US Navy foresees an uncrewed future for its surface and underwater fleet
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
AAI Corporation announced today that its Aerosonde small unmanned aircraft and air crew participated in a six-week University of Colorado exploration of the cold, rough katabatic winds present on the coast of Antarctica.
After extensive observation, University of Colorado scientists can now generate highly detailed, three-dimensional maps to help study the katabatic winds’ relationship to Antarctic sea ice formation.
AAI’s crew flew four Aerosonde aircraft, which logged more than 130 flight hours and flew nearly 7,000 miles during their 16 flights.
For this mission, the Aerosonde aircraft were fitted with meteorological instruments to measure pressure, temperature, relative humidity, winds, net radiation, surface temperature and ice thickness. AAI also integrated satellite communications equipment onto the aircraft to enable beyond-line-of-sight aircraft control.
The durable Aerosonde Mark 4 aircraft flew in temperatures as cold as -38 degrees Celsius, and remained aloft up to 17 straight hours during its mission to Terra Nova Bay, the focus of the project. This site was chosen because of the particularly strong katabatic winds present there, as well as its wide expanse of open water surrounded by sea ice.
“We never would have accomplished as much as we did without the tireless efforts of AAI’s Aerosonde air crew,” says John Cassano, assistant professor at the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
“We pushed the envelope on what can be done with unmanned aircraft for meteorological research. Our Aerosonde aircraft had to fly in extreme cold and winds up to 90 miles per hour for extensive lengths of time. Yet we were able to capture the information we had hoped to secure in support of our studies.”
The Aerosonde aircraft has taken part in other, similarly perilous meteorological research missions. As part of its previous work with NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an Aerosonde aircraft completed a history-making flight into Hurricane Noel in November 2007. It was the first hurricane mission in which an unmanned aircraft was able to explore the storm’s eye and the eye wall. The 17-hour, 27-minute flight duration was a record for unmanned aircraft hurricane missions, and the Aerosonde aircraft gathered data from as low as 300 feet above the ocean’s surface.
In 2001, Aerosonde aircraft were utilized to gather atmospheric and environmental data in Barrow, Alaska, in support of University of Colorado/National Science Foundation research on Arctic warming and regional climate change. The aircraft accumulated more than 1,000 flight hours over five years during this research mission.
“Unmanned aircraft like our Aerosonde deliver powerful capability in a small, easy-to-use package,” says AAI Vice President of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Steven Reid. “They can accommodate extreme weather conditions, mission durations and other hazards that would be too dangerous for manned aircraft — all while gathering comprehensive, vital data. Our Aerosonde aircraft have now completed such missions near both the North and South Poles. It is incredibly rewarding to take part in research that can help us understand our planet more fully.”
AAI has offered the Aerosonde Mark 4.7, a derivative of the Aerosonde Mark 4 aircraft, as its entry for the joint U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS)/Tier II competition.
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
Tekever has manufactured the AR3, AR4 and AR5 UAS with all systems sharing common electronics and software architecture, which has enabled the reuse of ground segment elements within the new ARX UAS.
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.