UK receives full complement of Reaper UAVs

The United Kingdom (UK) has received into service its final five General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, and will be transporting them into theatre "in the near future", a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson told IHS Jane's on 21 February.

The delivery brings to 10 the number of Reapers fielded in Afghanistan by the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), with the type expected to remain in-country as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform following the cessation of combat operations at the end of 2014.

These final Reapers were ordered in 2010 and were due to have been handed over in 2013. However, delays in clearing engineering modifications to the aircraft set this back by several months. The MoD declined to comment on the nature of these modifications.

The RAF has flown five Reapers out of Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan since 2007. Initially operated by 39 Squadron out of Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, these platforms are now also controlled out of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire by 39 Squadron and the newly re-constituted 13 Squadron.

In December 2013 the MoD released its latest weapon-release statistics for the Reaper. In the six years' of operations, the RAF's Reaper force had flown 54,000 hours, and had dropped or launched 459 precision weapons. While the MoD did not break down the figure in terms of the number of AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles fired or Paveway laser-guided bombs dropped, Armed Forces Minister, Andrew Robathan, disclosed in 2012 that six Hellfires had been fired for every Paveway dropped to that date.

Despite being unmanned, the UK's Reapers are governed by the same rules of engagement as those applied to manned combat aircraft.http://www.janes.com/

The Drone Disaster

American drone policy is trading short-term gain for long-term pain.

The X-47B unmanned aircraft during sea trials aboard the USS George HW Bush in May 2013.

As the U.S. begins its exodus from Afghanistan, American security policy has been shifting more and more toward Africa. This shift is in direct correlation with the rise of organized terrorism across the northern half of the continent over the last two decades. As groups such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Shabab and Boko Haram pose a significant threat to American security, especially to U.S. citizens abroad, the United States’ shift is understandable given the determination to prevent another 9/11 or Benghazi attack.

The new age of warfare in the 21st century has morphed into a low-risk, potentially high-reward operation that places little U.S. personnel in harm's way. Drones have reinvented the strategy with which America fights terrorism, as they often manage to successfully eliminate high profile targets with the push of a button, hundreds of miles away. Given the civilian displeasure at American casualties from both the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, it is no wonder that America chooses to use its military technological superiority to extinguish U.S. security threats with minimal American casualties. However, this policy comes at a price.

The U.S. drone program, started under the Bush administration, has produced an estimated 2,400 casualties to date. A 2012 study by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law shows that approximately 2 percent of all drone strikes hit high-level targets and that the majority of casualties are civilians. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have taken this one step further by documenting their findings on specific drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan. The report determined that in six air strikes in Yemen, 57 of the 82 casualties were civilians, including a pregnant mother and three children. In Pakistan, more than 30 civilians died in four similar strikes. These reports coincide with an October 2013 report issued by a U.N. human rights investigator. The simple conclusion is that drone strikes, no matter how precise they are claimed to be, can still result in significant collateral damage.

Islamic extremist groups in West Africa, North Africa, Sahel, Central Africa and the Horn of Africa have gained strong footholds, empowered by a seemingly endless supply of soldiers willing to lay down their lives. Young people flock to extremist groups and fill the ranks, lacking a better opportunity to improve their lives.

The U.S. has responded by establishing a sophisticated drone war with the objective of eliminating high-level terrorist leaders throughout Africa. It is the old adage: "Cut off the head and the body will die." This policy has led to an influx of drones, both unarmed surveillance and armed combat drones, to patrol the African skies seeking out members of terrorist cells. Recently, strikes have eliminated several high level officers in Al-Shabab in Somalia, following the September 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi. U.S. policy has implemented near daily patrols over Mali, searching for high profile members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other terrorist cells in North Africa, as well as over northeastern Nigeria in an attempt to target senior members of Boko Haram. These strikes may be effective in decimating core leadership, but they may also do more harm than good.

It remains a challenge for many young people in these countries to procure an opportunity to empower themselves financially. Mali has a 30 percent unemployment rate, and Nigeria’s is just under 24 percent and much higher in the volatile northeast. In Somalia, many regions are still controlled by warlords, especially Al-Shabab, therefore presenting little economic opportunity.

The connection between poverty and terrorism is very real. Poverty drives many working-age adults and naive youths to seek the security of organized terror groups. Knowing an innocent civilian killed by a drone strike only fuels the fire of hatred to accompany their desperate situation. While the U.S. may think that its policy of drone strikes improves national security without the loss of lives, the reality is that these strikes in Africa and beyond are creating a generation that not only needs the protection and security offered by organized terror, but possesses a hatred of America and Americans. So while certain "high profile" targets are being eliminated, there is no shortage of willing people to step in and fill their shoes.

The simple truth is that the drone program may be a short-term success that could burgeon into a long-term disaster, with Africa and Central Asia at its heart. If the U.S. wants to stop another 9/11, the simple solution would be to reduce the number of terrorist organizations and members, and the current drone program does the opposite. Investment in economic development to provide opportunities for working adults and youths remains the most effective way to take the wind out of the sails of terror. Instead of breeding a generation of fear and hatred, the U.S. should consider an investment in gratitude and success http://www.usnews.com/

MQ-8C Fire Scout Completes First Flight

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy successfully flew the second MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter for the first time. Conducted at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Calif., the flight will allow the team to ramp up testing efforts to prepare the system for operations.

Current tests are focused on validating the flight capabilities of the MQ-8C before ship-based flights take place this summer.

“The addition of the second MQ-8C means we can begin testing on more components and equipment needed to operate the system as an intelligence-gathering platform,” said George Vardoulakis, vice president for medium range tactical systems at Northrop Grumman.

“This includes installing and conducting tests on the full sensor suite.”

Fire Scout uses on-board sensors to capture full-motion video, identify targets and then distribute the information in real time to various users. This allows ship-based commanders to maintain awareness of a specified area or keep an eye on a target of interest for long periods of time.

“Flight testing has been very successful since the system’s first flight Oct. 31,” said Vardoulakis.

e’ve completed 41 flights totaling 66 hours. This accomplishment points back to the maturity of the MQ-8C’s autonomous control systems that allow the aircraft to operate as an unmanned system.”http://www.defencetalk.com/

IAI Unveils Larger, More Powerful UAV at Singapore Airshow

Joseph Weiss, Israel Aerospace Industry CEO, stands by the company's new Super Heron at the Singapore Airshow. (Israel Aerospace Industry)

SINGAPORE — A heavy fuel version of Israel Aerospace Industry’s big-selling Heron UAV literally had the wraps taken off on the opening day of the Singapore Airshow Feb. 11.

Joseph Weiss, the president and CEO of the state-owned Israeli company, ordered a huge blue shroud to be removed from the Super Heron Heavy Fuel machine parked on the apron outside the company’s chalet in a ceremony here today to formally reveal the UAV.

With the shroud gone, the latest member of the Heron family was revealed as having slightly bigger dimensions than before and some minor redesign around the rear fuselage.

Visually, the main difference was the incorporation of upturned wingtips. But it’s under the engine covers where the main innovation can be found over earlier Heron versions.
IAI engineers have installed a 200-horsepower heavy fuel (diesel) engine instead of the 115 horsepower aviation fuel engine used by other Heron 1 variants.
Diesel fuel offers several benefits, including greater safety in transport and commonality with other engines used on today’s battlefield.

Weiss said the new generation medium-altitude high-endurance UAV will be faster and offer significant capability enhancements and improved rates of climb compared with previous Herons.

Air speed will exceed 150 knots compared with the present Heron figure of 115 knots; maximum takeoff weight has increased 200 kilograms to 1,450 kilograms. Payload weight is 450 kilograms, said the company in a statement.

The UAV made its first flight last October.
The machine is already being offered in export markets and Shepard Media reported that the Super Heron HF is competing with Elbit to supply the Swiss military with a heavy fuel-powered machine. A selection is expected later this year. ■http://www.defensenews.com/

Russia Delays Tests of UAE-Made Drone

The Russian military has postponed tests of a high-endurance drone until an unspecified future date, a spokesperson for the United Arab Emirates company that makes the vehicle said Monday.

“All existing agreements will remain in force, but the Russian side has requested a delay in testing from February until a later date,” Tatyana Kirova of Adcom Systems said.

CEO Ali Al Dhaheri said in December that the first test drone would be delivered for evaluation this month, to be followed by a purchase agreement if test flights were successful.

The aircraft was debuted internationally at the MAKS air show outside Moscow last summer two months after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the country’s drone projects were inferior to foreign offerings.

The Adcom Systems United 40 Block 5 is a long-range medium-altitude reconnaissance vehicle that can loiter above a single area for over four days, according to the company’s website.

The drone, powered by twin turboprops, features steerable cameras and radar for reconnaissance missions and is capable of carrying almost a half-ton of weapons mounted on hard points under the craft’s wings.

The United 40 would not be the first foreign drone purchase for the country. In 2009 Russia bought 12 drones from Israel Aerospace Industries in a deal worth $53 million that attracted criticism for neglecting the domestic aerospace industry.http://en.ria.ru/

Think Tank: Use of Drones Spreading as Cost Falls

The falling cost of acquiring drones will see them increasingly used in warfare and surveillance, a leading think tank said Wednesday, although it believes citizens are unlikely to accept fully autonomous deadly attacks.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) made the claim in its annual assessment of global military capabilities.

It also noted a continuing trend of Asian military spending surging ahead as European defense budgets shrink.

At the launch of the Military Balance 2014 in London, IISS military aerospace expert Doug Barrie said the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, would increase, although they would continue to co-exist next to manned aircraft.

He said the assumption entering the 21st century had been that autonomous drones would soon completely replace piloted planes.

"I think there's been a step back from that to some extent. I think you will see mixed use for quite some time," he said, but acknowledged that the range of drones' capabilities would increase.
"We're going to see more of these things. They will proliferate from the kind of system you can stick in your backpack up to full-blown combat strike," he added.

The IISS said the increased use of drones was accompanied by legal and ethical questions, including whether attacks could be justified as self-defense and whether they constitute a proportional response to the status of individuals targeted.

Discussions in Western states have included reservations about the potential use of fully autonomous armed UAVs, without humans piloting the devices from the ground.
"Even as software-driven artificial intelligence and 'reasoning' systems become more advanced, machine-based decision-making as the basis for lethal action will remain a threshold legislatures and the public will likely be unwilling to cross," the report said.

The report said that drones were once seen almost exclusively in Western armed forces, but the proliferation of smaller systems had reduced costs, enabling greater use by private companies, individuals and countries with limited financial resources.
UAVs have been used overwhelmingly in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, in effectively uncontested airspace, the IISS noted.

However, such calculations may change if they were up against active air defense weapons. Russia and China have been developing GPS-jamming technology, the IISS said.
In ongoing trends, the report noted the relative shift towards Asia in the balance of military power, with defense budgets in the region rising as Western ones tighten.

The United States remained by far the world's biggest defense spenders in 2013, with a budget of $600.4 billion, the report said, followed by China ($112.2 billion), Russia ($68.2 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($59.6 billion).

In terms of defense budgets as a share of gross domestic product, Afghanistan was top on 13.8 percent, followed by Oman (11.7 percent), Saudi Arabia (8 percent) and Iraq (7.2 percent).

But in real terms, Asian defense spending was 11.6 percent higher in 2013 than in 2010, with China, Japan and South Korea accounting for more than half the increases in 2013.
Total European defense spending in real terms has fallen by an average of 2.5 percent per year since 2010.

"The rapid pace of capability development and the potential for accidental conflict and escalation in Asia will continue to be a matter of concern," the report said, citing the numerous potential flashpoints in the East Asia region.

For North Korea, while its aging aircraft could not penetrate South Korean or Japanese air defenses with a nuclear weapon, "a nuclear suicide mission by a mini-submarine cannot be ruled out".

As Western forces withdraw from Afghanistan this year, the NATO alliance faces pressing issues at its September summit in Britain, working out what shape the "post-operational alliance" should take.

European militaries will likely work close together to maximize value from their defense budgets, it concluded, citing France's operations in Mali, which are being supported by EU allies to fill in shortcomings in their capabilities■.By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Morocco buys French drones

Morocco has bought French UAVs that are based on an Israeli design. Morocco will purchase at least three French Harfangs, which are based on Israel's Heron medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, according to news site Worldtribune.com, which in turn cited farmorocco.com, a site that reports on the Moroccan military.

The contract was reportedly signed between Morocco and Dassault in March 2013, with the Harfangs delivered the following month. Morocco also ordered electro-optical sensors, data link and communications equipment.

The Moroccan Air Force’s assets in 2013 included three Herons and four U.S.-made Predator XP drones, according to the Worldtribune.com report.

Germany Evaluates New SIGINT Airframes

BONN, GERMANY — The German military is considering four variants for a new signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft to replace the scrapped Eurohawk UAV project. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support has come up with manned and unmanned solutions.

An unnamed source in security circles told Defense News that three variants are supposed to carry the new Integrated Signal Intelligence System (ISIS) developed under Airbus, formerly EADS, for the Eurohawk.

These variants could include a medium-range passenger aircraft the size of an Airbus A319, a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV like the Predator, or a business jet the size of a Bombardier Global, the source said.

The German Air Force does operate two Airbus 319CJ corporate jetliners, four bombardier Global 5000 jets, and has discussed acquiring the Predator



An existing SIGINT solution without the ISIS system also is being evaluated.The four proposals are being evaluated by the German Defense Ministry. The chief of staff, Gen. Volker Wieker, is supposed to get the results by the end of January. Germany’s old SIGINT planes are based on the Breuget Atlantique airframe, which were supposed to be replaced by four Eurohawks. The Eurohawk was built by Northrop Grumman in cooperation with EADS and is based on the Global Hawk UAV.

However, the project was scrapped in May, bout two years after the prototype had been delivered. Massive problems in licensing the vehicle for European airspace and a possible explosion of costs were cited as the primary reasons. So far, up to €600 million (US $812.75 million) had been spent on the project. ■  
By ALBRECHT MÜLLER  http://www.defensenews.com/

Navy’s 757-Sized Drone Will Provide Big-Time Surveillance

A new drone with the mammoth wingspan of a Boeing 757 is set to give the U.S. Navy some serious surveillance power.

Northrop Grumman and the Navy say they’ve just completed the ninth flight trial of the Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), an improvement upon its predecessor in the Air Force, the Global Hawk.

With its 130-foot wingspan, Triton will provide high-altitude, real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) from a sensor suite that supplies a 360-degree view at a radius of over 2,000 nautical miles, allowing monitoring from higher and farther away than any of its competitors.

But should a closer look be necessary, unique de-icing and lightning protection capabilities allow Triton to plunge through the clouds to get a closer view and automatically classify ships. And in recent tests, the drone was able to easily recover from perturbations in its flight path caused by turbulence.

Although Triton has a higher degree of autonomy than the most autonomous drones, operators on the ground will be able to obtain high-resolution imagery, use radar for target detection and provide information-sharing capabilities to other military units.

Thus far, Triton has completed flights up to 9.4 hours at altitudes of 50,000 feet at the company’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California. According to Northrop Grumman, Triton could support missions up to 24 hours.

Northrop Grumman reported earlier that Triton had demonstrated structural strength of the drone’s wing — a key capability that will allow the aircraft to descend from high altitudes to make positive identification of targets during surveillance missions — even when it was subjected to a load at 22 percent above the Navy’s requirement.

“During surveillance missions using Triton, Navy operators may spot a target of interest and order the aircraft to a lower altitude to make positive identification,” said Mike Mackey, Northrop Gumman’s Triton UAS program director, in a statement. “The wing’s strength allows the aircraft to safely descend, sometimes through weather patterns, to complete this maneuver.”

Under an initial contract of $1.16 billion in 2008, the Navy has ordered 68 of the MQ-4C Triton drones with expected delivery in 2017 — a slip from the initial anticipated date of December 2015.BY ALLEN MCDUFFEE http://www.wired.com/

UAVs and the F-35: Partners in Air Power?

What role will drones play in planning for high intensity war in the Pacific?

What role will drones play in planning for high intensity war in the Pacific? A recent report from theUSNI indicates that the Navy is planning to use the UCLASS UAV, an F-14-sized piece of equipment with some stealth characteristics, as a potential missile truck.  Although knowledge that drones had a role to play in air superiority had become more or less widespread within the national security community, this is one of the best descriptions of how, specifically, the Navy envisions integrating its drones into its air defense system.

The question of how UAVs will contribute to air superiority goes to the core of the utility not just of the UCLASS, but also of the F-35C.  If we envision the JSF as the centerpiece of a networked system-of-systems that includes subsurface, surface, and unmanned aerial assets, part of a chain of capabilities between see-er and shooter, it begins to look like a much more formidable weapon, its drawbacks as a fighter notwithstanding.

The practical objections to the use of UAVs for air superiority are well known. UAVs lack the situational awareness of piloted aircraft, and are extremely vulnerable to electronic counter-measures that can disrupt communications with their operators. Even a few seconds delay in relaying commands can prove fatal for a UAV. At the same time, developing drones sufficiently autonomous to manage themselves in air-to-air combat is genuinely scary; no one wants a drone that can kill on its own.

But if we evaluate the contribution of the drone not in isolation, but rather as part of a system-of-systems for air dominance, its utility becomes clearer. Stealthy F-35s operate in contested environments, identifying and tracking targets, with the UAVs supplying the missiles that the JSFs can’t carry on their own. Even the payload challenged F-35B can contribute in this context; having as many F-35s in the air as possible increases the clarity of the picture offered to pilots and commanders.

Indeed, this is precisely the type of aerial warfare that the developers of the F-35 envisioned. Although this vision has been part of the Joint Strike Fighter program for some time, it has not, for whatever reason, been articulated clearly to the public. Our public conversation still struggles to conceptualize specific weapons as part of a larger system, rather than with respect to their individual characteristics. This hardly means that programs such as the F-35 or the UCLASS should be above criticism, but it does suggest ways to add nuance to the critique.

It’s not a stretch to argue that the F-35C and the UCLASS UAV will structure American naval aviation for the foreseeable future. These reports give us a better indication of how the capabilities can be expected to work together, and help illuminate the utility of both programs.By Robert Farley http://thediplomat.com/

Italian Predator B UAVs to get maritime wide-area search capability

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana [AMI]) is to upgrade its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GAASI) MQ-9 Predator B medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a new maritime radar mode for search-and-rescue (SAR) duties, the company disclosed on 15 January.

The AMI's six MQ-9s will have their Block 30 Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) multimode radars enhanced with a maritime wide-area search (MWAS) mode that is optimised for detecting and imaging very small vessels, such as those used by migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

Since October 2013, the AMI's MQ-9s have been involved in the Italian government's Operation 'Mare Nostrum' to tackle the immigration emergency following the deaths of nearly 400 migrants when their vessel sank near the island of Lampedusa in the same month.Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's International Defence Review