SECTION 6 - ROADMAP
Page 77
Appendices
APPENDIX A: MISSIONS
OVERVIEW
This appendix will review the use of Unmanned Aircraft (UA) platforms across many mission areas. Each mission area review has a summary that includes objectives and guidance for critical technology research and development. The reader should also perceive the following themes:
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UA have matured to the point where one no longer needs to “look for niche missions.” United States aerospace and software industries are world leaders. The U.S. can develop a UA to accomplish almost any mission imaginable. Instead of asking, “Can we find a mission for this UA?” one will ask “Why are we still doing this mission with a human?” The correct course of action will be determined by the analysis of the available capabilities to achieve the desired effect and best value for each mission.
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Look for commercial answers to achieve the best value and satisfy Strategic Planning Guidance (SPG). A 50 percent solution tomorrow is often better than a 70-80 percent solution in three years and better than a 95 percent solution in 10 years. Commercial solutions avoid using defense development dollars, which provides the opportunity for other developments, and offers the concept of “consumable logistics.” The theory being “Why pay for any significant sustainment when you can buy a new and improved item three years from now (e.g., desktop computer, VCR, toaster, vacuum cleaner, DVD player)?”
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Systems engineering principles must be applied to any government developed solution. Designs and trades start with understanding the desired effect. Ensure the development of any UA platform starts first with a thorough understanding of the mission it will accomplish. Do NOT make a UA, and then find a mission for it. Do NOT design a low-observable aircraft, and then try to figure out how to make it do a strike or suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) mission.
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Continued miniaturization is resulting in a migration of capability from larger to smaller platforms. For instance, the sensor capabilities first demonstrated on the RQ-1A Predator in 1994 are now available on the RQ-7 Shadow. Moore’s Law “like” evolution will continue to push more capability to smaller and smaller platforms as progress is made through the next two decades.
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Small UA have the potential to solve a wide-variety of difficult problems that may be unaffordable by
trying to find solutions with traditionally larger platforms. The UA platform is the most apparent component of a modern UA system and in most cases can be considered the “truck” for the payload. Platforms can vary in size and shape from the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) with a wingspan of inches, to behemoths with wingspans greater than 100 feet. Platforms accommodate the payload requirements, e.g. size, weight, and power; and platforms are designed with the capabilities required for the environment in which it will operate. Speed, endurance, signature, survivability and affordability are factored together to provide integrated solutions to meet mission requirements.
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