With the Royal Australian Navy looking for a new unmanned capability to complement its current manned aviation capabilities in the range of surface fleet assets entering service over the next decade, they are literally spoilt for choice.
Katherine Ziesing | NAS Point Mugu and Seattle
From the small tactical end of the market to the larger helicopter based platforms, the Navy has a range of options available based on their requirements.
The persistence and availability for ISR missions that UASs offer will be an added layer of capability that the RAN can exploit as the fleet, task groups and mission sets expand. While the focus of current UAV systems is on ISR, there is a range of new technology applicable to the maritime mission. Experience and lessons learned in this space from other navies will also play a role ADM suspects.
ADM understands that Navy is progressing with a Program to trial a range of possible systems that will help inform requirements and the eventual tender process – JP or Sea 129 Phase 5. The acquisition of some Insitu Scan Eagle systems this year is part of this plan.
Navy has acquired two Scan Eagle systems, with the intention that one will be used for training and one for operational use at sea, according to a Defence spokesperson. Navy has a total of eight air vehicles with support systems and sensor payloads. These systems are operated by military staff under the Fleet Air Arm and have contractor-support in Nowra. They support our current Fleet, both major and minor vessels, as tasked, Defence said in a statement to ADM.
The Scan Eagle capability is anticipated to be replaced (approximately late 2016) by Navy Minor Project 1942 which will support the Fleet through to the early 2020s.
No doubt there will be more detail on this when the White Paper and subsequent Integrated Investment Plan (the new Defence Capability Plan framework that looks to incorporate more of the Fundamental Inputs to Capabilities [FICs] into the acquisition process) are released this year.
At the small end of the scale, the Insitu/Boeing Scan Eagle is a good contender. During a recent media trip to the US, Insitu president and CEO Ryan Hartman confirmed to Australian media image that Insitu Pacific could support a trial of Scan Eagle off a Royal Australian Navy FFG on operations in 2016, assuming ship availability and planning come together. Navy was not able to comment at this time about such plans.
The Scan Eagle has also undergone a number of evolutions in development since Australia first deployed it in Afghanistan with the Army as an interim solution. However, it is worth noting that during its five years in operation in Afghanistan, this interim solution flew about 32,000 hours in more than 6,200 missions in support of the Reconstruction Task Force, Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, MTF, Combined Team – Uruzgan and the Special Operations Task Group.
The company also continues to work toward a 2016 release of Scan Eagle 2, building on the success of the platform. Local Insitu Pacific managing director Andrew Duggan explained the differences between the two variants to ADM earlier this year.
“It comes down to a few key things,” Duggan said. “Number one is the liabilities. Obviously the ScanEagle has quite a small engine and, again, like most small tactical UASs, if you look at the primary source of failures it tends to be the power plant. Really the biggest advance here in that sense is the bespoke Orbital engine.
“That bespoke engine gives a step change in terms of reliability and ease of serviceability. There’s also a bespoke propeller to help improve overall performance. Those are the core drivers of the whole thing, to increase that reliability, Duggan explained.
“As we continue to evolve ScanEagle, we tend to put more expensive sensors on it as things shrink and we can fit more onto the platform. Having a UAS that is not disposable, but carrying such expensive sensors, we really want to make sure that they don’t go down where we don’t want them to.”
The company is also looking to leverage a common ground station between their products such as the RQ-21 Blackjack, formerly called the Integrator, for the USN. When visiting NAVAIR’s Point Mugu facility recently, the NAVAIR team had a Blackjack and launcher system in the hangar, which was being tested at various levels.
The company has also been hosting a number of trials in Australia including one at Nowra for the PicoSAR sensor on their Integrator platform. Hartman also explained how the local arm, Insitu Pacific, had supported the NSW government in fire monitoring efforts.
The FLARES system launching a ScanEagle in mid-air. It also operates the Skyhook system. Credit: Insitu Pacific
Insitu has also developed a new launch and recovery system for the ScanEagle and other air vehicles named FLARES (Flying Launch And Recovery System). The system is hosted by an electric multicopter that picks up the ScanEagle in a vertical launch, gets to altitude and releases the UAS. The quadcopter can also act as a recovery system using the SkyHook technology that sees a rope deployed and the ScanEagle wing edge catch for landing.
This is the first time the system has been seen by people outside Insitu. The FLARES multicopter flies autonomously and, in the video of the trial, does not move in the air when the SkyHook rope catches the Scan Eagle at speed. The system also folds into the same container as the Scan Eagle. While the system is still in the testing phase, Hartman says the system should be productised within a year.
Fire Scout
At the larger end of the market, the Northrop Grumman Fire Scout family has excellent form with the USN. Northrop Grumman has delivered the first operational-standard MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to the US Navy (USN) at the end of last year.
"The USN has integrated the Fire Scout onto their FFGs, DDGs and LCSs."
Based on the Bell 407 helicopter, the aircraft is a larger and more capable version of the Schweizer Aircraft 330-based MQ-8B Fire Scout. The MQ-8C has double the endurance and three times the payload capacity of the B-model, according to Northrop Grumman’s Gregory Black, Director for Tactical ISR Capture – Pacific.
That being said, the smaller C variant has achieved great success operating in tandem with the Romeo helicopter fleet. The USN pair them one for one, Black confirmed.
“Given sufficient hangar space and support equipment, you could support more unmanned craft and we’ve looked at analyses and concept of operations where you could employ two Fire Scouts remotely from a ship patrolling a particular area; one returns, the other goes out and you can have significant coverage in terms of continuous hours of persistence,” Black said.
Manning requirements
The manning requirement for the Fire Scout/Romeo team is roughly on par, with no extra manning truly required, according to USN experience thus far.
“The USN is using the same manning for piloting and maintaining the aircraft,” Black explained. “So there’s no additional manning that’s imposed upon the US forces to support the unmanned helicopter. We use the same pilots that are flying the manned helicopter.
“They’re providing the air vehicle operations as a part of their shiftwork and the same maintainers. Any crew that’s capable with the a helicopter – 3-4 weeks for a pilot and 4-6 weeks for a maintainer – can be capable to support unmanned as well as their manned aircraft responsibilities.”
The B variant has flown over 15,000 hours to date and has mainly been deployed in African anti-piracy missions. That being said, LCS 3, the Freedom class USS Fort Worth based in Singapore was set to head to Australia for the Pacific show, complete with Fire Scout aboard at the time of writing.
The USN has integrated the Fire Scout onto their FFGs, DDGs and LCSs, confirmed Captain Jeff Dodge of PMA 266, the Fire Scout program manager for NAVAIR.
Captain Dodge says the future of the platform will be ‘optionally manned’, where the platform can either have someone on board or not depending on the ‘dull, dirty or dangerous’ components of the mission. He also acknowledged that there are significant cultural and technical challenges with some missions.
Going back to the larger C variant, the USN is going to proceed with the competitive procurement for the radar program. That is to be executed this year and then the winning company would be providing that radar sub-system, with IOC in 2019. ADM understands that Northrop Grumman’s own STARlite radar system will be in that mix.
In 2017, the Fire Scout will receive a mine-detection sensor for use in littoral waters called the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA). The COBRA is designed to detect naval mines at a safe distance from a Littoral Combat Ship operating in coastal waters, and also has the capability to locate submarines through acoustic detection if they are on or near the surface. COBRA takes the place of the Fire Scout's usual EO/IR sensor.
Another big difference of the C variant will be the comms links which will allow the Romeos and Fire Scouts to communicate directly. At the moment, the helicopters both use the ship as a comms relay point. While there is no requirement for a dedicated anti-submarine mission, both the USN and Northrop Grumman are open to the possibility as the platform evolves. The program of record stands at 96 platforms for the C variant.
Disclaimer: Katherine Ziesing travelled to the US as a guest of both Boeing and Northrop Grumman this year.