Unmanned prospects: European industry readies to take on global leaders

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1 Jane's International Defence Review [Content preview Subscribe to Jane s International Defence Review for full article] Unmanned prospects: European industry readies to take on global leaders Europe's UAS industry has fallen behind the competition posed by the United States and Israel, but emerging requirements and next-generation programmes are presenting new opportunities to develop advanced systems. Huw Williams examines how European industry is responding Predator, Reaper and Heron: even a casual observer of the unmanned systems field will be familiar with these 'bluechip' systems, which are often presented as the face of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations, and perhaps rightly so. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator family and variants of Israel Aerospace Industries' Heron are in widespread use and have carried much of the workload burden of the type - medium-altitude longendurance (MALE) - on recent operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The FCAS programme could bring about a next-generation UCAV. (BAE Systems) The dominance of just a handful of systems in the MALE class is no exception, and this trend - for a few market leaders - is played out in the industry as a whole, where companies from the United States and Israel hold the lion's share. Many established aerospace companies, notably in Europe, have little footprint in the UAS industry and have found their traditional domestic customer base using systems from the United States and Israel. Article 1 Page 1 of 11

2 Mixing pot Where a UCAV will fit within the force mix and what capabilities it can provide is a key question and is one that will be decided as much by the technologies that can be developed and implemented, as it will by policy. "We recognise the fact that when you talk about the Future Combat Air Systems (FCAS) space in the UK you're effectively talking about the [air force] from 2030 onwards, manned and unmanned. We're not just talking about a UCAV, we're talking about the various components thereof," explained Martin Rowe- Willcocks, head of FCAS Business Development at BAE Systems. He added that the effort extends beyond BAE Systems and Dassault, "[It's] a lot more than just the airframe, it's not just BAE Systems and Dassault, on the powerplant side it's also Rolls-Royce and Safran and on the systems side Selex and Thales, it's very much a six industry partner programme". The aircraft deemed to fall within the next-generation UCAV class are expected to possess a wide range of capabilities, with many believing they will operate directly alongside manned aircraft and be able to fill most, if not all, of their roles. "We see the first step as complementing manned rather than replacing them... FCAS space is a manned-unmanned mix and the missions we're looking at are potentially in areas which are hostile environments where you would not want to put a manned aircraft", Rowe-Willcocks said. Rowe-Willcocks believes that at present technical challenges are not proving to be the most significant, with the partners able to draw upon their extensive experience in the aerospace sector as well as involvement in leading European capability demonstration programmes: BAE Systems' Taranis and the pan- European neuron effort, for which Dassualt is the lead. The technological focus of the Taranis programme is on a next-generation system incorporating low observable characteristics to enable the aircraft to operate in contested airspace. The latest information on the effort was released by company officials in July 2014 following a second round of flight tests. The trials took place between late 2013 and early 2014 at the Woomera Test Range in Australia and demonstrated the aircraft's 'stealthy' configuration. The tests were said to have verified the ability of the platform to operate with signature control antennas and a conformal air data boom, the latter gathering data essential to the safe operation of the aircraft and taking the place of the previous nose-mounted boom, which had an adverse effect on reducing the aircraft's radar cross section. Further enhancements included an advanced communications system. Electrical excitability Work on the multinational neuron programme commenced in 2006 with the maiden flight taking place in December 2012 out of the French military test centre at Istres, 11 months after the platform was unveiled by Dassault to the programme partners - Alenia Aermacchi, EADS CASA (now Airbus), Hellenic Aerospace Industry, RUAG, Saab, and Thales. The French trials component was completed in late February 2015 and comprised two phases totalling 100 flights. The first consisted of 80 flights and centred on the platform's flight envelope and systems checks. Testing included the datalink, the sensor window (which is designed to be low observable), and the operation of the weapon bay's doors. Article 1 Page 2 of 11

3 In the second phase, the trials examined neuron's IR and electromagnetic signatures in scenarios against operational systems. The analysis used the HyperCerbere sensor to examine the aircraft's thermal signature, the EXSERDY system for measuring the radar cross-section, and the Cyclope to study the IR signature. In operationally representative tests neuron's capabilities were pitted against a number of aircraft, including a Mirage equipped with an RDY radar system, a Rafale fitted with an RBE2 passive electronically scanned array radar, and a Mirage 2000 featuring an RBE2 active electronically scanned array radar. One scenario saw the neuron encounter four aircraft simultaneously. Further work tested the neuron against the MICA missile's IR seeker and E-3F airborne warning and control system aircraft. The next phases of testing will be based in Italy and Sweden with the former testing the aircraft's imaging sensors against ground-based radars and sensors. The Swedish testing is scheduled to commence in late 2015 and will involve a weapons drop of a Mk 82 bomb. The neuron programme is addressing a number of technologies required of a UCAV. (Dassault Aviation) Central to the successful development and fielding of a UCAV system, as well as near- and mid-term platforms, is the effective and accurate definition of requirements by customers, as there will be little room for error in these programmes. "From a technology point I think we have everything, there is no major technology step necessary to come up with a European MALE, I think [the challenge] is to come up with a product that is matched to the concept of operations [CONOPS] of the European requirements," explained Jens Nielsen, Airbus's head of unmanned aerial systems. Article 1 Page 3 of 11

Airbus' focus at present in the MALE space is on developing a solution for the Franco/German/Italian requirement: a platform that will succeed the capabilities currently provided to those nations by

4 Airbus' focus at present in the MALE space is on developing a solution for the Franco/German/Italian requirement: a platform that will succeed the capabilities currently provided to those nations by the Reaper/Harfang (a country-specific variant of the Heron TP), Heron 1, and Predator/Reaper respectively. Niche leaders While Europe may be lagging behind its competitors in the MALE area, some companies have emerged as leaders in more specialist fields, notably Schiebel with its Camcopter S-100. The small, rotary-wing Camcopter has been taken into service by a number of customers and undergone trials with others. It has demonstrated utility in maritime environments especially and is in the inventory of forces in the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Germany, Jordan, Libya, the US, Russia, Egypt and China, as well as with the OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine and numerous civilian and commercial operators. A versatile platform, Camcopter can be equipped with a range of payloads and operate to a distance of 180 km with an endurance of 6 hours. It is powered by a Wankel powerplant developed by Austro Engines and has a ceiling of 18,000 ft. "One of the biggest levers that we have is the ability for in a standard six hour mission to fit a 50 kg payload of any nature that the customer wants underneath the air vehicle. That allows us to deliver many capabilities that a lot of other UAVs can't," explained Chris Day, director of Capability Engineering at Schiebel. Schiebel has upgraded its Camcopter S-100 to counter GPS jamming. (Schiebel) Article 1 Page 4 of 11

5 Day believes that one of the most important design considerations is the use of lightweight materials, especially for smaller systems. "Because one of our dominant markets is the maritime, one key area that we've spent a lot of time and money investing in is the materials that we use", Day explained. "We produce our [own] carbon fibre and one of the big things for us is that we have the ability to manufacture our own fuselages, we [also] use materials like titanium. The main rotorhead is manufactured out of a solid billet of titanium, that gives lightness and strength, but very importantly it gives us corrosion resistance. Materials for us are very important, because the quickest way to kill a UAV is to let the mass increase every kilogram I take out of the helicopter gives me a kilogram of payload or kilogram of extra fuel". Another key design concern lies in the choice of powerplant, Day said, noting that this is one area that can be the downfall of many systems. At present few UAS-specific powerplants exist and engines are often considered to be a weak point in UAS design. "When you look at [UASs] one of the most unreliable components - and bearing in mind most have only one of them - is the engine, and if you've got an unreliable engine you've got a real problem product, if the engine goes down you tend to end up losing the platform. From our perspective the engine always remains the top of our list in terms of R&D and product improvement." Tactical edge Airbus has an advanced tactical UAS under development in the form of its Atlante platform and Sagem is looking to offer its Patroller to meet the French Army's requirements. Interestingly, arguably the most advanced tactical systems manufactured in Europe - Selex ES' Falco and Falco Evo - are not in service with European customers yet, but have undertaken operations with armed forces elsewhere, and also with the United Nation's MONUSCO mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Selex is operating a number of its Falco UASs in support of the UN's MONUSCO mission. (Selex ES) Falco and Falco Evo can best be described as 'heavy' tactical UASs, with capabilities that verge on those of MALE systems. Both aircraft can be equipped with a wide range of payload options, including EO/IR sensors, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), maritime surveillance radar, and hyperspectral sensors among others. They feature short wheeled take off or can be launched from a catapult, and are recovered via conventional landing, short tactical landing, or a parachute system. Both take off and landing can be undertaken automatically or manually. Evo is substantially larger than the standard Falco, with a 12.5 m wingspan as opposed to the baseline model's 7.2 m, it can carry a 100 kg payload as opposed to the 70 kg for the smaller variant. Evo also Article 1 Page 5 of 11

6 features an endurance in excess of 20 hours and a ceiling of around 19,700 ft while the standard Falco has an endurance of 8-14 hours and a ceiling of 16,400 ft. Both can operate out to 200 km with a beyond lineof-sight communications system, which can be extended through the use of relays or satellite communications. A Selex representative said the company is focusing on enhancing the aircraft's engines, "We aim to have the possibility to install different types of engines. We have not seen the technology available for real multifuel [capabilities], yes, there are activities, but the need we see is to have the possibility to be flexible in terms of which fuel is used". He added that improvements to payload capabilities are also a key target, "The start of our current UAV roadmap is to enable our tactical UAVs to face the requirements of having multiple different payloads". Selex's plan to feature multiple payloads is echoed across the community and which, in no small part due to size, weight, and power (SWaP) restrictions on board aircraft, will require improvements in existing offerings as well as a growth in the number of UAV-specific payloads developed. "Talk to anybody in our community and the most expensive component in the system is the sensors and we are looking at not flying single sensors," Day explained. "From our perspective there is a lot of opportunity to get rid of duplication in some of these sensors and it happened with electro-optics, we now fly an EO pod that has six sensors in it, and when we talk about radars and other sensors we want to include them all into a single package. For me the next big steps have to be about multifunctional sensors and how we can use them in a more clever and adaptable way," Day said. "There are two issues for me there", Rowe-Willcocks said. "You have to make sure the payload technologies are advancing as much as the airframe. For us, bringing those two together in a way which keeps the stealth configuration of the platform is an engineering challenge, as indeed is integrating the powerplant to keep the stealth characteristics. The very close working relationship of the six companies is key to the success of the programme." What payloads are fitted to the next generation of UAS - be it the FCAS or the European MALE - will greatly depend on user requirements and Nielsen believes these must be clearly defined, a sentiment echoed by Rowe-Willcocks, "A lot of the discussion we're having here is what is the initial role [for FCAS] and therefore which particular payloads are we talking about. Are we talking about communications, are we talking about ISR payloads, how do we get information back off the platform in a low-observable way, it is a different concept of use and a different engineering challenge to the current generation and that's why it's so exciting, effectively it gives you the option of that extra, unique capability in the force mix, but not on its own, as part of an integrated set". As to the question of whether or not enough UAS-specific payload development work is being undertaken, Rowe-Willcocks said, "we're finding that the modularity and the technologies that we're developing are equally applicable to current fleets as they are to future fleets. I think that's the key, not necessarily having payload development that's only for UAVs, but saying how can I exploit sensors for all types of platforms in the same way that you design different configurations of platforms for different operational uses? So I think it's not about dedicated payload development, it's about adaptation". Enabling aircraft to operate in contested environments and those where there is limited, if any, access to GPS is of pressing concern and work to develop airframes and payloads to address this is underway in Europe. While introducing stealthy airframes may be the best solution for advanced systems, in-service and near- to mid-term aircraft will require new payloads and system changes. Article 1 Page 6 of 11

The Camcopter aircraft deployed with the OSCE mission to Ukraine have experienced problems with jamming and the company had to act quickly to deal with the situation, Day said.

7 The Camcopter aircraft deployed with the OSCE mission to Ukraine have experienced problems with jamming and the company had to act quickly to deal with the situation, Day said. He explained that they worked with an external partner to introduce a counter-jamming capability, which company representatives previously told IHS Jane's was provided by NovAtel. Although the anti-gps jamming system has not been disclosed, the solution may be based on NovAtel's GPS Anti-Jam Technology (GAJT), a system that has been developed for land vehicles. The technology works by creating nulls in the antenna gain pattern in the direction of a jammer - similar in concept to the function of noise-cancelling headphones - enabling the GPS receiver to acquire a signal. Airbus' Zephyr 7 holds a number of world records. (Airbus Defence and Space) Copyright IHS Global Limited, 2015 Article 1 Page 7 of 11

8 For the full version and more content: IHS Jane's Military & Security Assessments Intelligence Centre This analysis is taken from IHS Jane s Military & Security Assessments Intelligence Centre, which delivers comprehensive and reliable country risk and military capabilities information, analysis and daily insight. IHS country risk and military capabilities news and analysis is also available within IHS Jane s Intelligence Review. To learn more and to subscribe to IHS Jane s Intelligence Review online, offline or print visit For advertising solutions contact the IHS Jane s Advertising team Article 1 Page 8 of 11

neuron An efficient European cooperation scheme

DIRECTION GÉNÉRALE INTERNATIONALE January, 2012 neuron An efficient European cooperation scheme I - INTRODUCTION 2 II - AIM OF THE neuron PROGRAMME 3 III - PROGRAMME ORGANISATION 4 IV - AN EFFICIENT EUROPEAN