)
The Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) role has a high visibility in the military. One scenario is to use the UAV
as the hunter with a precision locator that finds and hands off the target to a manned fighter. The Air Force
Requirements Office (AFRO) has said it plans to deliver a SEAD-capable UAV.