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By william matthews
Published: 21 February 2010
If the U.S. Marine Corps wants to resupply troops at a remote outpost in Afghanistan, it has several options.
Moving a truckload of supplies 50 miles could require as many as 100 Marines, most of them to provide security, and take about 24 hours, said Terry Fogarty, general manager of Kaman Aerospace's unmanned aerial systems programs.
It would be a lot faster to deliver the supplies by helicopter. But that could cost $10,000 an hour, and there's a real danger that the helicopter may be shot down and its crew hurt or killed. An air drop by a fixed-wing plane would be similarly expensive and far less accurate.
So Fogarty is trying to convince the Marines to use his company's workhorse: an unmanned helicopter designed to carry up to 6,000 pounds, fly to a delivery point, unload and fly back, all without intervention by a human and at a cost of about $1,100 an hour.
The helicopter is an unmanned variant of the Kaman K-MAX, a 5,145-pound "synchropter" that is powered by two rotors mounted side by side, each tilted slightly outward and synchronized so that their blades intermesh but do not collide.
In early February, Kaman and its partner, Lockheed Martin, put the unmanned K-MAX through a series of tests at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
Fogarty said the pilotless K-MAX was able to hover at 12,000 feet with a 1,500-pound load slung beneath; completed two 175-mile round trips to deliver 3,000 pounds of cargo in less than six hours; changed missions in midflight; and delivered four 750-pound loads to four different destinations, three autono-mously and the fourth one under control of an operator on the ground.
Kaman provided the helicopter, Lockheed the mission control system and the Marines an air tasking order telling the K-MAX team where to deliver loads of supplies.
Coordinates, direction, way points, altitudes, speed and other details were entered into the helicopter's mission computer, and the aircraft flew the mission without further input until the Marines asked an operator to manage the final supply drop to show that a human-controlled delivery could be done, Fogarty said.
At about the same time the K-MAX was flying over the frozen hills at Dugway, the Army was testing a smaller unmanned helicopter at Fort Benning, Ga.
A 3,150-pound Northrop Grumman Fire Scout, originally designed as a vertical take-off and landing reconnaissance UAV for Navy ships, was modified to carry up to 600 pounds of supplies in cargo containers mounted on the helicopter's skids.
Like the K-MAX, the Fire Scout can fly autonomously or respond to instructions from an operator on the ground. Both helicopters use global positioning satellites for navigation.
But unlike the K-MAX, the pilotless Fire Scout doesn't fly blind. Using its electro-optical/infrared sensor, the UAV can observe the landing zone it is approaching to ensure that it's free of obstacles and people before touching down.
Sensors on the Fire Scout's skids detect contact with the ground and automatically detach the cargo containers, enabling the Fire Scout to take off again.
Neither helicopter has a collision-avoidance system, but both companies say they could add that equipment if a customer wanted it.
Because of its limited load capability, the Fire Scout is aimed at delivering urgently needed supplies, such as ammunition, water, food and batteries, to smaller units, such as platoons and companies, said Michael Fuqua, business development director for the Tactical Unmanned Systems Division of Northrop Grumman Aerospace.
Northrop hopes the Fire Scout's capability as a reconnaissance helicopter that can also deliver supplies will earn it a second look from the Army.
The Army announced in January that it had decided not to buy Fire Scouts for reconnaissance work. The UAVs were to be part of the Future Combat Systems program, which has been canceled. Fire Scout continues as a Navy reconnaissance UAV.
It is clear, though, that the U.S. military's interest in cargo-delivering UAVs is on the rise. In large part, the services are looking for a way to avoid the roadside bombs so numerous and deadly in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Army and Marine Corps "want to try to figure out a way to get Humvees off the roads and still be able to resupply troops in an efficient way," Fuqua said.
Helicopters are an obvious answer, but helicopters are already "hugely in demand in theater," he said, so assigning them more missions isn't always possible.
There's a cost consideration, too. Fuqua said a Fire Scout costs about $2,700 an hour to operate. Cost estimates for operating a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter are $4,600 per hour and up. The total depends on what is counted, such as maintenance costs, crew pay, fuel and other expenses.
But the key issue with cargo UAVs isn't the lower cost, it's reducing the danger to personnel when moving supplies across dangerous areas, Fuqua said.
A year ago, the Navy launched a search for an unmanned cargo helicopter for the Marines, saying that "significant changes in the nature of combat operations" make it necessary to spread units out over larger geographic areas and to keep them supplied despite difficult terrain and poor security.
Last fall, the Air Force began its own search, saying in a notice to aircraft makers that it wants the ability to air deliver "cargo directly to the point of need using an unmanned aircraft possibly during direct engagement."
Other Air Force requirements were demanding. The aircraft should be able to "autonomously deliver 500 to 3,000 pounds of cargo to a strategic combat radius of 500 nautical miles at airspeeds of 250 knots or greater."
A vertical- or short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft would be considered, the Air Force said.
Meanwhile, helicopter builder Sikorsky announced in early February it is spending $1 billion to develop a pilotless version of its military workhorse, the Black Hawk. The drone version of the H-60 is expected to be demonstrated this year and could be in service by 2015.
Source: Unmanned K-MAX Delivers - Defense News
Published: 21 February 2010
If the U.S. Marine Corps wants to resupply troops at a remote outpost in Afghanistan, it has several options.
Moving a truckload of supplies 50 miles could require as many as 100 Marines, most of them to provide security, and take about 24 hours, said Terry Fogarty, general manager of Kaman Aerospace's unmanned aerial systems programs.
It would be a lot faster to deliver the supplies by helicopter. But that could cost $10,000 an hour, and there's a real danger that the helicopter may be shot down and its crew hurt or killed. An air drop by a fixed-wing plane would be similarly expensive and far less accurate.
So Fogarty is trying to convince the Marines to use his company's workhorse: an unmanned helicopter designed to carry up to 6,000 pounds, fly to a delivery point, unload and fly back, all without intervention by a human and at a cost of about $1,100 an hour.
The helicopter is an unmanned variant of the Kaman K-MAX, a 5,145-pound "synchropter" that is powered by two rotors mounted side by side, each tilted slightly outward and synchronized so that their blades intermesh but do not collide.
In early February, Kaman and its partner, Lockheed Martin, put the unmanned K-MAX through a series of tests at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
Fogarty said the pilotless K-MAX was able to hover at 12,000 feet with a 1,500-pound load slung beneath; completed two 175-mile round trips to deliver 3,000 pounds of cargo in less than six hours; changed missions in midflight; and delivered four 750-pound loads to four different destinations, three autono-mously and the fourth one under control of an operator on the ground.
Kaman provided the helicopter, Lockheed the mission control system and the Marines an air tasking order telling the K-MAX team where to deliver loads of supplies.
Coordinates, direction, way points, altitudes, speed and other details were entered into the helicopter's mission computer, and the aircraft flew the mission without further input until the Marines asked an operator to manage the final supply drop to show that a human-controlled delivery could be done, Fogarty said.
At about the same time the K-MAX was flying over the frozen hills at Dugway, the Army was testing a smaller unmanned helicopter at Fort Benning, Ga.
A 3,150-pound Northrop Grumman Fire Scout, originally designed as a vertical take-off and landing reconnaissance UAV for Navy ships, was modified to carry up to 600 pounds of supplies in cargo containers mounted on the helicopter's skids.
Like the K-MAX, the Fire Scout can fly autonomously or respond to instructions from an operator on the ground. Both helicopters use global positioning satellites for navigation.
But unlike the K-MAX, the pilotless Fire Scout doesn't fly blind. Using its electro-optical/infrared sensor, the UAV can observe the landing zone it is approaching to ensure that it's free of obstacles and people before touching down.
Sensors on the Fire Scout's skids detect contact with the ground and automatically detach the cargo containers, enabling the Fire Scout to take off again.
Neither helicopter has a collision-avoidance system, but both companies say they could add that equipment if a customer wanted it.
Because of its limited load capability, the Fire Scout is aimed at delivering urgently needed supplies, such as ammunition, water, food and batteries, to smaller units, such as platoons and companies, said Michael Fuqua, business development director for the Tactical Unmanned Systems Division of Northrop Grumman Aerospace.
Northrop hopes the Fire Scout's capability as a reconnaissance helicopter that can also deliver supplies will earn it a second look from the Army.
The Army announced in January that it had decided not to buy Fire Scouts for reconnaissance work. The UAVs were to be part of the Future Combat Systems program, which has been canceled. Fire Scout continues as a Navy reconnaissance UAV.
It is clear, though, that the U.S. military's interest in cargo-delivering UAVs is on the rise. In large part, the services are looking for a way to avoid the roadside bombs so numerous and deadly in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Army and Marine Corps "want to try to figure out a way to get Humvees off the roads and still be able to resupply troops in an efficient way," Fuqua said.
Helicopters are an obvious answer, but helicopters are already "hugely in demand in theater," he said, so assigning them more missions isn't always possible.
There's a cost consideration, too. Fuqua said a Fire Scout costs about $2,700 an hour to operate. Cost estimates for operating a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter are $4,600 per hour and up. The total depends on what is counted, such as maintenance costs, crew pay, fuel and other expenses.
But the key issue with cargo UAVs isn't the lower cost, it's reducing the danger to personnel when moving supplies across dangerous areas, Fuqua said.
A year ago, the Navy launched a search for an unmanned cargo helicopter for the Marines, saying that "significant changes in the nature of combat operations" make it necessary to spread units out over larger geographic areas and to keep them supplied despite difficult terrain and poor security.
Last fall, the Air Force began its own search, saying in a notice to aircraft makers that it wants the ability to air deliver "cargo directly to the point of need using an unmanned aircraft possibly during direct engagement."
Other Air Force requirements were demanding. The aircraft should be able to "autonomously deliver 500 to 3,000 pounds of cargo to a strategic combat radius of 500 nautical miles at airspeeds of 250 knots or greater."
A vertical- or short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft would be considered, the Air Force said.
Meanwhile, helicopter builder Sikorsky announced in early February it is spending $1 billion to develop a pilotless version of its military workhorse, the Black Hawk. The drone version of the H-60 is expected to be demonstrated this year and could be in service by 2015.
Source: Unmanned K-MAX Delivers - Defense News
