(U)Advanced Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System

Abstract

This program element provides for development and capability requirements for Advanced Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in support of expeditionary efforts. Project 3135 - This project provides technical concept maturation and prototyping for the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) with Vertical/Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (V/STOVL) capability allowing for runway independence. MUX is determined to be a critical capability for current and future USMC expeditionary operations. These MUX efforts will include refinement of program requirements and Concept of Operations (CONOPS), modeling and simulation of mission payloads with minimized Space, Weight, Power, and Cooling (SWaP-C), development of system architectures, development of air vehicle concepts, development of a Common Control Station (CCS) compliant Mission Control Station, and modeling and simulation of various air vehicle designs that would lead to rapid prototyping of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to inform a future MUX program of record. Resulting work products will mitigate technical risks through analysis, modeling and simulation matched with refined CONOPS development, industry payload, air vehicle concepts, CCS compliant MCS roadmap, and will leverage real-time data used on deployed USMC MQ-9 and USN M-8B/C. Threshold prototype capabilities will include; Airborne Early Warning, Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW) and Communications/Data Relay-Control (DR). Provides USMC with MUX MVP aircraft capability when prototype funding is available. Project 3427 - This project provides experimentation and support of the CQ-24A Cargo UAS (commonly referred to as KMAX), which was used for experimentation to inform the unmanned cargo resupply requirements of future programs of record to include MUX and unmanned logistics system-air, ULS-A. Experimentation includes payloads/sensor integration, control station integration, CONOPS and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) development. The experimentation efforts informed program capability documents, supports military demonstrations, and advance technologies. This program allows for government, industry teams, and other stakeholders to collaboratively develop key sensor technologies for obstacle avoidance on future unmanned and manned aircraft. These efforts include continued development of autonomous obstacle avoidance systems that have dual military-commercial use, such as natural disaster response, combatting wild fires, and enabling cargo delivery in austere environments. Cost estimate for Cost to Complete and Total Cost for both project units are being developed and will be promulgated in a future budget request.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2021
Source ID
0304240M_4_1319_PB_2021
Change Summary Explanation
Schedule: Project 3135 - Updated to reflect Program Acquisition Strategy, which includes use of Prize Challenge to refine MUX requirements and validate capability performance in a laboratory. Additional program technical analysis will be conducted with, but not limited to software, scientific and technology solutions that help achieve program/service missions. This update also includes changes to Modeling and Simulation, and Test & Evaluation requirements. The FY 2021 funding request was reduced by $4.152 million to account for the availability of prior year execution balances. Project 3427 - Not applicable Technical: Not applicable
Service Agency Name
Navy

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Collision Avoidance
  • Communication Systems
  • Cost Analysis
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Links
  • Line Of Sight
  • Medium Altitude
  • Product Development
  • Program Management
  • Software Prototyping
  • Systems Engineering
  • Tactical Data Links
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Microelectronics
  • Space

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