Return-Path: <sentto-279987-5051-1027783745-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sat, 27 Jul 2002 08:33:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 13336 invoked by uid 510); 27 Jul 2002 15:28:06 -0000 Received: from n16.grp.scd.yahoo.com (66.218.66.71) by all.net with SMTP; 27 Jul 2002 15:28:06 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-5051-1027783745-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com Received: from [66.218.67.192] by n16.grp.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 27 Jul 2002 15:29:05 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_7_4); 27 Jul 2002 15:29:04 -0000 Received: (qmail 37054 invoked from network); 27 Jul 2002 15:29:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.217) by m10.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 27 Jul 2002 15:29:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (12.232.72.152) by mta2.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 27 Jul 2002 15:29:04 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id g6RFVGt13413 for iwar@onelist.com; Sat, 27 Jul 2002 08:31:16 -0700 Message-Id: <200207271531.g6RFVGt13413@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 08:31:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [iwar] [fc:Net-Centric.Ops,.UAVs.Reshape.Battlefields.And.Boardrooms] Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Status: No, hits=3.2 required=5.0 tests=RISK_FREE,FREE_MONEY,DIFFERENT_REPLY_TO version=2.20 X-Spam-Level: *** Aviation Week & Space Technology July 22, 2002 Net-Centric Ops, UAVs Reshape Battlefields And Boardrooms By Craig Covault, Orlando, Fla. The same network-centric warfare and UAV revolution changing the modern battlefield is also reshaping corporate boardrooms, as engineers and managers awaken to the growing symbiotic relationships between manned and unmanned air operations and space and information systems. The network-centric/UAV paradigm, already a key element of transformation in the Defense Dept., is beginning to transform the corporate landscape, top defense and industry managers meeting here said. Boeing's decision to create a huge new Integrated Defense Systems organization, linking its net-centric and communications work with its defense and space business, is one dramatic indication of this shift, as is the Northrop Grumman/TRW merger ( AW&ST July 15, pp. 23 and 24). Another example is the recent annual meeting of the Assn. for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) here, which drew 2,000 UAV managers and engineers from 17 countries--double the attendees from last year. The event also attracted nearly 120 UAV exhibitors who filled a large convention center to capacity. "Our industry is exploding," said Brad Brown, president of AUVSI, the world's largest organization devoted to UAVs and their use in network-centric operations. The combination of UAVs and net-centric operations is the epitome of defense transformation, said Kevin Meiners, the director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems under the assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence. He said the Defense Dept. is likely to pour more special transformation-related funding into network-centric and UAV operations in 2004. Transformation "is not just a buzzword--it's a pot of money" that in this case will benefit UAV and network-centric operations, Meiners said. Network-centric/UAV ops are exactly the kind of program efforts Pentagon planners want to move to the fore, he said. Meiners noted that UAV and network-centric considerations are a primary reason the Defense Dept. has marked $3 billion starting in 2003 for its Transformational Communications program. "We do not want UAV operations limited by bandwidth," he said. That effort is focused on the eventual proliferation of high-data-rate laser-communications relay spacecraft and far more common ground terminals that can be used by multiple users (AW&ST Jan. 21, 2001, p. 27). PLANNERS WOULD LIKE each sensor on a fleet of UAVs to have, in effect, an Internet address so all users could cue up whatever data they want, Meiners said. Current bottleneck points, such as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, would plug in "value added" where appropriate, but not throttle data exchange as occurs now. The flow chart he presented was a circle with the UAV sensor, user and agencies equal--as opposed to the more current top-down chart where data from a UAV entering an agency like NIMA might not ever leave it. As the benefits of network-centric UAV operations become increasingly clear, so do the challenges of UAV command and control beyond a limited number of platforms overflying relatively localized areas. Although Predator and Global Hawk have pioneered UAV surveillance and attack operations over Afghanistan, it is the ground control side of the equation that has limited operations somewhat, said Marine Col. R. Thomas Bright, deputy chief of operations in the Operations Directorate at U.S. Central Command in Tampa. The entire Enduring Freedom operation in Afghanistan has been conducted with just eight Predators--but only 1-3 can be airborne at any given time, Bright said. He also heads the Joint Operations Center at Central Command. "What we would like to do is put multiple UAVs up, [but that is limited] due to the ground control station," he said. "It's not a function of not having enough airframes, but rather the [limitations of] the ground station. We would love to have 5-6 in the air at any one time." He noted that often Afghanistan surveillance by the Predator is characterized as 24 hr. a day/seven days a week. But that is for localized coverage only. A single Predator aloft for 12 hr. can provide significant coverage of two areas. It can loiter for a while over Kandahar, then, for example, fly to Kabul and provide surveillance there before returning to land. Although valuable, it is not providing full coverage of the entire country by any means. And without mentioning Iraq, Bright highlighted the problem of providing comprehensive Predator coverage of any larger near-term conflict. "If we were to get into a bitter conflict where we have more significant targets to deal with, or a larger or more broadly defined area to deal with--then you complicate this issue of 24/7 coverage," he said. Operationally, icing has limited some missions, but heat can be a problem as well, he said. A Predator rolled out of its shelter in 100F weather literally must be launched within 5-10 min. or it likely will have its mission scrubbed because the components in its sensor suite cannot tolerate the 150F temperatures that can build up inside the aircraft if takeoff is delayed by even a few minutes. Three Global Hawks have also been assigned to support Afghanistan, and there the problem has been overall complexity of its command and control chain. Three communications satellite links are required for typical Afghan Global Hawk operations. A mission support element in Europe controls the Global Hawk via satellite, and the UAV also returns data to Europe via satellite. The mission element in Europe then retransmits the data via satellite back to the U.S., where it is distributed to the analysis and tactical planning communities. The U.S.-based element then retransmits information via satellite back to the European control station to retask the Global Hawk sensors based on what they found in the first place. The Global Hawk operations in Afghanistan are complicated "because it depends on assets on the ground throughout the world, as opposed to Predator, which has most of its ground support elements inside the Afghan area of operation," Bright said. Enhanced situational awareness is what Predator particularly brings to the Afghan theater, Bright said. "This is probably the most misunderstood element of what a UAV brings to the table." In that regard, Predator has proved to be extremely valuable in working through subtle issues involved with rules of engagement. This has been especially notable in avoiding collateral damage or civilian casualties when the UAV has been paired with strike aircraft or firing its own Hellfire missiles. But Predator is still an "immature system"--more analogous to what the U.S. Air Force OV-10 Broncos and their pilots provided through the Persian Gulf war in 1991, Bright said. Current Predator ops--from both a surveillance and self-strike capability--mimic much of what the OV-10 did earlier, but without risking the two crewmen, he added. The autonomous control of UAVs so they can provide a "truly ubiquitous battlefield" presence remains a tremendous challenge, said Jacob Hinchman of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Vehicles/Control Science Div. The pairing of UAV situational assessments with tightly coupled tasks between multiple UAVs--the type of operations necessary for broader UAV application--creates a huge problem, he stated in a paper at the meeting. To provide perspective on where current UAV and network-centric operations are now, compared with where they will be in several years, an analogy to the Wright Brothers is useful, said Rear Adm. John V. Chenevey, program executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation. He noted that it has taken 100 years to progress from the Wright Flyer to current high-performance aircraft operations. Chenevey said, however, that while current UAV development and operations are more on a par with the early "wing warping" control design of the Wright Flyer, he predicted the breakthroughs it has taken a century to accomplish with manned aircraft will be achieved on a scale of only 30 years in UAVs because of the importance being attributed to them now. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Free $5 Love Reading Risk Free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/NsdPZD/PfREAA/Ey.GAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2002-10-01 06:44:31 PDT