Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

This PE focuses USAF efforts on long endurance platforms which allow days, months, or years of endurance, as well as their associated sensors and communications suites. Efforts include, but are not limited to, airships and more standard aircraft structures. The Integrated Sensor IS Structure (ISIS) project develops a radar which is fully integrated into a station-keeping, stratospheric airship. ISIS supports the nation's need for persistent wide-area surveillance, tracking, and engagement of time-critical air and ground targets. Automated surveillance and tracking includes air targets to the radar horizon of 600 km and all ground targets to a range of 300 km. The radar aperture is intended to provide track data and other communications directly to users in-theater. The system is planned to launch from CONUS locations with a multi-year operational life. No support personnel or facilities are required in-theater. Efforts include work on the ground station and the corresponding Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) connectivity. The Blue Devil Block 2 (BD2) project is an Air Force-led single ship technology and concept demonstration of multi-intelligence, cross-platform tipping and cueing of fused SIGINT, wide area and high-definition (HD) EO/IR motion imagery on a persistent lighter-than-air (LTA) airship. BD2 will employ a payload integration infrastructure (PII) with a Command and Control (C2) and Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) Ground Station. This effort directly supports multiple validated CENTCOM urgent operational needs, and contributes directly to force protection and counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) missions for Coalition Forces. The Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications (MAGIC) project develops a multiple day, medium altitude ISR unmmanned aerial system (UAS) to provide long endurance surveillance with a multiple sensor payload. Funds also cover activities to include studies and analysis to support both current program planning and execution and future program planning. This program is in Budget Activity 7, Operational System Development because this budget activity includes development efforts to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full rate production and anticipate production funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2013
• Source ID: 0305205F_7_3600_PB_2013
• Change Summary Explanation: FY11 increase of $9.844M provided by ISR Task Force and JIEDDO to accelerate purchase of an ARGUS camera system for Blue Devil 2 sensor suite. FY12 funding reflects the following actions: - Congressional Directed Reduction of $6.5M to Project 675372, ISIS (Previous President's Budget Figure) - OCO request of $73M to Project 676019, Blue Devil 2, less $10M Congressional Directed Reduction - Congressional add of $19M to Project 67A026, MAGIC
• Service Agency Name: Air Force

Entities

Organizations

• United States Air Force

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Air Platforms
• Autonomy
• C4I
• Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Acquisition
• Air Force
• Air Force Research Laboratories
• Aircrafts
• Airframes
• Asymmetric Warfare
• Command And Control
• Contingency Operations (Military)
• Control Systems
• Cost Analysis
• Explosive Devices
• Ground Stations
• Improvised Explosive Devices
• Lessons Learned
• Medium Altitude
• Task Forces
• Test And Evaluation

Readers

• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
• Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

• Autonomy
• Autonomy - UAVs
• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Space
• Space - Satellites
• Space - Space Objects