Tisr 4 1 final

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter

Threat Detector Terry Mitchell

www.TISR-kmi.com

February 2014 Volume 4, Issue 1

Director Intelligence Futures Army G-2

Exclusive interview with:

Maj. Gen. John N. T. Shanahan Commander U.S. Air Force ISR Agency

Persistent Surveillance O IED Detection UAV Night Vision O UGV Roundtable

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RECONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE The Honorable James R. Clapper Director of National Intelligence (DNI)

LTG Michael T. Flynn, U.S. Army

Director, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

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Director, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA)

ADM William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)

Ms. Betty J. Sapp Director, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

LTG Joseph Votel, U.S. Army

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TACTICAL ISR TECHNOLOGY Features

February 2014 Volume 4, Issue 1

Cover / Q&A

Counter-IED Technologies Critical Worldwide

The Skies Have Eyes

Persistent surveillance missions require a certain kind of platform and a bevy of sensors, tools and software programs to process, exploit and disseminate ISR data so that it can reach the warfighter.

By Chris McCoy

Contrary to popular belief, the drawdown from Afghanistan and end of the Iraq War don’t bring with them the end of the IED. This makes continuing to develop counter-IED technologies all the more important.

By Karen E. Thuermer

17

10

20

Terry Mitchell Director Intelligence Futures Army G-2

4

Special Section: Focus to a Future Environment

8

UAV Night Vision

Infrared and other night vision sensors allow the U.S. military to dominate enemies that are less well-equipped. The Army has equipped unmanned vehicles with night vision sensors since the mid-1990s, and the technology is still advancing.

By Peter Buxbaum

24

Unmanned Ground Vehicle Industry Roundtable Industry leaders discuss advances in unmanned ground vehicles and the most promising unmanned ground vehicles that they have to offer the nation’s military.

An exclusive interview with: Maj. Gen. John N.T. Shanahan Commander U.S. Air Force ISR Agency

Departments

2 Editor’s Perspective 3 ALL INT/People 14 ISR KIT 27 Resource Center

Industry Interview Bill Davidson

CEO and Chief Engineer UAV Solutions Inc.

28

“While we remain committed to supporting our soldiers and commanders in this year of transition in Afghanistan, we are also aggressively and innovatively preparing our Army Intelligence Corps to support a globally engaged, regionally aligned Army.”

—Terry Mitchell

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Tactical ISR Technology Volume 4, Issue 1 • February 2014

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter Editorial Editor Chris McCoy chrism@kmimediagroup.com Managing Editor Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager Laura McNulty lauram@kmimediagroup.com Copy Editor Sean Carmichael seanc@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • Hank Hogan

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KMI Media Group Chief Executive Officer Jack Kerrigan jack@kmimediagroup.com Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Constance Kerrigan connik@kmimediagroup.com Editor-In-Chief Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com Controller Gigi Castro gcastro@kmimediagroup.com Trade Show Coordinator Holly Foster hollyf@kmimediagroup.com Receptionist Vania’ Jones vaniaj@kmimediagroup.com

Talk continues in the media about all matters Snowden, and the FAA has been receiving more press with regard to the eventual integration of UASs into domestic airspace. I for one don’t expect the FAA to integrate UASs in the nation’s airspace by 2015. This seems to be something of a common consensus within the defense media industry.

Several other noteworthy ISR events have transpired over the past two months.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently assessed the DoD Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Technology Report and made the following Chris McCoy conclusion: “Upon reviewing the report, we determined that the OPIR report was Editor comprehensive and appropriately identified its limitations. In particular, DoD, in consultation with the IC [intelligence community], provided a description of (1) the plan and budget for current and next generation OPIR systems and (2) OPIR technology requirements. The report elaborated on current cooperative efforts between the DoD and IC communities and identified potential future opportunities for further cooperation. Further details remain classified.”

The OPIR mission is supported by DoD and the intelligence community. The purpose of the mission is to make sure that missile threats are detected. Both the Space Based Infrared System and Defense Support Program satellites support the OPIR mission.

Another recent event was the change of leadership for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Aviation based at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Major General William “Tim” Crosby relinquished the charter to Brigadier General Bob Marion. Crosby had been kind enough to allow us at KMI Media Group to interview him multiple times over the course of his command. The Honorable Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, presided over the ceremony.

“We have marked changes of leadership with ceremonies to pay tribute to the outgoing leader and impress upon the new leader,” said Shyu. “He must build on the legacy of his predecessors’ achievements and lead his team through these turbulent times.”

While speaking with Crosby a few weeks prior to the change in command, I learned that he has full faith in Marion’s abilities as the PEO for Army Aviation.

As usual, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments for Tactical ISR Technology.

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letter to the editor

ALL INT Dear Editor, Hyperspectral imagers, as addressed in your last issue, have the potential to quickly identify the clothing of a soldier in the field, helping to determine whether the troops are friend or foe, according to work being done

by Brimrose Corporation. The ability to identify uniforms even in a natural habitat represents an important differentiator in war engagement. Ghillie suits often used in camouflage are made of either synthetic or natural materials. When SWIR or IR imaging is used, the uniform gives off a different signature from its surroundings. Synthetic ghillie suits have a much higher light absorption than the surrounding environment. Brimrose can also detect natural materials via the materials included in the clothing. In ghillie suits, for example, it can identify the jute, a natural vegetable fiber contained in the ghillie suit that is produced mainly in Bangladesh.

Uniform identification is but one new application of these amazing devices, which represent a core technology for Brimrose. Besides the identification of optical taggants to identify friendly troops or contraband and track it, which was addressed last issue, hyperspectral imagers can also locate glass in sniper weapons in the field.

They also have the potential to identify hazardous chemicals on-site during train wrecks or resulting from other spills, which can provide an important level of safety for first responders. They can also be deployed as an explosive precursor for the detection of homemade IEDs, such as a truckload of fertilizer that packs potassium nitrate.

Sincerely, Ronald Rosemeier, Ph.D. CEO, Brimrose Corporation

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Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

GPS III Space Vehicles Contract Modification Lockheed Martin Corp., Newton, Pa., has been awarded a $200,700,415 cost-plusincentive-fee modification (P00276) on an existing contract (FA8807-08-C-0010) for GPS III space vehicles 05 and 06. Work will be performed at Littleton. Colo., and Clifton, N.J., and is expected to be completed by December 14, 2017, for space vehicle 05 and June 14, 2018, for space vehicle 06. Fiscal 2013 missile procurement funds in the amount of $200,700,415 are being obligated at time of award.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Contracting Directorate, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity.

PEOPLE

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Signal Command (Theater), Fort Gordon, Ga.

Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea, Republic of Korea, has been assigned as director, intelligence, J-2, U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Brig. Gen. Malcolm B. Frost

Brigadier General Malcolm B. Frost, deputy director for operations, National Joint Operations Intelligence Center, Operations Team Four, J-3, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., has been assigned as the deputy commanding general, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. Brigadier General John W. Baker, director, J-6, U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., has been assigned as the commanding general, 7th

Brig. Gen. John B. Morrison Jr.

Brigadier General John B. Morrison Jr., commanding general, 7th Signal Command (Theater), Fort Gordon, Ga., has been assigned as the commanding general, U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

Brigadier General Steven R. Grove, deputy assistant chief of staff, C/J-2, United

Rear Adm. (lower half) DeWolfe H. Miller

Rear Admiral (lower half) DeWolfe H. Miller will be assigned as commander, Carrier Strike Group Two, Norfolk, Va. Miller is currently serving as director, ISR Capabilities, N2/N6F2, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.

TISR 4.1 | 3

Special Section

Focus to a Future Environment

An interview with Major General John N. T. Shanahan.

Major General John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan is the commander, Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Shanahan is responsible for providing multisource ISR products, applications, capabilities and resources, as well as cyber ISR forces and expertise. The Air Force ISR Agency includes the 70th and 480th ISR Wings; National Air and Space Intelligence Center; Air Force Technical Applications Center; 361st Special Operations Forces ISR Group; and all Air Force cryptologic operations.

In his position as Air Force ISR Agency commander, Shanahan also serves as the commander of the Service Cryptologic Component. In this capacity, he is responsible to the director, National Security Agency, and chief, Central Security Service, as the Air Force’s sole authority for matters involving the conduct of cryptologic activities, including the spectrum of missions directly related to both tactical warfighting and nationallevel operations. In addition, as the Air Force Geospatial Intelligence Element commander,

Shanahan facilitates Air Force GEOINT federation and integration into the National System for Geospatial Intelligence; orchestrates programmatic, policy and systemic requirements developed by the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at Headquarters U.S. Air Force; and organizes, trains, equips and presents Air Force GEOINT forces.

Shanahan received his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the University of Michigan. He has served in a variety of flying, staff and command assignments. His staff assignments include northeast Asia regional exercise branch chief in the Operations Directorate at Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command; senior military assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for international Security Affairs in the Office of the secretary of defense; and deputy director for Global Operations, Operations Directorate, Joint Staff. He has commanded the USAF Weapons School Support Division, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; 480th Intelligence Group, Langley Air Force

Base, Va.; 505th Command and Control Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; and the 55th Wing, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. Shanahan is a master navigator with more than 2,800 flying hours in the F-4D/E/G, F-15E and RC-135. He is authorized to wear the basic intelligence occupational badge.

Q: As the new commander of the Air Force ISR Agency, what are your priorities?

the ‘new’ commander of the Air Force ISR Agency!

This is a particularly interesting time for the agency. In addition to a major reorganization across the Air Force, which will result in major changes to our agency, the Air Force is undergoing a big force reduction

this year––we can expect to see somewhere around 25,000 people leave our service within the next year. When combined with the furloughs and government shutdown in 2013, that makes for a very challenging, turbulent period. To that end, my first priority is to take care of our superb team

A: Well, by the time this article is published I will have been in the seat for almost eight months, so it might be better to characterize my status as the ‘current’ rather than 4 | TISR 4.1

www.TISR-kmi.com

Special Section of military and civilian airmen and their families. Nothing happens across the ISR enterprise without the incredible people I am privileged to command every day.

To frame the rest of my priorities, I start with the three R’s––reducing, resetting and reconstituting our ISR enterprise.

We know we are going to get smaller as a result of smaller budgets and the ongoing force reductions; the question is how much, and where do we absorb the cuts. At the same time, we need to reset our force to reflect the end of sustained, large-scale operations in Afghanistan and begin to shift our focus to the future environment, an environment that will likely look much different than what we have seen over the past 15 years or so.

While we will sustain and improve those ISR capabilities and tactics, techniques and procedures that proved most successful in the past, we must plan for operations in a non-permissive, contested, degraded environment. That brings in the ‘reset and reconstitute’ components of the three R’s. This includes finding the time to train much more than we have been able to during this extended period of continuous wartime operations. My desired end state is a smaller, modernized, more capable, more agile Air Force ISR enterprise capable of conducting full-spectrum operations through crossdomain integration of Air Force, joint and coalition, national, theater and tactical ISR capabilities.

We also have to rebuild the kinds of core analytic and critical thinking, targeting and language skills that will be vital to success in the highly contested and/or denied access environments we expect in the future. Some of these skills atrophied over the past 15 years. We must transition from a target-based, inductive approach to ISR, which has typically centered on processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED), to a problem-based, deductive, active and anticipatory approach that focuses on ISR operations––represented by the term PCPAD (planning and direction, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and production, and dissemination).

One of my other top priorities is to ensure we have the information architecture in place that allows the rest of our ISR enterprise to operate effectively. In today’s world, we have to view the structure, flow and management of information as essential to success as any other component of the ISR enterprise. As part of this effort, we know we have to stay www.TISR-kmi.com

closely aligned with the Intelligence Community Information Technology Environment as well as the rest of DoD’s shift toward the Joint Information Enterprise––consolidating enclaves, building more defensible networks, moving to the secure cloud and creating an apps-based environment for our analysts. As part of this work, we also have to anticipate that our adversaries will do whatever they can to deny us access to our information architecture. Meaning that we still have a lot of work to do to build and sustain survivable, self-healing, agile and resilient networks.

Finally, we have to do a better job at integrating both kinetic and non-kinetic targeting, bringing cyber and space into the equation in new and creative ways so that we can give the joint force commander more options to achieve their desired effects.

Q: How have your previous commands influenced your leadership style?

A: In a way I could never have anticipated, the series of assignments I had over the past decade turned out to be ideal in terms of preparing me for the challenges associated with command of the ISR Agency: command of the 480th Intelligence Group, an assignment in OSD Policy, command of the 505th Command and Control Wing and the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, and most recently, two years on the Joint Staff––where ISR and cyber were major parts of my portfolio. All of these positions provided unique insights into various aspects of ISR and command and control, from the national to the strategic, operational and tactical levels. In terms of leadership style, I am a firm believer in commander’s intent and mission type orders: Tell people what to achieve, not how to achieve it. This requires devoting a lot of time to developing and establishing a strategic vision, allowing great latitude in terms of how to achieve that vision, and providing periodic guidance and feedback on meeting the organization’s goals and objectives. I also believe the element of trust is central to everything we do. Look at the most successful organizations around today; whether in industry or in the military, the very best organizations thrive when trust is a bedrock principle.

Finally, I am a big proponent of communication, coordination and collaboration.

Though I also appreciate very much that sometimes the greatest progress in any organization stems from early disagreements on ways and means—we don’t always have to

agree on methods, though I like to think we will always agree on the ultimate objective, or the ends.

Q: The topic of cyber warfare is becoming even more frequent in today’s media. We touched on this subject with the agency’s previous commander, Lieutenant General Robert Otto. Could you tell our readers about the Air Force ISR Agency’s current work in the cyber-realm?

A: This is a fascinating time in history when it comes to cyber. I agree with Peter Singer, a well-known cyber writer and denizen of the Twitterverse, who offers that we are in a period analogous to what we saw in the military around 1919 or so, the interwar period characterized on one hand by massive force and budget cuts, but by innovation and experimentation on the other. It was a rich period in terms of developing new operating concepts, platforms and tactics. This analogy is even more apt when it comes to cyberspace today. I expect we will look back a decade from now and realize how much we got wrong in cyberspace in these early days! Without the benefit of 20/20 foresight, however, I am doing everything I can to best posture the ISR Agency to reflect this rapidly evolving cyber environment. I would guess that very few people outside the ISR Agency understand just how much ISR and cyber are inextricably linked. I submit that the ‘DNA’ of cyber can be traced in a very direct line all the way back to the Air Force Security Service, our progenitor.

Now, I want to make it clear that I am referring mostly to cyberspace network exploitation or ISR in cyberspace, not defensive network operations or offensive cyber-operations. For ISR in cyberspace the concepts will be familiar to intelligence professionals anywhere: To gather intelligence in any domain, you need to gain and maintain access to the source of information, and you need analysts and linguists to turn the information you gather into actionable intelligence. It is no different in cyberspace. It’s just that the tools and methods reflect the cyber era rather than high frequency radars or other forms of traditional signals intelligence. Many ISR Agency airmen are involved in these kinds of operations today. And in terms of defending networks or conducting cyber-attacks, ISR in cyberspace will be enormously beneficial in setting the stage for follow-on activities.

TISR 4.1 | 5

Special Section We work very closely with our cyber counterparts––the tremendous airmen of the 24th Air Force, our Air Force’s cyber force led by Major General Kevin McLaughlin. In fact, if your readers are familiar with the new cyber national mission teams, combat mission teams, and cyber support teams standing up across the DoD over the next three years, the success of the Air Force teams will depend to a large extent on the close partnership between the 24th Air Force and the ISR Agency.

Finally, we are working with a number of people and organizations on how to be better prepared to fight through and in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). Whether labeled cyber-electronic warfare convergence, joint EMS operations or EMS battle management, the point is that we are beginning to see once-distinct lines blur more and more across the EMS. How we manage this integration, across all domains and from space to underwater, will be crucial to future success across the range of military operations.

I am intensely interested in ensuring the ISR Agency is well postured for electronic warfare, information operations and ISR-cyber integration.

Q: Are there any new special Air Force ISR Agency programs or initiatives that you could discuss?

A: Only those that won’t get me in trouble!

As you say, due to the nature of the profession we are rarely able to talk much about future capabilities. We are experiencing too much publicity on the way we do business as it is; for instance, in my personal opinion we are going to suffer irreparable damage to our national security as a result of the past and expected future Snowden leaks.

As you might expect, the Air Force is working on low observable, penetrating capabilities that allow us to operate in a heavy electronic countermeasures environment and in cyberspace. Our adversaries and potential adversaries have been watching us carefully. They understand the futility of a symmetric fight against us. We know they are developing, or have developed, a variety of capabilities to degrade or even erase our technological advantages. This applies as much to ISR as to anything else. For that reason, we need the ability to operate in a degraded environment and, equally importantly, to be agile in every aspect of our operations.

I also foresee the need for low-observable, 6 | TISR 4.1

penetrating, expendable ISR capabilities––a ‘swarm’ of sensors can continue to transmit multi-discipline intelligence for as long as they survive, for example.

We are rapidly approaching the point where every platform and every person becomes a sensor. This includes fifth-generation fighters such as the F-35 and F-22, the yet-to-be-developed long-range bomber, and even every soldier on the battlefield.

There are different terms for how we deal with the PED for these less-traditional sensors, such as ops recce, non-traditional ISR, or enhanced battlespace awareness, but the concept is the same: We need to figure out how to move information from that person, platform or sensor to an analyst to perform either time-dominant or content-dominant exploitation. And then we have to get that intelligence to a variety of customers, from the warfighter to the president’s daily briefing, and everything else in between—sometimes in a matter of minutes or even seconds, sometimes in days, weeks or, when it comes to foundational intelligence, months.

Our objective is to be a platform- and sensor-agnostic ISR enterprise, which means moving faster toward a service-oriented architecture and a more user-friendly, appsbased environment for our analysts.

I mentioned earlier the imperative to move toward a 21st-century information architecture; the ISR enterprise depends extensively on our ability to collapse thousands of network enclaves and move to a secure, resilient, deployable, multi-level secure architecture. And when it comes to ISR, we do not only have a ‘big data’ problem, we also have a ‘large data’ challenge associated with the staggering size of the data associated with the newer intelligence disciplines such as hyper-spectral intelligence. For large data, we need to invest in storage solutions off of the cloud that do not break the bank while allowing rapid, secure access to multiINT data and information.

Finally, we need to do a better job of presenting Air Force ISR capabilities to the air component and joint force commanders. Part of the problem in the past has been that the aircraft (the ‘iron’) and the PED have been in separate organizations. During my time on the Joint Staff it was clear that few people truly understand the panoply of ISR capabilities––all the way from collection management, to allocating RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft or PED across the globe. One of my priorities is to come up with a better

way of presenting our ISR forces to be more effective and efficient.

Q: Does the Air Force ISR Agency intend to play a greater role in future war games like Red Flag 14.1? Is there anything currently on the horizon?

A: Unquestionably. If you accept the premise that you will fight like you trained, you need to train like you plan to fight. To train properly, we have to rely on a combination of live, virtual and constructive (LVC) exercises over the next few years. Unfortunately, a shrinking budget is making it harder and harder to put together the massive Red Flag and Green Flag exercises some of us remember from our early days in the Air Force.

To make up for the difference, we will turn to other LVC venues, such as Virtual Flag, Blue Flag and Cyber Flag, as well as other joint and coalition exercises to train for full-spectrum operations. The good news is that Red Flag 14-1, offered the most realistic ISR and cyber play in many years.

We are dedicated to eliminating as much ‘white carding’ as humanly possible (white carding is when a desired objective or effect is achieved simply by producing a piece of paper that says so, rather than allowing real platforms, sensors and people to react in real time to a given situation).

Likewise, our Air Force ISR forces will not serve primarily as training aids for the rest of the Red Flag audience. Instead, our ISR airmen will be training along with everyone else. This represents the crucial ‘reset and reconstitute’ component of the three R’s. We must make this kind of realistic ISR/ cyber participation an integral part of all future Nellis-based exercises.

Q: In this time of fiscal constraint, how is the Air Force ISR Agency weathering the storm while maintaining its ISR capabilities?

A: It’s no surprise that the entire military is in one of those challenging yet predictable periods in history where budgets and forces enter a relatively steep decline. Our Air Force ISR Agency is no different. Because of the importance of ISR to global operations today, in general we have maintained a healthy capability and capacity over the past few years. That is going to change, which means we have to make hard decisions, risk-based decisions, about what we keep, what we www.TISR-kmi.com

Special Section cut, how we cut and where to invest for the future. We’re in the middle of those discussions right now.

If I go back to the 1919 analogy, it’s entirely possible that we won’t always get it right, because we don’t have a crystal ball.

Yet by ensuring we continue to allow investment in R&D, innovation, experimentation and rapid fielding of new capabilities, we can significantly reduce the risk to both mission and force. We have to move away from our industrial-age processes and weapons systems––today’s information environment demands nothing else.

We also have to work closer with the other services, our coalition partners, industry and even non-governmental organizations to take advantage of each other’s capabilities while slashing redundancies. For instance, I am extremely pleased with the partnership I have with Major General Steve Fogarty, commander of the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command. General Fogarty is blazing new trails in Army ISR, and we have developed short- and long-term plans to better integrate our respective service ISR capabilities. Also, we know we are not as efficient as we should be in terms of integrating existing capabilities; the remarkable amount of airborne ISR sent to Afghanistan over the past five years, for example, led to inefficient integration of overhead ISR––from lack of integrated collection management to redundant collection and PED. This is something we all acknowledge needs to be fixed.

Q: Many of the commanders we interview for this magazine discuss the reallocation of ISR assets due to the winding down of Operation Enduring Freedom and the renewed emphasis on the Pacific region.

What is the Air Force ISR Agency doing to position itself for this reorientation?

A: This is not a simple question to answer.

Many of the ISR capabilities developed and fielded rapidly for Afghanistan are not ‘programs of record.’ In other words, there will not be sustained funding for many of these systems. Additionally, many of the platforms and sensors were optimized for a permissive environment. With few exceptions, they will not be survivable or particularly effective in a contested, degraded environment. Every combatant commander wants more ISR; in fact, there is not enough ISR in the world to meet their requirements. ISR is truly foundational to almost every COCOM mission set. www.TISR-kmi.com

A tactical systems operator or combat systems operator sits in a MC-12 aircraft. These ISR airmen accompany special operations missions to provide to the minute intelligence to SOCOM teams. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force ISR Agency]

So once again there will be hard risk-based decisions to make regarding what ISR goes where.

For a while over 95 percent of all available Air Force ISR was allocated to Central Command. That is a staggering number. As a result of this imbalance, all of the other combatant commands assumed real risks in terms of what we call Phase 0 operations, or shaping the environment. There is no question that we need to put more ISR into the Pacific theater. Yet we have to be smarter about it. There is never going to be enough to go around, especially of the high-end penetrating capabilities. So back to what I said earlier: We must do a much better job at integrating multi-INT capabilities in every domain, from space to sub-surface.

For this reason I like to use the term ‘ISR ecosystem’ when considering where we need to be 10 years from now. This demands open architectures, plug-and-play capabilities, an apps-based analytic environment and a survivable, resilient network. At the same time, we need to go back to basics to resurrect and sustain those core analytic, targeting and language skills that atrophied over the past decade.

Another challenge deals with both large and big data: We are not going to have the time or the people to deal with the enormous volume of data that is going to be a fact of life from now on. All of the broad-area sensors, persistent stare, high definition and hyper/ multi-spectral systems—and others yet to be fielded––present us with a data problem

beyond anything previously experienced.

NSA has done incredible work tackling this problem in terms of signals intelligence.

As complicated as it has been for them to build the SIGINT haystack, it’s an order of magnitude more complex to do this for every other intelligence discipline. DIA, NGA and NRO are right there with NSA as we all try to tackle this next wicked problem. We need to find ways to automate, wherever and whenever feasible, elements of the processing and the exploitation parts of the PCPAD equation.

It will never be a matter of taking the human entirely out of the loop; instead, it’s a matter of giving time back to the analysts to allow them to focus on the really hard problems.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to discuss?

A: I talked a lot about technology. I want to close by talking about people. War and warfare are inherently people-centered activities.

As much as we need to focus on finding and fielding technological solutions to myriad complex ISR problems over the next 15 years, we must invest even more in our human resources: all of the outstanding airmen of the ISR enterprise who turn ideas into action. O

For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

TISR 4.1 | 7

UAV Night Vision

The story of how the unmanned own the night.

By Peter Buxbaum TISR Correspondent

Electro-optical sensors—similar to the kind used in commercial The United States Army has a long heritage of equipping digital cameras—allow warfighters to discern threats in lighted and unmanned aerial vehicles with night vision capabilities. As early as low-light situations. Infrared sensors pick up the heat profile emitted the mid-1990s, with the introduction of the Hunter, Army UAVs have from the objects being viewed and display images without the aid of been carrying night vision equipment. any light at all. The purpose of both of these capabilities is to be able The reason is simple: With the perfection of night vision technolto find potential threats, identify them and provide information for ogy, the U.S. military is able to own the night against lesser-equipped follow-up action. adversaries. Together with other equipment such as night vision gogThe different-size UAVs carry different types of night vision paygles for grounds troops, the infrared and other night vision sensors loads, each of which is associated with a distinct type of mission. Infraloaded unto unmanned systems provides a key advantages against red payloads riding on small UAVs generally operate in less-prepared foes. the long-wave infrared range of 7.5 to 10.5 microns.

“Army unmanned aerial systems are intensely tactiThose sensors are best at penetrating obscurants such cal in nature,” said Lars Ericsson, director of the UAS as smoke and clouds. Midsize UAVs usually deploy Technology Management Directorate and program manmiddle wave infrared sensors that operate in the 3.3 ager, unmanned aircraft systems at Redstone Arsenal, to 5.1 micron range and are best under conditions of Ala. “They are organic to the Army’s formations and are complete darkness when there is a good temperature directly in support of their scheme of maneuver.” contrast between the target and its background. Short “Today’s payloads must have an infrared sensor to wave infrared, in the 0.9 to 1.7 micron range are best support night operations,” said James Dotan, chief execfor penetrating haze and operating under low-light utive officer of Controp USA Inc. “They are mandatory.” conditions at dusk and dawn.

The capabilities of night vision sensors have improved “The most capable electro-optical/infrared senin recent years, noted Johan Hansson, vice president for Lars Ericsson sors we have acquired have been deployed on the marketing and sales at Saab North America. “Higher Gray Eagle,” said Ericsson. “Raytheon’s Multispectral resolution capabilities are more limited than the day Targeting System has electro-optical day TV and ultracameras, but the performance of the infrared cameras wide day TV cameras and the full gamut of laser range is improving,” he said. “The result is that there are no finders and designators.” light restrictions for when UAVs can operate. Tactically “The Multispectral Targeting System (MTS) is a the night may be the best time for them to operate.” The turret-based EO/IR sensor that is found on a large Saab Group produces the Skeldar, a small rotary-wing number of UAVs and manned platforms,” said Tim unmanned aircraft.

Cronin, director of strategy and business development One of the keys to the success of UAVs’ night vision at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. “We have capabilities in recent years has been the move toward sold around 2,000 of those systems over the last 10 digital equipment and the related implementation of years and most of them have gone onto UAVs. In addiimagery and video interoperability standards. “This Johan Hansson tion to the Army’s Gray Eagle, the systems have also enables us to use equipment from different companies been provided to the Air Force’s Predator and Reaper UAVs.” as part of the same system,” said Ericsson.

The key feature of the MTS, as its name suggests, is the presence The Army’s program manager for unmanned aircraft systems of several different sensors that can provide different layers of capabiliis the acquisition agent for Army UAVs and procures three primary ties. “MTS typically is equipped with an electro-optical day camera and systems for the Army: the Raven small UAV, which is issued at the multiple infrared cameras,” said Cronin. “The principal infrared camcompany level; the midsized Shadow, which is issued at the brigade era is the midwave, but sometimes long wave, short wave, and nearlevel; and the larger Gray Eagle, which is a division asset. The Raven, infrared spectral range cameras are also included.” MTS is produced manufactured by AeroVironment, is a 4-pound system with a 5-foot in around 25 unique configurations that align with the requirements wingspan. AAI Corp.’s Shadow 200, which has a gross takeoff weight of the 35 platforms on which the system is integrated. of 400 pounds, cruises at 15,000 feet and can see targets up to 125 The MTS comes in two sizes, depending on the payload capacity of kilometers away from a tactical operations center. The 3,200-pound the platform it is being mounted on. MTS configurations allow users a Gray Eagle, a hunter/killer UAV, is produced by General Atomics and is selection of at least three, and as many as, six different sensors. capable of firing Hellfire missiles.

The Army’s Shadow is equipped with the Plug-in Optronic Payload “All of these include electro-optical and infrared payloads,” said (POP) 300, an observation, surveillance and targeting system from Ericsson. “That is the starting point for all modern UASs.” 8 | TISR 4.1

www.TISR-kmi.com

Tamam, a division of Israel Aircraft Industries. The POP 300 represents a family of devices that come in several configurations, all of which include a color electro-optical camera with near infrared capability, a thermal imager and a laser pointer. Laser rangefinders and designators, compatible with laser-guided munitions such as the Hellfire missile, are optional.

“We have laser designators equipped in half of our systems,” said Ericsson. “This was a cost-of-acquisition tradeoff that we made.” Raytheon’s MTS also has laser rangefinder and designator capabilities.

Rangefinders and designators allow for cueing capabilities among different sensors on different platforms. “Cueing is the capability to use indications of interest or a target from one sensor or source of information to provide an indication of where to focus the operation of another sensor,” Ericsson explained. “For narrow field-of-view sensors, such as high resolution EO/IR, cueing based on other sensors or other sources of intelligence is crucial to time-effective utility.”

Important to this cross-application of sensors, designators and rangefinders are the interoperability standards set forth for these types of systems by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Two of these standards, the Motion Imagery Standards Profile and the Unmanned System Interoperability Profile, outline how data is to be formatted and handled and what metadata is to be included with it.

Tim Cronin “These standards allow video and metadata to be consumed by a huge range of DoD systems, both by direct receipt from a platform and over tactical networks all the way back to the U.S.,” said Ericsson. “It is not unusual for processing of the data to be done in the U.S. to reduce the forward footprint.”

Both the Raven and Gray Eagle platforms currently meet NGA standards. An upgrade to these standards for the Shadow is scheduled to be tested later this year.

“We expect a formal fielding decision in early fall,” said Ericsson. “Then we plan on fielding two upgraded Shadows per month until all the 102 Army Shadows and the 13 Marine Corps Shadows are upgraded.”

A number of recent developments, not least of which are improvements to the sensor packages themselves and the specialized lenses they employ, have contributed to the enhanced benefits that have been derived from UAV ISR systems in recent conflicts. New England Optical Systems designs assemblies that are integrated into UAVs based on very specific design requirements.

“UAVs typically require lightweight design options,” said Greg Fitzgerald, the company’s chief technical officer. “The specifics of the application have an impact on design approaches. Over the years we have used tried and true materials such as germanium. As customers want more capabilities in smaller and lighter packages we have experimented with composite materials that can also be used in conjunction with standard housing material such as aluminum. These drive down weight and enhance thermalization,” the ability of the equipment to operate in wide temperature ranges.

NEOS interfaces directly with its military and law enforcement customers to tailor the sensor assemblies to the mission and platform specifications involved. “The night vision payloads we deal with typically involve long-wave infrared cameras,” said Fitzgerald. www.TISR-kmi.com

“We produce a full range of UAV payloads for day and night surveillance, from small systems and up to the largest,” said Controp’s Dotan.

“They range in size from 2 pounds to 60 pounds.”

Controp designs and produces both the cameras and the gimbals, or pivots, on which they are installed. One of the key features of these products is a continuous zoom. Controp’s assemblies have day and night cameras sitting side by side so that they need not be swapped out for different missions. “Operators can switch from one to another during the course of a mission,” said Dotan. “There is also an option to have them both working at the same time. It depends on what the UAV manufacturer wants to do, what the mission requirements are, and having sufficient bandwidth to make that happen.”

Aeryon Labs Inc. introduced an unmanned aerial vehicle called the Scout to the commercial market in 2009 and built upon that to inaugurate the Skyranger platform in May 2013. The scout featured hot-swappable EO and infrared cameras, a capability which was maintained in the Skyranger, with the addition that multiple cameras could be integrated into a single payload on the latter platform. Hot-swappable refers to being able to pull out and deploy cameras quickly and easily.

“The electro-optical camera on the Skyranger vehicle produces high resolution video and also includes a forward-looking infrared sensor within the same payload,” said Ian McDonald, Ian McDonald the company’s vice president for product marketing. “A ground operator viewing the video stream can tune into either the day or the IR camera on a touch screen tablet computer. The video can also be broadcast to a command center or to other users as well.”

The Aeryon systems are deployed with several international militaries, the details of which cannot be disclosed. The systems have been used for ISR as well as for convoy, perimeter and personnel protection.

It has been publicly disclosed that Libyan rebels used Aeryon systems in their tactical advance on Tripoli in 2011.

Saab North America’s Skeldar, can carry as much payload as a fixed wing UAV of the same size. The Skeldar has been deployed with the Spanish navy.

“We don’t see really high resolution imagery coming from the infrared cameras,” said Hansson. “But what we are getting is very usable. Thermal imaging sensors allow the vehicle to operate at night, which makes it a very stealthy system. The real challenge is getting the right data links to transmit the video. In that arena, nighttime operations are a little easier since the resolution requirements for infrared imagery are lower and require less bandwidth.”

The Army continues to innovate to provide warfighters with more and better night vision capabilities. Night vision is not limited to infrared and thermal imaging sensors but can also include sensors such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which has the ability to range over targets and provide two-dimensional images in the absence of light.

“The enormous progress in tactical SAR is one of key areas of massive growth coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Ericsson. O

For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

TISR 4.1 | 9

The threat of IEDs is not limited to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Karen E. Thuermer TISR Correspondent Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been a focal point of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq during the last decade. Sad to say, however, the use of IEDs is not exclusive to those countries or the region—it’s a global threat. In fact, more than 1,000 IED-related events occur outside of Afghanistan each month.

While the number and variety of counter-IED (CIED) solutions are being brought into service at an expanding rate, the threats continue to be varied and complex.

“This threat is not just about the devices, but also the networks,” commented David W. Small, chief, Communications Branch, Strategic Communications Division, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). “Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations are moving into Africa and other hotspots around the globe.”

Add to this the fact that tactics, techniques and procedures are migrating between regions and proliferating as well. “Across the board we’re seeing an increase in cooperation––the sharing of funds, training and explosive materials,” Small said.

JIEDDO has been at the forefront of the counter-IED fight by funding, developing and delivering technologies and solutions aimed at saving lives and thwarting dangers posed by IEDs for nearly a decade. But as Small pointed out, there is no single solution to defeat this threat.

“We need to integrate a range of efforts––supported by a collaborative whole-of-governments approach to detect and neutralize threat networks and devices,” he said. “We rely on solutions to immediate IED threats from a variety of sources—industry, academia and national labs—and we encourage proactive teaming among these institutions to address defeating the IED.”

Industry Pushes the Boundaries Defense contractors play an important role in developing technologies to counter IEDs, particularly given the fact that one of the 10 | TISR 4.1

largest challenges facing this problem is their sheer numbers.

“IEDs are relatively cheap to make and emplace, and they can have a significant impact on overseas contingency operations,” commented Wes Green, program director, BAE Systems. “In turn, ISR technology, while growing vastly over the past 12 years, is still struggling to keep pace with the demand from users.”

To help overcome this challenge, BAE Systems is continually working to develop cost-effective systems and tools that are plug and play with current ISR platforms in an effort to widen the audience its systems support.

“In addition, we are constantly working to push the boundaries of sensor imaging and processing in order to meet demand for intelligence products to defeat this persistent threat,” he said.

According to Green, BAE Systems began seeing changes in ISR technology about three years ago with the introduction of more advanced radar and imaging systems to help defeat IED networks at the tactical level.

“That is to say, using ISR to go after the materials as part of the network, not just the actors who were responsible for emplacing these devices,” Green commented. “As these technologies have matured, their promulgation on the battlefield has stepped up along with proving their worth.”

Green sees these technologies as being especially important in that they give commanders additional ISR data beyond traditional www.TISR-kmi.com

“Speed of deployment––not necessarily speed getting to the imagery, i.e., full motion video, in order to more effectively see IEDs IED, but speed getting the equipment ready to use at the site, is prior to their detonation. becoming more important,” Ivers emphasized. “Standoff distance Today, BAE Systems delivers multiple suites of technology has always been, and remains, a critical factor.” across the tactical ISR industry in order to disrupt IED networks.

RoboteX has been working on each of these areas.

“We see insurgent IED networks as needing a solutions-based “Making a robot light enough to carry in a backpack was a approach in order to defeat them versus solely a technological preliminary goal we met before introducing our first product a few approach,” Green added. years ago,” Ivers explained.

Consequently, BAE Systems is deeply involved in sensor techThe company continues to reduce set up and deployment time, nology for radar and advanced imaging sensors in an effort to see since many of these situations are time sensitive.

IEDs in new ways.

“We have just released a repeater system that allows standoff dis“This provides battlefield commanders with critical tools to tance to be multiplied by the number of repeaters used,” he added. more fully see how IED networks are evolving their tactics,” Green “We have developed an initiator that can be used with a recoilless said. disruptor, both mounted on the robot.”

Outside of sensor technology, BAE Systems has developed, Ivers explained that when an EOD team is deployed, they usually fielded and is currently training advanced analytics tools, such as have the choice of several robotic systems. Some are large, heavy activity-based intelligence. and expensive.

“These toolsets are being used by the intelligence community “Our robot is small and very portable (under 45 pounds, to help analysts quickly and effectively sort through the increasing equipped with a five axis arm),” he said. “When a volumes of ISR data and extract the critical pieces suspected IED is discovered, our robot is usually of intelligence in order to speed up the timelines of deployed first, since it can be easily carried by one intelligence reporting,” Green said. man with a backpack and can be up and running in Lastly, BAE Systems has a significant tactiabout four minutes.” cal ISR and analysis footprint deployed overseas If the suspected IED is actually something harmengaged in defeating IEDs. “The analysis teams are less, that can be determined in a matter of minutes critical in supplying real-time intelligence support without having to haul out the heavier and slower to our warfighters to disrupt IED networks,” he said. to set up robots. If it is determined that the object is Patrick McGlynn, program manager, BAE Syslikely explosive, it can be dealt with on the spot with tems, contends that among the latest trends in the Avatar system. counter-IED technologies is wide area persistent Wes Green “If there is something that requires a bigger robot surveillance (WAPS). He sees this as the most recent that can lift more weight, one can be called up,” Ivers and effective ISR trend being used to counter IEDs on explained. “But in over 90 percent of cases so far, the the battlefield today.

Avatar alone has handled the situation.”

“It is superior to traditional ISR systems, which The Avatar’s arms can open car and truck doors, previously either observed large areas without the open the back bays of trucks and open doors to buildability to provide detailed resolution of a particular ings. If desired, it can usually pick up the IED and target or provided high resolution views of spemove it. With the percussion actuated non-electric cific targets––the so-called ‘soda straw’ perspective,” disruptor mounted, it can also be used to disable the McGlynn said. “WAPS has proven its worth in both device. Lighter and quicker is often an advantage.

Iraq and Afghanistan, where the enemy seeks to “Lower cost can be important as well, if the device blend into the local population.” does explode,” he added.

Going forward, Green expects that over the next Patrick McGlynn Given that IED technology is mostly unpredictfive years this technology will continue to grow in able, Ivers emphasized that counter technology must numbers. “But I also see the technology maturbe adaptive. “Triggering devices change all of the ing more into smaller tactical ISR sensors/systems time, so we must be prepared to deal with those that can be placed into the hands of more troops changes as they happen,” he said. in dispersed locations,” he added. “Whereas before Ivers expects IEDs will become more powerful these troops––at the company or platoon level––may and lighter weight devices. Consequently, standoff have only access to still images or full motion video distance becomes more important, as does detection from handheld UAVs, the day is coming where more capability. advanced sensor technology and processing power will be available to tactical users at the forward edges of the battlefield.”

Fusion of Multifunctional Capabilities

Mobile, Recoilless Disruptors

Eric Ivers

RoboteX Inc.’s involvement in CIED technologies focuses on mobile, recoilless disruptors. Eric Ivers, RoboteX president, contends that this technology, along with portability of CIED equipment, is one of the latest important trends. www.TISR-kmi.com

Executives at Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) contend that the most significant trend in CIED technologies is the increasing fusion of multifunctional capabilities into a system of systems that gives the warfighter the protection and the real-time information he or she needs at the critical time and place in the battlespace.

eric@robotex.com

TISR 4.1 | 11

“This fusion of capabilities will be enabled by robust networkcentric systems that share common contextual databases and processes,” reported Paul Plemmons, corporate vice president, SNC’s Electronic Warfare/Range.

Examples of this trend will include the fusion of CIED and Electromagnetic Environment (EME) information both locally and across distributed networks to ensure first and foremost that the warfighter possesses the latest effective electronic countermeasures (ECM) information and secondly that he or she has timely and accurate situational awareness and early warning of where IED threats are likely to occur or have already been detected.

“Additionally, networked CIED technologies, such as jammers and ISR platforms will be deployed throughout the battlespace will act as distributed sensors,” Plemmons added. These sensors and systems will provide real-time mapping of the electromagnetic spectrum to electronic warfare officers using advanced planning and battle management tools.

“These tools will enable the commander and staff to continuously monitor and dominate the CIED fight by first arraying CIED assets during planning to best support the maneuver plan and then, during the execution of operations, by providing timely updated threat information to distributed CIED elements,” he said.

Near real-time EME and CIED battlespace information will also be fused with archived spectral and forensic CIED data. This will then be shared across the network, supporting data fusion and analyses that will result in improved situational awareness and effective CIED operations, including continuous attacks on enemy IED networks.

In order to realize multifunctional EW capabilities, SNC is leveraging the trend toward increased modularity and open architectures that will increase spectrum coverage. “The use of standard but flexible reprogrammable system modules linked by standard data buses and military networks will enable industry to innovate and stay current and ahead of constantly evolving threats, without the need to totally redesign the CIED system,” Plemmons remarked. “Modularity will also simplify training, software upgrades and logistics support.”

Another important trend Plemmons reports SNC seeing is an increased effort to reduce the size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements of future radio controlled IED (RCIED) technologies.

“Significant SWaP reductions will be achieved by using advanced materials, adopting state-of-the-art electronics and radiofrequency (RF) components, and implementing more efficient EW techniques,” he said. Modularity will contribute to SWaP reduction by enabling rapid system reconfiguration based on interchangeable modules to address different mission needs. As a result of lower SWaP, future RCIED technologies will be more efficient and cost effective, thus reducing demands on the logistics systems while increasing operational reliability and availability and reducing total life cycle costs.

“As future CIED systems and technology improve, we anticipate a trend toward the integration of additional EW capabilities,” Plemmons added.

Plemmons sees these trends as important because they will provide the right CIED tools and technologies for countering any IEDs warfighters will likely encounter during future worldwide operations.

“As we move toward the future of 21st-century warfare, we can expect to see the proliferation of new radio technologies and more sophisticated IEDs,” Plemmons observed. “Over the past 12 years, our adversaries have learned that the IED is a proven and strategic weapon of choice. We will likely see increased usage of IEDs against 12 | TISR 4.1

the U.S. and its allies by potential nation-state adversaries and peer competitors.”

He sees the trends toward increased modularity and open architectures as important. According to Plemmons, they will enable the rapid development and implementation of new/improved advanced capabilities to counter increasingly sophisticated technologies. These trends will enable future CIED systems to detect and distinguish between weaponized threat signals and benign, non-malicious communications.

“These trends are important because we will be capable of integrating new capabilities into future ECM solutions easily and affordably without having to field a new system as often,” he said.

SNC is developing a number of advanced technologies to counter current and future IED threats. SNC has developed and fielded a full suite of counter RCIED systems, such as the Navy’s Joint Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronics Warfare 3.1 man portable Counter Radio Electronic Warfare (CREW) system and more recently the lightweight Individual CREW system, Baldr, for the U.S. Army, as well as vehicle and platform mounted versions.

“A good case study on how SNC develops and deploys CIED technologies is the U.S. Army Baldr system,” Plemmons pointed out.

In the four months beginning in May 2012, SNC leveraged new technology, materials and approaches to rapidly adapt previously fielded and proven counter-IED technology into the lightweight Baldr system.

“This successful rapid development effort was necessary to meet an urgent Army requirement to provide smaller and lighter but highly effective CIED protection for individual dismounted soldiers,” he said.

SNC delivered production ready units for testing in August 2012, and in October 2012 the U.S. Army Contracting Command awarded SNC a production contract for over 3,000 Baldr systems. The Baldr systems were delivered on schedule in May 2013 and are deployed in operations today.

According to JIEDDO, the top 10 countries with IED events and casualties (outside of current operations in Afghanistan) between November 2012 and October 2013 are: Country

IED Events

Casualties

Iraq:

6,501

20,423

Colombia:

1,947

727

Pakistan:

1,433

7,110

India:

778

874

Syria:

601

3,335

Somalia:

426

1,498

United States:

379

288

Bangladesh:

358

249

Thailand:

330

1,082

Russia:

274

321

From November 2012 to October 2013, nearly 15,000 IED events and more than 40,000 casualties outside of Afghanistan occurred. The data lags by two months for global stats. www.TISR-kmi.com

As the IED threats grow in complexity and variety, Plemmons maintains that the technology required to counter them has to become increasingly more capable and as a result more complex.

“This increases the cost and complexity of future ECM systems,” he said. “If the trends we reviewed above are to be realized, future CIED technologies will require significant advances in technology, which will in turn require significant investments.”

According to Plemmons, these developments create one of the biggest challenges being faced today—affordability. “The challenge is how we cost-effectively provide advanced yet flexible and upgradeable CIED technologies at a life cycle cost our customers can afford.” he said.

Plemmons contends that one way to increase affordability is to increase the flexibility of systems configuration through modularity and open architectures. “Modularity allows modules to be easily swapped in and out and reconfigured for software and firmware upgrades,” he said. “These upgrades enable the system to keep pace with new and emerging threats and facilitate the use of new more capable solutions. Modularity also supports integration of new capabilities, as mentioned above.”

With the rate of change in electronics design, Plemmons regards this is an extremely important feature. “Modularity and open architectures should reduce the expense of costly future upgrades, thereby reducing total life cycle costs,” he added. “Additionally, as we cited above, SWaP reductions decrease logistics requirements and reduce total cycle costs.”

So where does Plemmons see CIED technology heading in the future? He maintains that future CIED solutions will be smaller and lighter with increased density of electronic packaging and use of modular and common components. “These solutions may integrate additional functionalities,” he said. “We can anticipate the improved employment of CIED capabilities through the use of advanced EW planning and management tools.”

Special operations forces electronic warfare soldiers install equipment in a vehicle that will help defend servicemembers against remote-controlled improvised explosive devices. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/by Sergeant Cameron Christensen]

RCIED Jammers are a Must Have

Airbus Defence and Space is developing RCIED jammers in a variety of versions ranging from small-scale units protecting individual vehicles or personnel to convoy protection units.

Airbus Defence and Space, a merger of Cassidian, “We are developing technologies to drive the trends Astrium and Airbus Military as of January 1, speciallisted above,” Piontek said. “Counter-IED equipment izes in RCIED jamming. Hubert Piontek, Ph.D., prodis a must-have, ranging from metal detectors to uct manager for jamming systems at Airbus Defence RCIED jammers. It is required both for military users, and Space, claimed that RCIED jammers have become as well as for law-enforcement and even NGO peacemust-have equipment. keeping missions. Thus, it needs to be widely available Piontek observes a trend toward using RCIED to legitimate customers.” jammers as sensors to achieve awareness of the RF For now, a price war is ongoing for these techspectrum usage across the complete operational nologies. Piontek stressed that while this might seem theater. favorable for customers, a lot of cheap, low-quality “Ultimately, this leads to cross-over jamming equipment is flooding the market. “This puts lives systems that complement traditional large, highHubert Piontek, Ph.D. at risk and also inhibits further development,” he powered tactical jamming systems by stand-in units remarked. that can dynamically operate in either counter-RCIED Going forward, executives at Airbus Defence and Space see a mode or in tactical communications jamming mode and provide convergence of counter-IED technologies with other technologies valuable distributed ES capability,” he said. (e.g., high powered electromagnetics with RCIED jamming) into In addition, Piontek observed that RCIED jammers are being multi-role equipment that will help and ease fast deployment. O used for interoperability in terms of co-existence. In other words, when different jammers meet, they must still be able to provide adequate protection. They are also being used for interoperability For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at in terms of information sharing. In addition, there’s a trend toward chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related self-adapting jammers that automatically incorporate knowledge stories at www.tisr-kmi.com. gathered during missions to optimize their effectiveness. www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 4.1 | 13

ISR KIT New UAV Integration with Naval Combat Systems Following sea trials conducted from December 9-13, 2013, as part of the Serval1 UAS program, the French defense procurement agency (DGA) and DCNS have validated the functional integration of an unmanned air vehicle with the combat system of a warship.

Launching and recovering a UAV from a warship presents many complex challenges. The successful physical and functional integration of a tactical vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV on board a surface combatant by DCNS, with no impact on flight safety, represents a major breakthrough for naval air forces.

Following sea trials on board the L’Adroit Gowind-class offshore patrol vessel, the DGA, the French Navy and DCNS validated all functional blocks between DCNS’s Polaris combat system and the Camcopter S100 VTOL UAV developed by Schiebel of Austria. Based on the results of the trials, the DGA has issued DCNS with a permit to fly for the Camcopter S100.

The tests were designed to evaluate the performance of the DIOD-A module, developed by DCNS and integrated on this occasion with the Polaris combat system, for managing UAV payload data (from electrooptical sensors in this case) in real time. A further aim was to demonstrate that the interface between the UAS and the ship’s combat system has no impact on flight safety.

The DIOD-A module met all DGA requirements and now promises to deliver significant operational benefits to French Navy staff in charge of operating the combat management system and the VTOL UAV. The tests were the first of their kind in Europe and the successful outcome is attributable in large part to effective collaboration between government technical services, DCNS and its Austrian partner Schiebel.

Full integration of UAV data into the combat management system and the operational integration of the UAV operator into the CIC (combat information centre) turn the UAV into a “telescopic arm” of the ship, extending its operational capabilities by providing real-time data from the theatre of operations beyond the range of its onboard sensors. A UAV with an optronic payload constitutes an offboard sensor platform that can relay data back to the host ship to identify threats from pirates, for example, or to monitor fishing vessel inspection operations.

Solen Storelli; solen.storelli@dcnsgroup.com

Helmet Display Tracker System Contract Modification EFW Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $11,666,579 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to exercise an option for the installation and procurement of helmet display tracker system (HDTS) kits for AH-1W aircraft, including nine HTDS P-kits, 29 AH-1W helmet kits, and installation of 54 HDTS. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Cherry Point, N.C., and is expected to be completed in December 2014.

Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $11,666,579 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Low Cost Micro Thermal Imaging Camera Core FLIR Systems Inc. announced the release of the new FLIR Lepton thermal imaging camera core. Lepton utilizes innovative technology, highvolume manufacturing techniques and commercial scale to deliver a price point that is an order of magnitude below current thermal camera cores.

Similar in size, weight and power consumption to a conventional CMOS cell phone camera module, Lepton is the world’s smallest microbolometer-based thermal imaging camera core currently available. FLIR will utilize Lepton in new and existing products across many vertical markets.

The first commercial use of Lepton is in the new FLIR ONETM thermal imaging smartphone accessory introduced today at CES 2014. Lepton has also been designed for easy integration into third party products, such as smartphones, tablets, diagnostic tools, automobiles, toys, building controls, process equipment, security systems, machine vision systems and advanced gaming devices. OEMs around the world can benefit from the fully exportable Lepton core, which generates high-quality, fully processed thermal images through common standard interfaces.

Lepton utilizes multiple proprietary technologies, including wafer level detector packaging, wafer level micro-optics, and a custom integrated circuit that supports all camera functions on a single integrated low power chip. These and other innovations are reflected in more than 100 new patent filings worldwide related to Lepton technologies, processes and applications.

The new Lepton core facilitates accurate temperature measurements and is fully compatible with FLIR’s patented Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging technology, which significantly enhances the thermal image fidelity with data from a visible-light sensor.

Satellite Terminal Parts Acquisition L-3 Communications Systems West, Salt Lake City, Utah, has been awarded a maximum $85,485,879 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for procurement of spare and component satellite terminal parts. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Utah, with a January 9, 2019, performance completion date. Using military service is Army.

Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. 14 | TISR 4.1

www.TISR-kmi.com

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Predator B Demonstrates Integrated, Networked Electronic Warfare Potential General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., a manufacturer of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), tactical reconnaissance radars and electro-optic surveillance systems, and Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leading global security company, have announced the second successful demonstration of Predator B/ MQ-9 Reaper’s electronic attack capability, featuring Northrop Grumman’s new Pandora electronic warfare (EW) system at the

U.S. Marine Corps’ Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course held at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma on October 22.

The purpose of this second demonstration was to evaluate the capability of an RPA to conduct electronic warfare missions in concert with other unmanned aircraft systems and EA-6B Prowlers in a multi-node approach against a more capable integrated air defense system. The event expanded upon GA-ASI and

Cyber Technical Research Competition Winner Selected Raytheon U.K. has announced that MWR InfoSecurity is the first winner of its technical research competition aimed at SME (Small Medium Enterprise) in the cybersecurity domain. The competition’s £40,000 ($66,000) prize, recognizing research into an analysis tool to detect rogue code in Android applications, was presented at the “Agile Innovation for Cyber Security Boot Camp” hosted by the U.K. government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Organizations using enterprise-wide Androidbased smartphone and tablet devices have a major challenge around the provisioning and ongoing assurance of apps deployed. The research project will provide a proof of concept for a new tool, offering end users or organizations greater confidence in the security of apps deployed on their devices. Currently, they can trust the public Internet app stores, restrict choice of apps to specific third-party stores, or ban their use outright, which is not conducive to leveraging mobile technologies and facilitating workforce connectivity.

Bob Delorge, chief executive of Raytheon U.K., commented: “Raytheon U.K. is wholly supportive of the U.K. government’s initiatives to support the development of SMEs, and in 2014, the company will further efforts to help SMEs develop their ideas in alignment with our technology and business strategies. The benefits for SMEs include access to market, path to exploitation, and relationships with primes, which include guidance and networking. For Raytheon, it helps us broaden our portfolio of innovative solutions.” www.TISR-kmi.com

Northrop Grumman’s successes in last April’s WTI exercise and focused on delivering a more integrated and networked EW capability.

GA-ASI participated in the demonstration with a companyowned Predator B RPA equipped with a company-produced jamming pod containing Northrop Grumman’s Pandora EW System and controlled by a GA-ASI ground control station.

The Northrop Grumman payload

proved to be very effective and was integrated seamlessly with the Predator B avionics and command and control architecture.

Northrop Grumman’s Pandora is a multifunction wideband solution that provides electronic attack, support and protection. The lightweight, lowpower system includes a flexible architecture to meet emerging needs and supports open interfaces to enable integration and interoperability.

Secure Communication Satellite Completes Assembly, Enters System Test The fifth Lockheed Martin Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite for the U.S. Navy is entering its first system test faster than the previous build, now that integration is complete. Engineers and technicians recently mated its system module and core to the multi-beam assembly (MBA), which hosts 16 ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennas for distributed, global communications coverage.

The MBA’s antennas beam down coverage to Earth, with each covering thousands of miles of terrain. Supporting UHF satellite communications, MUOS will provide secure mobile users with assured

communications, including the new capability of simultaneous voice, video and data.

Designed and built by Lockheed Martin, the MUOS antenna rests on an A2100 bus, also built by Lockheed Martin, and uses a system module provided by General Dynamics. Together, the system enables communications coverage using the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access standard, providing a 10-fold increase in transmission throughput over the current UHF satellite system.

Mark Lewis; mark.e.lewis@lmco.com

TISR 4.1 | 15

Top 5 Things to Know About Persistent Surveillance 1 What are the core capabilities needed for effective use of persistent surveillance data?

First, efficient ways of cataloging, managing and accessing persistent surveillance data. This is challenging when you consider the large quantities of data collected, and the range of native and proprietary file formats. Next is speed, which is comprised of rate of transmission, relevance and usability. Only the exact data that the user requires should be delivered instantly, in whatever format that the user needs.

2 What specific functionality is the most important in a persistent surveillance system?

The ability to share all of the relevant data, simply, and with the proper context. Even if based on open-source architectures, persistence surveillance systems can often be functionally closed, or effectively made closed due to high operating costs. Without the ability to easily and cost-effectively share the data across analyst systems, software clients and organizations, much of the value of the data is lost.

3 To make sharing effective, what does a persistent surveillance system have to do?

For best practices in effective sharing, WAMI and similar data should be made accessible to all authorized users — from those directly on-site to the most remote — without the logistical and access nightmare of duplicating or moving vast stores of data around. Open standards and

proven, commercial solutions (like those from PIXIA) help analysts fuse the single, accessible reference store of data with other sources in numerous third party applications.

4 What is the one most commonly overlooked fact about persistent surveillance?

To maximize the value of their data, multiple groups need to work together to form a collective analysis and fuel innovative growth in the analysis pipeline. Open standards, and open source systems, help provide a platform for common understanding and maximum group contribution that isn’t possible in a closed architecture. PIXIA implements OGC standards in our products to ensure instant interoperability and ubiquitous access to thousands of applications that support OGC open standards specifications.

5 What will be the next biggest challenge for persistent surveillance systems?

The ability to balance historical context with current day immediacy.

Many solutions focus on extracting value from today’s mission. As data stores grow, and gathering systems continue to improve in fidelity and scope, much of the data previously collected will hold enormous value for future missions. To unlock this value analysts need to develop a targeted common operating baseline and use it to discern “patterns of life” inside the data. Scalable workflows and simple-to-use standard interfaces become paramount to this process.

Open. Shareable. Proven.

Persistent Surveillance TODAY for Tomorrow’s Needs

T-1372 T-1365

T-1368

www.pixia.com/persistent Making location count.

PIXIA is proud to have authored and donated a web services specification on WAMI data to the Open Geospatial Consortium for global standardization.

Threat Detector

Q& A

Integrating ISR Across the Army, DoD and Intelligence Community Terry Mitchell Director Intelligence Futures Army G-2 Terry Mitchell is the Army G-2 director, Intelligence Futures.

This office serves as the senior Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2 expert and advisor on synchronizing endto-end planning and integration of intelligence domain quick reaction capabilities to meet the needs of warfighters by significantly improving deployed intelligence systems and sensors or fielding new capabilities.

Mitchell serves as the Army G-2 expert on the identification, exploitation and integration of technologies that can deliver critical intelligence capabilities to the current and future Army. He actively partners with combatant commands, the Joint Staff, Army organizations, other government agencies, national laboratories, commercial industry and academe to identify and influence extant and emerging technologies possessing immediate intelligence domain impact.

Mitchell anticipates and recognizes intelligence capability requirements and meets those needs by orchestrating people, organizations, technologies and resource management strategies.

He oversees and coordinates the delivery of critically-needed intelligence capabilities to theater. He leads the Army ISR integration efforts within the Army’s planning, programming and budget execution system by providing independent analysis of required ISR capabilities.

Mitchell ensures ISR is accounted for across doctrine, organizations, training, material, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities.

Previously Mitchell served in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Advanced Systems & Concepts), where he formulated and executed policy, programs and initiatives to promote rapid transition of technologies and enabled operational concepts from applied engineering to field and sustained military capabilities to support joint missions. Programs directed by this office include Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations, Joint Capability Technology Demonstrations, Technology Transition Initiative, Joint Warfare (Experimentation) Program and programs to enhance the defense industrial base.

Mitchell retired from the Army in 2001 after an active duty career spanning 27 years. His operational military assignments included duties in multiple Army military intelligence battalions and intelligence centers in the European and Central Command theaters. He also served at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School, designing programs of instruction for multidiscipline/multi-echelon intelligence systems. He also completed an assignment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Operational Test and Evaluation Office, where he was awarded the DoD Military Tester of the Year award for his test strategy and conduct of the Year 2000 Operational Evaluations. www.TISR-kmi.com

Q: Would you explain to our readers the main role or function of your directorate?

A: Simply put, we integrate and synchronize ISR requirements, capabilities and investment strategy for the Army G-2. What this means is: Under General Order 2012-01 we serve as the Army ISR integrator across the Army, Department of Defense and the intelligence community. We help coordinate resources for Army ISR capabilities and advocate for those capabilities across the Army, Department Defense and the intelligence community. As new threats and requirements to combat them emerge, we ensure science and technology investments and integration of ISR capabilities are guided to support current and future warfighters. Finally, after new capabilities are proven, we facilitate the transition of those capabilities to programs of record (PoR).

Army G2 Intelligence Futures Directorate focus: • Supporting today’s fight • Sustain and expand support to global engagements • Shaping Army intel 2020 and beyond Q: How does the Army G-2 Intelligence Futures Directorate use its knowledge of today’s ISR capabilities?

TISR 4.1 | 17

A: The Intelligence Futures Directorate vision is to use our knowledge of today’s capabilities, threats and available technologies as the starting point to help determine the next generation of Army ISR capabilities.

The last decade of war showed us how fast technology can evolve, but also how emerging threats can expose capability gaps. This understanding helps us support, resource and deploy new capabilities to meet requirements. Successful enduring capabilities are retained and integrated into the appropriate PoR. Here are some routine ISR considerations: • How much is enough ISR? Since 1969, Kiowa helicopters have had a long and storied history of service in support of Army ISR. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/by This is similar to asking, ‘How Specialist Andrew Baker] much bandwidth is enough?’ community of interest on the migration to the intelligence comIt’s not an easy question to answer because the instant munity’s Information Technology Enterprise, executing a disciyou have available resources you have requests to use plined roll-out throughout the fiscal year and exposing select users those resources. The risk of not having enough ISR, not to these capabilities as this critical national effort matures. knowing enough about the threats, only becomes apparTransforming the Army’s aerial ISR fleet. Having determined ent forensically, after you need it. ISR helps us stay as the composition of our Army’s ISR fleet, the U.S. Army Intelligence far ahead of the enemy as possible and enables leaders to and Security Command (INSCOM) will also move forward to cremake decisions quicker, which helps save American lives. ate the Army’s first-ever aerial intelligence brigade. The brigade • Is new technology required? We can’t predict the future will feature a modest but modernized fleet of multi-intelligence but we know as new threats emerge, or old threats replatforms and sensors to support Army and global ISR requireemerge, we will have to develop new and efficient ways to ments, with consolidated processing, exploitation and disseminaunderstand and defeat them. Likewise, as new technolotion that will support COCOM and RAF forces around the globe in gies emerge, training will have to adapt and evolve to an efficient manner. Planned as part of this transformation, joint include them. detachments will increase the synergy between Army, Air Force and SOF exploitation cells as we work together to streamline joint ISR Q: With the war in Afghanistan winding down, what are some of planning and execution in support of joint and Army warfighters. the new needs of the Army intelligence community?

Other key modernization initiatives to improve intelligence integration. In addition, the Army Intelligence Corps will introduce A: While we remain committed to supporting our soldiers and a number of force structure enhancements aimed at improving commanders in this year of transition in Afghanistan, we are also each theater’s aligned intelligence organizations, while improving aggressively and innovatively preparing our Army Intelligence the flexibility and agility of the rotational forces which flow in to Corps to support a globally engaged, regionally aligned Army. We work with them. In the coming year, we will improve the theaters’ are investing in technologies, force structure and training promilitary intelligence capabilities and begin to reorganize the miligrams to ensure we have the capabilities and depth required to tary intelligence brigades at the Corps. In addition, INSCOM, the support Army warfighters at every echelon—wherever our forces U.S. Army Reserve Command and the Army National Guard G2 are are employed. Throughout the coming year we will focus on a teaming to develop the optimal solutions for a multi-component number of critical Army Intelligence 2020 initiatives to provide the counterintelligence and human intelligence command and are best possible intelligence force and to enable decisive action—now working on how best to introduce critical insider threat and secuand in the future. rity resiliency capabilities at each echelon. While required force The most significant aspects of the Army Intelligence modernstructure reductions will likely temper the scale and pace of our ization efforts include: efforts, the Army Intelligence Corps will continue to focus on buildDCGS-A Global Fielding. The Army’s Distributed Common ing fully integrated organizations that maximize multi-intelligence Ground System is moving ahead, stabilizing its software baseline synergies which will, when complete, greatly enhance the support and introducing a number of soldier-inspired ease-of-use features. we provide to joint and Army formations around the world.

As these initiatives come on line, regionally aligned forces (RAF), Modeling and simulation. As geopolitical boundaries continue to Army special operations groups and Army theater intelligence shift, the Army intelligence community will have to be prepared for the units around the world will enjoy improved interoperability, simmyriad of challenges, threats and contingencies that could emerge. plifying their transition into unique regional architectures and The Army G-2, in conjunction with the intelligence community setting conditions for streamlined integration. At the same time, and TRADOC, continues to refine and modernize it modeling DCGS-A will continue its collaborative efforts with an expansive 18 | TISR 4.1

www.TISR-kmi.com

and simulation capabilities to improve the way we determine our science and technology investments and priorities. The threat paradigm spans all domains and will require mass simulations and analysis capabilities to model correctly. New capabilities emerging from the computer gaming and consumer electronics industries will help to meet these emerging needs.

Ultimately, RITE leverages the latest and greatest technology to unify, integrate and synchronize ISR soldiers, teams and squads at the edge by giving them the ability to access processed intelligence.

Q: How can the military industrial base help the Army intelligence community meet these needs?

A: For all of the many challenges we face and all of uncertainty ahead, it is an exciting time to be an Army intelligence professional and to be a part of the most talented and innovative Corps our Army has produced. Building on the mastery attained from a decade of continuous operations, we are working today to translate what we have learned into meaningful, innovative approaches to provide the best support to our soldiers and commanders around the globe.

Through advanced technology and innovative organizational structures, we will find new ways to increase integration and reduce uncertainty. Through Foundry 2.0 and Intelligence Readiness and Operations Capability, we will change forever the way our soldiers are trained and daily employed, keeping them in the fight, with their minds on the mission, proactively and expertly supporting their fellow soldiers around the world.

We are well on our way to the future we envision—building the intelligence force that our Army requires, capable of enabling decisions for current and future contingencies, and supporting a globally-engaged, regionally-aligned and responsive Army for years to come. O

A: The military industrial base has helped us prevail over the last 12-plus years of war; however, they are not alone. Academia, as well as traditionally non-military-focused private industry, has also helped us move into the future. As focus on Afghanistan winds down and other strategic focus expands, we will rely heavily on our industry partners to help build our national security capabilities.

Ease of use, ease of integration and interoperability across enterprises will help our reduced force meet increasing demands while keeping soldiers, civilians and contractors away from danger.

As the intelligence community migrates to the intelligence community Information Technology Enterprise, the services will have to migrate to and adopt joint/multi-agency standards to streamline analyst workflow and processes.

Insider threats and protection are a huge concern for organizations, so enterprise solutions and network auditing/security present great opportunities to partner with industry.

All of our challenges are industry’s opportunities to provide national security solutions. We will continue to move toward intelligence community convergence while maintaining compliance with the Army’s Common Operating Environment and the Department of Defense’s Joint Information Enterprise.

Q: Is there anything else that we have not covered that you would like to discuss?

DoD Unmanned Systems Summit

Q: Could you discuss the Relevant Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance to the Edge (RITE) concept and how it relates to the soldier?

A: Relevant Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance to the Edge is a framework for the Army to articulate ISR requirements for soldiers operating at the very forward edge. It supports objectives of the Army Campaign Plan 2012 and Army Strategic Planning Guidance 2013 by empowering and enabling soldiers and squads.

The RITE concept is predicated on collective outcomes from five essential capability development areas needed to deliver relevant ISR to soldiers at the tactical edge: (1) employment of advanced collection methods; (2) robust network transport; (3) processing and dissemination at the edge; (4) ISR-enabled edge applications; and (5) soldier-worn, handheld, mobile and mounted devices.

RITE has given the Army intelligence community insight into the efficiencies of integrated sensing, computing and communications to enable access to (and from) the squad and to enable front end collection for DCGS-A. Intelligence will always be a data hungry customer. We must also provide access to data from classified to SCI, support from sensors that cover from celestial (space) to terrestrial (mud) layers, and support to disadvantaged users in austere environments. Integrating sensing and computing capabilities allows for more efficient use of the resources and provides greater access to processed intelligence beyond the forward operating base. www.TISR-kmi.com

March 25—26 |Alexandria, VA Featuring Sessions by: 

Mr. Dyke Weatherington, Director, Unmanned Warfare and ISR, OUSD (AT&L)



RDML Mathias W. Winter, USN, PEO, Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W))



CAPT David Honabach, USN, Unmanned Maritime Systems, PMS 406 Major Acquisition PM

http://unmannedsystems.dsigroup.org

TISR 4.1 | 19

The

Skies Have

Eyes The story of persistent surveillance, from the platforms to the sensors to the software.

By Chris McCoy TISR Editor In the battlespace, situational awareness is key, and certain ISR platforms are preferable to others given the landscape and nature of each mission. Persistent surveillance is a special kind of mission, and not all ISR platforms are up to the task.

“Persistent surveillance is needed anytime there is a need for around-the-clock monitoring for an extended period of time, monitoring that is in stark contrast to that provided by aircraft, which have surveillance-time limitations dictated by fuel consumption/ capacity,” said Lieutenant Colonel Michael Parodi, product manager Meteorological and Target Identification Capabilities at U.S. Army PEO IEW&S. Few aircraft are exceptions to that rule: namely, aerostats and platforms with the ability to perch or fly overheard for extended periods of time.

“The aerostats have proven to be a great asset for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, as well as our coalition partners serving in Afghanistan. They’ve been referred to by some local commanders 20 | TISR 4.1

as ‘game changers,’” said Parodi. “They have been instrumental in providing mission overwatch, detecting IEDs and assisting in the capture of numerous high value targets and weapons caches.”

Many companies create the tools and platforms necessary to perform persistent surveillance reliably.

Wide-Area Persistent Surveillance Software Pixia Corp is a commercial software and solutions provider based in Reston, Va. The company’s primary commercial software solution for wide-area persistent surveillance is HiPER Stare. This software package essentially ingests the data and hosts it via standard RESTful interfaces to any third-party client or automated algorithm. The focus of the product is to be able to deliver surveillance data to a client instantly, in any format that the client chooses.

HiPER Stare is designed to maximize the full potential of current and future architectures, enabling analytic tools as well as thick and www.TISR-kmi.com

deployed in a number of configurations based upon the operating and thin client applications. It also optimizes bandwidth and maximizes computing environment. It covers everything from small compact efficiency, because it allows users to query all persistent surveillance appliances and enterprise-class servers to virtual machines and ozone data at once and then stream exactly and only what the user desires to widgets for the cloud. Because Ageon ISR is a Web-based solution, their workstation or handheld device. This ground-breaking approach each instance can support hundreds of operators or analysts using is changing the way that wide-area persistent surveillance is accessed, nothing more than a common Web browser.” because the network bandwidth is not affected by the amount of data being collected but by the number of users wanting to simultaneously access the data.

“Pixia Corp software is designed to handle data holistically rather than chopping the data into tiny artificial bins,” said Chief Executive Officer Rudi Ernst. “When surveillance data is artificially segmented into millions of files you not only lose the bigger picture, your IT infrastructure becomes riddled with huge challenges in server scalability and additional bandwidth demands from server to client. As the community converges on the fusion of data from multiple sources, we believe it is critical to make all sources available via geospatial and temporal metadata search and discovery. It is the only way to achieve mission success without drowning in an explosion of IT infrastructure costs.”

The focus at Pixia Corp is shifting from Ageon ISR supports true plug-n-play compatibility with most ISR sensors and systems. [Photo courtesy of Digital Results Group] eyeballs to processors as the community moves from find-fix-finish to activities-based intelligence.

The solution also supports plug-and-play compatibility with most “Our standards-driven engineering approach allows us to work ISR sensors and systems from unmanned and fixed-wing aircraft to closely with other companies, creating scalable workflows via stanaerostats to ground sensors. And unlike many solutions, Ageon ISR is dard interfaces that enable automated knowledge generation. As multi-INT capable with support for HD and SD video, ground moving newer wide-area persistent surveillance sensors increase their field target indicator radar, SIGINT, acoustic, ground-based sensors and of view dramatically, we are convinced that the majority of the data more. Once connected, each platform or ground station can federate collected will not immediately be of apparent value to the current or synchronize across the network to deliver increased situational mission––but will be of high value in later missions or other activiawareness and improved site-to-site collaboration. ties,” said Ernst. “Having access to a lot of historical data should Over the past few years, DRG has focused on seamlessly connectnever be seen as ‘drowning in data’ but rather as an incredible ing the tactical, enterprise and cloud computing levels. “From an advantage that enables us to find things in the past that were not architectural standpoint, we’re laser focused on breaking down tactirelevant at the time of collection or to help predict future behaviors cal stovepipes to promote better collaboration, then pushing that data and patterns much more accurately.” and the manpower required to operate and exploit that data further from the sensor. The technology exists today to place that operator or analyst anywhere in the world,” said St. Mary.

Multi-INT C2/PED Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Digital Results Group (DRG) is another company with deep roots in persistent surveillance.

“At DRG, we’re on the processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) side of persistent surveillance. We deliver multi-INT C2/PED capabilities that seamlessly support operations from the remote tactical edge to enterprise and cloud environments,” said Chief Executive Officer Stephen St. Mary.

While other companies involved in persistent surveillance are focused on the platforms and sensors, DRG’s expertise is with the direct ingestion of ISR data at the platform level, then pushing that data and associated tools to operators and analyst anywhere across the network.

“What’s unique about what we’re doing is providing a next-generation, multi-INT C2/PED solution that delivers full sensor control, data visualization and exploitation––all within today’s budget,” said St. Mary. “Ageon ISR is our widely fielded solution capable of being www.TISR-kmi.com

Resilient Aerostats TCOM is a leader in the aerostat industry and has been in the business for well over 40 years.

“Throughout our entire history, our sole focus has been tethered aerostat technology. This covers everything from smaller tactical class aerostats to very large strategic class aerostats,” said TCOM President Ron Bendlin.

Commanders in Afghanistan Ron Bendlin found the aerostat systems to be essential components to forward operations. Often those aerostats survived hurricane force winds and extreme weather conditions in TISR 4.1 | 21

hostile combat environments. Many of the aerostats used in Afghanistan have already been brought back from the battlefield and repurposed for use in homeland security operations.

“With the withdrawal now from Afghanistan there is a situation where large balloons are being set up to replace the aerostats as the aerostats are withdrawn,” said Bendlin. “They’ve found that these mock aerostats actually deter attacks. In short, the enemy recognized how effective the original aerostats were and that lesson was not lost on them.”

TCOM is also responsible for the aerostats behind Raytheon’s Joint Land Attack/Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensors system.

“Raytheon is the prime contractor and our customer. We did the entire development and production for the platform and supported Raytheon throughout the test phase,” said Bendlin.

This highly-compact aerostat is especially suited for warfighter, homeland security and first responder needs. [Photo courtesy of TCOM]

Ubiquitous Surveillance BAE Systems provides the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS-IS). ARGUS-IS is a 1.8 gigapixel staring sensor, capable of producing 10 frames/second imagery with 15 cm ground sampling. This covers an area of almost 50 square kilometers from 20,000 feet above ground.

“ARGUS-IS was developed to overcome the limitations of the current generation sensors, and to allow simultaneous wide area coverage with high resolution for automated vehicle and dismount tracking from an altitude of 20,000 feet,” said BAE Systems Remote Sensing Fellow Yiannis Antoniades, Ph.D. “ARGUS-IS is integrated with a second generation on-board processor, which can acquire, archive and exploit the imagery in real time.”

Live video from over 100 areas of interest can be transmitted in real time to the ground station, as well as tactical terminals. The processor can also automatically track vehicles and dismounts in real time, as well as forensically over the entire coverage area.

“A unique characteristic of ULB is its demonstrated interoperability with multiple ground control stations and its ability to fly autonomously while performing missions of maritime operations, precision cargo resupply, communications/data relay and multiple persistent surveillance profiles,” said Bill Cunningham of Boeing Business Development for Unmanned Airborne Systems Programs.

“Unmanned Little Bird has operated from French naval frigates and U.S. commercial ships performing multiple takeoffs and landing using two different precision landing systems.”

End-to-end Surveillance Solutions Lockheed Martin’s Dragon family of ISR configurations addresses a wide variety of C4ISR user needs. The Dragon Sentinel configuration is targeted to users with a persistent surveillance need. Dragon Sentinel offers tethered aerostat-based multi-sensor configured platforms capable of supporting both airborne and ground sensors (existing, organic and deployable) to provide persistent surveillance for threat detection and situational awareness as needed in ISR, major event security and disaster response scenarios.

Dragon Sentinel is a Lockheed Martin developed solution that offers a fully-integrated 360 degree persistent surveillance, detection and dissemination capability. Dragon Sentinel’s flexible architecture offers a unique approach for customers to match their mission requirements and budget to sensor, communications and platform needs. With an aerostat platform, customers are able to conduct surveillance of a fixed geographic area over an extended time period from varying altitudes based on mission needs.

“The open architecture flexibility of Dragon Sentinel allows for the system to use a variety of sensors, communications means and operator features based on the terrain, environment and customer requirements,” said Charles Gulledge, director of airborne reconnaissance business development for Lockheed Martin. “The open architecture also allows for rapid integration into a user’s existing C2 infrastructure to get the knowledge on a persistent basis to the intended user.”

The components of Dragon Sentinel include infrastructure (aerostat/transportable mooring platform/ground system), power (ground based or onboard), sensors (acoustic sensors, communications relays, electro-optical/infrared cameras, FMV broadcasting, ground/dismounted moving target indicator radar, wide area motion imagery sensor) and communications.

An Optionally Piloted Helicopter Within the portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems, the H-6U Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) provides the capability for persistent ISR for missions requiring heavy sensor payloads. Boeing’s ULB is an optionally piloted helicopter derivative of the manned H-6 helicopters family sold in commercial and defense markets worldwide.

22 | TISR 4.1

The H-6U Unmanned Little Bird allows for persistent surveillance with a heavy sensor payload.

[Photo courtesy of Aurora Flight Sciences]

www.TISR-kmi.com

All of Lockheed Martin’s Dragon ISR options are end-to-end solutions that include platforms, sensors, ground processing and dissemination.

“Dragon Sentinel is predicated on providing customers with persistent surveillance, and may be comprised of aerostats and/ or tower systems with one or more sensors and associated ground system,” said Gulledge. “With an aerostat or tower platforms, customers are able to conduct surveillance or reconnaissance of a fixed geographic area over an extended time period.”

Flexible and Modular Plug-and-Play Architecture Northrop Grumman has engineered a mission-first solution that addresses several issues in persistent surveillance. The company’s Quick Mission solution provides persistent surveillance with improved loiter time by using a highly flexible, modular plug-andplay architecture that is both platform and sensor-agnostic.

“Sensor technologies continue to rapidly evolve while current airborne persistent surveillance platforms do not effectively keep pace with the mission needs of the future,” said Al Stewart, director of Capture Management at Northrop Grumman. “These current platforms allow for little payload flexibility, limiting the combatant commander’s ability to have the right sensors and apertures in place at the right time and right duration to support evolving mission needs. All future airborne persistent surveillance capabilities must be mission-tailored without the expensive, long and cumbersome process of changing out payloads.”

Northrop Grumman’s Quick Mission approach focuses on improving the flexibility of payload and aperture swap-outs, while also improving affordability. This is accomplished by focusing on flexible multi-INT, mission-tailored designs versus a design that locks the combatant command into a single mission capable aircraft.

“Analysis has shown deploying a true mission-tailored airborne ISR platform that has the flexibility to quickly respond to any mission, anywhere, anytime, could save the military hundreds of millions of dollars when compared with the traditional approach,” said Stewart.

“In addition to the significant savings in not acquiring and installing unneeded subsystems, mission tailoring also reduces the size, weight and power, and improves the overall efficiency of the aircraft, thus improving range and loiter time. Quick Mission allows the rapid installation and integration of most current airborne ISR sensors and apertures. This solution also allows for industry to bring more flexible capabilities to the range of customers’ missions faster than previous designs, maximizing persistent surveillance.”

Advanced Surveillance Processing Software SRI International has a history of delivering solutions for persistent surveillance. One example is their TerraSight video processing software. Deployed in the U.S. Army’s Standard Ground Station and in support of multiple UAV programs, TerraSight software combines two sets of capabilities that address the challenges of persistent surveillance.

“As an integration framework, TerraSight interfaces to, and manages data from, a variety of sources—many of which have different formats,” said John Laughlin, product director, Products and Services Division at SRI International. “This software allows operators to receive and share data with multiple ground and airborne sensor sources and other systems, including command and control, needed www.TISR-kmi.com

for effective persistent surveillance and base protection.”

TerraSight provides unique visualization tools that present data from different systems in an effective way, giving the operator rapid situational understanding and course-of-action decision-making capabilities. The software displays live video on the map over the precise location where it is captured, putting it in context for the operator. This is done on a single monitor versus the traditional video wall, giving enhanced situational understanding. In addition, TerraSight detects and tracks moving objects in the video. Geo-registration assigns specific latitude, longitude and elevation to each video pixel, giving operators the exact location of the object being tracked.

“SRI’s next-generation persistent surveillance software, currently in development, will use a modular open systems approach and technical framework,” said Laughlin. “In addition to SRI’s FMV processing, this platform will give customers the flexibility to select the best third-party capabilities to plug into the SRI framework—promoting competition, better performance, and lower costs. It also means greater scalability and data integration across the enterprise for more effective persistent surveillance.”

Ultimately, persistent surveillance missions rely upon a connection of platforms, sensors and processing software for success. O

For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

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TISR 4.1 | 23

Breakthroughs in the UGV market are often less well-known then the latest UAV systems. As a result, reached out to several UGV manufacturers and posed the following question: “Could you describe the benefits of one of your most promising unmanned ground vehicles?”

John Beck Chief Unmanned Systems Engineer Oshkosh Defense Oshkosh Defense is a leader in developing high-performing autonomous systems for tactical wheeled vehicles, offering fieldable, state-of-the-art autonomous appliqué systems that enable a more efficient and less perilous means to perform critical missions in theater. By upgrading existing fleet vehicles with the capability for autonomous operation, Oshkosh’s TerraMax UGV technology economically and innovatively delivers force protection and force multiplication advantages with minimal impact on vehicle payload or visual signature.

The TerraMax technology increases situational awareness and allows a single operator to simultaneously supervise up to five TerraMax vehicles from a safe distance, freeing up troops to support other operations. The technology is also specifically designed to have a minimal impact on visual signature. For example, a convoy of five vehicles, consisting of four unmanned and one manned, will all appear to be the same to a potential enemy, reducing potential vulnerabilities.

The technology combines state-of-the-art perception and autonomy software with military-grade hardware and drive-by-wire

24 | TISR 4.1

control to provide optionally manned operation. The perception system generates a three-dimensional interpretation of the vehicle’s surroundings in real time, using data from LiDAR and multiple radar sensors. The motion planner software components consume the processed perception information, determine the best path for the vehicle to traverse, and generate a set of commands, which smoothly adjust throttle, steering and braking to get the vehicle to the intended destination.

The TerraMax UGV Operator Control Unit resides in a manned vehicle within the convoy, and allows a warfighter to plan and supervise autonomous missions, facilitating semi-autonomous commands and remote control or tele-operation. TerraMaxenabled UGVs can be used in concert with manned vehicles in a wide range of operations, including counter-IED, logistics convoys and ISR missions. They can perform in the same operating environments as manned vehicles, requiring minimal human interaction and operator training, and offer particular benefit in situations where driving is more difficult for human operators, such as in black-out conditions or inclement weather.

Acceptance is critical for implementing UGVs, and the TerraMax technology has proven its safety capabilities, including obeying traffic laws, avoiding obstacles and navigating rough terrain.

When it becomes time to field this technology, Oshkosh has the production and support capability to enable the military to quickly transition the UGV technology from concept to combat zone.

www.TISR-kmi.com

Mark Belanger Director of Robotic Products – DoD iRobot Defense & Security Business Unit Able to provide immediate situational awareness, perform persistent surveillance and manipulate its environment, the iRobot 110 FirstLook is able to address an even wider variety of missions today than when it was first fielded in 2012. While it weighs just 5 pounds, the robot has unmatched durability and maneuverability for a robot of its size.

FirstLook is throwable, survives 16-foot drops onto concrete, and is waterproof to 3 feet. It is also able get over curbs and other obstacles and self-right when flipped over.

Easily operated using an intuitive, lightweight operator control unit, FirstLook provides the user with 360 degrees of situational awareness and optional thermal imaging capabilities for day/night and all weather operations. An optional integrated deployment mechanism and high-back camera provides greater situational awareness, the ability to perform under vehicle inspections and to drop markers or charges at a specific location.

Recently, iRobot outfitted FirstLook with a small, lightweight

Alan Bignall President and CEO ReconRobotics Our edge has always been our ability to give warfighters precisely what they need.

Six years ago, all military robots were very large (40-plus pounds) and complex with articulated arms and bulky control units that made them operable only by trained experts. In 2007, ReconRobotics introduced a 1-pound personal sensor system that forever changed the way robots were used by dismounted troops.

At the time, special forces operators required a personal sensor system that was extremely lightweight, immediately deployable, simple to operate, incredibly durable and exceptionally quiet. The Throwbot XT (TXT) delivered all of these capabilities and cost thousands of dollars less than any other military robot. More than 4,000 TXTs have now been deployed and battle-tested, and they have saved countless lives by providing immediate situational awareness during high-risk operations. More than a dozen foreign militaries are now equipping their warfighters with this unique capability.

The Throwbot XT can be carried in a small pouch, deployed in five

Jim Heverin Director Northrop Grumman Remotec Northrop Grumman Remotec developed the Andros Titus UGV using company R&D funds in response to the need for a mediumsize robot that could provide cost-effective response to a wide range of missions. The www.TISR-kmi.com

manipulator, allowing the robot to interact with its environment. With this arm, FirstLook can provide the operator with not only an awareness of what is happening, but the ability to remediate a potentially dangerous situation from a safe distance.

FirstLook can also support a number of third-party sensors. In addition to the thermal camera mentioned earlier, FirstLook can be integrated with various CBRN sensors already being used by troops and HazMat teams. By simply integrating sensors onto FirstLook that are already found in their tool kit, teams are able to expand upon the robot’s capabilities without adding cost.

With respect to range, FirstLook can be operated from up to 200 meters line-of-sight, but it also has mesh capabilities, allowing for multiple robots to be used to extend range even further in urban environments, culverts and tunnels. It is also interoperable with our other robotic platforms, allowing it to serve as a range extender for PackBot, 710 or SUGV as well. The robot provides two-way audio and can run up to six hours during typical missions and up to 10 hours during persistent surveillance.

With its size, ruggedness and maneuverability, along with the ability for manipulation and integration of a variety of sensors, FirstLook is equipped to handle missions outside of standard reconnaissance, to include EOD, hazmat and other dangerous missions, all while keeping troops safer while increasing mission success.

seconds, thrown up to 120 feet and operated by anyone––no training required. It can be thrown through a window, onto a rooftop or over a wall. This ultra-lightweight, sensor-equipped robot is also unique in that it operates at very low frequencies, enabling the transmissions to and from the robot to propagate through walls and doors. Once the TXT is deployed into an environment, an operator can direct the robot to move deep into the structure while receiving real-time video and audio signals on his handheld operator control unit. No other personal sensor system in the world delivers this unique set of capabilities.

It is also important to note that the Throwbot XT has become an important tool for maritime interdiction. Because of its unique transmitting frequencies, the TXT can be used to search up to two levels below the deck of a ship, providing lifesaving standoff distance to shipboarding teams. These same teams can use an extendable SearchStick pole to convert the TXT into a pole camera that is ideal for searching the holds of a ship.

Throwbot XTs have been successfully used in hundreds of military operations in Afghanistan, proving themselves again and again on route and building-clearing missions, urban warfare operations, IED reconnaissance, vehicle checkpoints and remote surveillance missions. Today, it remains the smallest and most versatile personal sensor system used by military forces worldwide.

resulting lighter, faster, stronger and more intelligent system design was based on more than 25 years of experience with hazardous duty robots and extensive user feedback. The benefits of the new 135-pound Andros Titus are focused in three main areas: user experience, system capabilities and reduced life cycle cost/cost of ownership.

The main benefits from improved user experience are the new user interface and reduced workload. These objectives have been accomplished by incorporating popular game-style controls with a touchscreen interface to navigate easily between vehicle settings such TISR 4.1 | 25

as selecting cameras and camera views and obtaining sensor readings.

User workload has been reduced by automating vehicle functions through the use of presets and the touchscreen interface.

The performance benefits to the user from the system capabilities are derived from the flexibility of the vehicle design and related performance to meet many different mission requirements. Andros Titus utilizes an open software architecture design to incorporate third-party payloads for increased capabilities to meet a wide variety of missions. There are also multiple attachment points for the payloads.

From a mobility perspective, the combination of dual articulating tracks and vehicle speed with the most mission configurable mobility design in the market provide best-in-class capabilities. Finally, a manipulator provides high dexterity when combined with presets and

Ben Kimbro Executive Vice President Tactical Electronics The Sire, manufactured by Tactical Electronics, is a unique balance of affordability and tactical suitability. Developed to meet the needs of EOD warfighters at a value, Sire offers intuitive, adaptive, singlehanded operation through a reusable RF controller to guide this multi-payload robotic wheeled vehicle on a wide variety missions including; surveillance, search and inspection as well as delivery of life-saving and life-sustaining articles. Tactical Electronics Sire can even be used to safely and remotely transport energetic render-safe payloads with very close proximity of suspect IED packages. We kept the cost of the Sire low enough that it can be used disposably, an option that simply cannot be done with other higher-cost and often less capable ground robots.

Optional wireless video transmission from the Sire means that multiple tactical level operators will enjoy enhanced situational awareness that can only be offered by high quality real-time video seamlessly provided on our wrist-mounted, heads-up and handheld display receivers.

Rodney Smith Managing Director Smith Engineering (GB) Ltd\ MoonBuggy is a versatile, compact and multi-purpose UGV. It is capable of traversing rough terrain, operating in total darkness and traveling at speeds up to 20 miles per hour with an operational range of 1,000 meters. Applications include nuclear first response, hot area monitoring, homeland security and site monitoring of CBRN and other hazardous incidents.

The vehicle is capable of sending real-time video, thermal images, GPS location data and airborne chemical data, and can identify isotopes and radiation levels back to the operator over distances of up to 1.5 miles from the incident.

The U.K. nuclear industry previously had no vehicle capable of working up to a 1-mile range within an incident before our company developed the vehicle, which was developed privately at 26 | TISR 4.1

“fly the gripper” control.

Life cycle cost is an often overlooked consideration. In designing Andros Titus, upgradeability and maintenance were considered up front. Modular interfaces allow for the easy incorporation of new subsystems that will help Andros Titus effectively meet evolving threats.

There is also an extensive amount of vehicle information available to help in diagnosing and repairing any problems, which optimizes vehicle availability.

Andros Titus––with its combined advanced user interface, highperformance system capabilities and low life cycle cost/cost of ownership––gives military [personnel] and first responder users a single platform capable of cost-effectively responding to a wide range of missions now and into the future.

At only 4 pounds and scarcely larger than a sheet of legal paper, Sire provides an ultra-thin, lightweight and backpackable stowage where the robot’s detachable all-terrain rubber tires are accommodated in its own payload hold. Sire is the most rapidly deployable no-nonsense ground robot that I have ever encountered. The Sire’s four wheels are attached upon deployment without the need of any tools. I consider this the robot’s absolute coolest feature. When our troops need a robotic ground vehicle, it shouldn’t be a heavy Rubik’s Cube to assemble or operate. These wheels, with much credit to our engineers, magnetically lock into place on their hubs.

For such a small package, the Sire delivers big capability. With a runtime of 90 minutes (60 with low-light camera and transmitter) and a range of over 300 meters we can cover a lot of ground, building in much-desired distance between operator and threat. Since Tactical Electronics has a keen understanding that different units conduct their business employing a range of tactics, techniques and procedures and knowing that not every mission is the same, we offer Sire in a variety of kittings, including prepackaged one- and two-robot offerings as well as various camera and accessories kits for expedient in-field reconstitution.

Sire has really been enjoyable to work on and to see fielded. Born out of a simple idea brought to us by an EOD warfighter, we have gotten to provide a technology resource that we know will save lives.

our Maryport facility. There has been a MoonBuggy based at the Sellafield Nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria, U.K., since 2006.

The vehicle’s six all-terrain tires enable the vehicle to drive back to its base even after suffering multiple punctures, while the skidsteer system with 360 degree “on-the-spot” turning allows excellent maneuverability.

The vehicle can now be equipped with Createc Ltd’s N-Visage, a completely new scanning gamma spectrometer––the only one of its type worldwide. It uses a smart image reconstruction algorithm to eliminate many of the physical constraints that apply to standard gamma cameras.

The ability to effectively “see” radioactive material has huge advantages for those managing nuclear plants and radioactive wastes in the civil nuclear industry. N-Visage makes it possible to produce a visible representation of radiation, overlaid on an optical image.

In recognition of the development of the MoonBuggy, our company won the 2009 Orange Best Use of Technology in Business Award at the U.K. National Business Awards for the North of England and Northern Ireland. O www.TISR-kmi.com

The advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers. KMI cannot be held responsible for discrepancies due to last-minute changes or alterations.

TISR RESOURCE CENTER Advertisers Index

Calendar

Digital Results Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 www.drgisr.com DoD Unmanned Systems Summit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 http://unmannedsystems.dsigroup.org Military Radar Summit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.militaryradarsummit.com Pixia Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 www.pixia.com/persistent USGIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2 www.geointsymposium.com

February 19-21, 2014 AUSA Winter Huntsville, Ala. www.ausa.org

March 18-19, 2014 Border Security Expo Phoenix, Ariz. www.bordersecurityexpo.com

March 10-12, 2014 Satellite Washington, D.C. www.satellite2014.com

March 19-20, 2014 Big Data Symposium Washington, D.C. www.bigdataevent.net/

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TISR 4.1 | 27

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Tactical ISR Technology

Bill Davidson CEO and Chief Engineer UAV Solutions Inc. Initially known as rapid prototyping, this technology has been implemented into UAVS’s daily manufacturing process.

We are able to produce parts quickly––typically within 24 to 48 hours––without the need for expensive tooling. Our customers are not looking for an off-the-shelf product; the 3-D printing process allows us to quickly implement design changes, making the turnaround time between design and production much faster.

Bill Davidson is CEO and chief engineer of UAV Solutions Inc., a womanowned small business located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Since 2006 the company has been designing and manufacturing innovative unmanned aerial systems for its public and private sector customers.

Q: Could you tell our readers about some of the products UAV Solutions (UAVS) offers the military?

A: We offer a complete turnkey operation for designing and manufacturing unmanned aircraft systems. In our 60,000 square foot facility in Jessup, Md., we have all the different aspects of UAS manufacturing under one roof, including engineering design and development, composite mold machining and lay-up, painting, finishing, assembly, and integration. UAVS has the in-house capabilities and company-owned equipment to deliver high quality products rapidly and cost effectively.

Our latest developments have focused on VTOL multi-rotor ISR UAS, most notably the Allerion 25, the Phoenix 15 and Phoenix 30 UAS. One of our most reliable and flight-proven UAS, the Allerion 25, is a rugged air vehicle weighing less than 25 pounds and is equipped with an electrooptical and thermal imager tilt gimbal.

Smaller Phoenix models weigh less than 10 pounds and are easy to transport and easy to set up. Phoenix 15 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The capabilities and the cost of these systems transfer well to civil sector applications.

UAVS developed a tethered version of the Allerion, which allows users to maintain physical control of the UAS. Eliminating the need for a battery provides longer endurance at a time when maintaining situational awareness is critical. The small footprint Allerion is a lower cost solution than aerostats and tactical towers for persistent ISR. Q: What is UAV Solutions doing to position itself for the future in uncertain business times?

28 | TISR 4.1

A: UAVS is staying true to its values of providing rapid solutions to its customers at a low cost. We collaborate with our customers––sometimes daily––to better understand what they are trying to accomplish and to provide them with a product that meets their needs. By actively working with our customers, we have developed a reputation as a trusted partner that can look at specific requirements and quickly develop a custom solution to solve a problem or fulfill a need—within or below budget. Our agility enables us to react quickly to changing market conditions.

Smaller, more affordable aircrafts and cameras are driving down the cost of unmanned systems so that local law enforcement and first responder communities can begin to introduce the technology into their solution sets. These lower cost products will also be more attractive to the military as budgets continue to decrease. Our goal is to develop a UAS that is affordable enough to be provided to every warfighter or first responder on the front lines.

Q: What cutting-edge processes are you employing to reduce the price of new products?

A: UAV Solutions is at the forefront of 3-D manufacturing in Maryland, playing a key role as a strategic advisor to the Howard County Economic Development Authority’s 3-D Maryland initiative. Threedimensional printing, also known as digital or clean manufacturing, is a technology that will revolutionize manufacturing and bring more jobs back to this sector.

Q: Can you tell us about some of the other new products you have developed?

A: Although we cannot disclose the specific customer, we can share that we learned insufficient ground support equipment (GSE) was available to support the servicing of UAS between flights. In less than 30 days we developed a line of GSE to meet the needs of users in the field and provide them with the equipment they require to simplify everyday tasks. Products we have developed and produced include air vehicle tow carts, which include shore power and a compartment for starter and battery packs, engine starters, fuel carts and drum fuel pumps, battery jump packs and payload controllers. We can custom design this equipment for an unmanned aerial vehicle of any size and weight.

Q: How is UAV Solutions positioned in the market for expansion?

A: Being a woman-owned small business, we have the agility to react quickly to the changing business environment. By maintaining close relationships with our customers, we are able to quickly respond to their requests and provide a “value-add” cost-effective solution to meet or exceed their expectations. Collaborating with a customer to find an innovative way to meet their specific requirements is part of our day-to-day thinking. With all aspects of the design, manufacturing, assembly and integration occurring in our facility, we have more flexibility and control over the entire development process. O

wadavidson@uavsolutions.com www.TISR-kmi.com

April 2014 Volume 4, Issue 2

Cover and In-Depth Interview with

B. Lynn Wright

Deputy Director Office of Naval Intelligence Invited

Special Section Manned-Unmanned Teaming PM Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., discuss the potential of this groundbreaking system of tactics, capabilities and procedures.

Features Automating Intelligence Freeing up the number of military intelligence officers leads to greater flexibility and has its logistical advantages therein. The automation of intelligence gathering is a growing trend in ISR collection.

Electronic Warfare Industry Roundtable TISR invites industry thought leaders to discuss their company’s innovative technologies in the arena of electronic warfare.

Rapidly Deployable Surveillance Servicemembers are always thirsting for more ISR—the more the better. At the soldier level, certain technologies can be deployed to provide rapid situational awareness.

Ruggedized Computers What makes a computer rugged? And what are the military requirements for a ruggedized computer?

This article examines the technology and current solutions from the military tech industry.

Insertion Order Deadline: March 10, 2014 • Ad Materials Deadline: March 17, 2014 Reid Broendel, Account Executive 301.670.5700 ex.127

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