DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. And Israel Are Nervous About Chinese Entry Into The UAV Market

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:  U.S. And Israel Are Nervous About Chinese Entry Into The UAV Market

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Page
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 24, 2013:  Despite all the publicity American UAVs receive, the major exporter of UAVs in the last decade has been Israel. Between 2002 and 2012 Israel exported $4.7 billion worth of UAVs, about twice as much as the U.S. exported. Part of this was due to the U.S. military demand for UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was largely met by American suppliers. But there were also U.S. government restrictions on American UAV exports. These still exist, for political (no weapons and a long list of countries that cannot buy) and security (many countries cannot be trusted to keep American secrets secret). These restrictions are becoming a major issue for U.S. UAV manufacturers because Israel already has a head start as an exporter and China (using copies of many Israeli and U.S. UAVs) is coming up fast. The UAV market is expected to double (to over $11 billion a year) in the next decade and American firms have to export to survive, because the American military has cut purchases way back and will not be buying much for the next five years (or more).

It’s understandable that the Israelis are leading exporters, as they developed a lot of the basic technology that made possible best-selling American models (like Predator and Raven). Israel kept developing UAV tech after successful American designs appeared. As a result of this trend, in the last decade nations have found that if they wanted American style UAVs but often could no buy American for whatever reason. But the Israelis probably had what you needed, and often at a better price.

Take, for example, the well-known American MQ-1 Predator. This is a one ton aircraft that is 8.7 meters (27 feet) long with a wingspan of 15.8 meters (49 feet). It has two hard points, which usually carry one (47 kg/107 pound) Hellfire each. Max speed of the Predator is 215 kilometers an hour while max cruising speed is 160 kilometers an hour. Max altitude is 8,000 meters (25,000 feet). Typical sorties are 12-20 hours each. The Predator evolved from concepts and UAV designs developed in Israel and Israel has long offered cheaper (and often similar looking) models that did what Predator did.

Before the Predator there was the Gnat 750 and  I-Gnat ER/ Sky Warrior Alpha. These looked like Predator and in terms of design and capabilities they were cousins, not siblings. The Gnat is a 1980s design that was used in Iraq, along with and the I-Gnat ER, which was similar in size and capabilities to Predator. All of these UAVs evolved from earlier Israeli designs and UAV concepts.

Another UAV with Israeli DNA was the Shadow 200. This was a 159 kg (350 pound) UAV that carries day and night cameras and laser designators but usually no weapons. Shadow is being replaced by the much larger MQ-1C. This “improved Predator” weighs 1.5 tons, carries 135.4 kg (300 pounds) of sensors internally, and up to 227.3 kg (500 pounds) of sensors or weapons externally. It has an endurance of up to 36 hours and a top speed of 270 kilometers an hour. MQ-1C has a wingspan of 18 meters (56 feet) and is 9 meters (28 feet) long. The MQ-1C can carry four Hellfire missiles (compared to two on the Predator), or a dozen smaller 70mm guided missiles. Each MQ-1C costs about $10 million. The army uses warrant officers as operators. The MQ-1C has automated takeoff and landing software and is equipped with a full array of electronics (target designators and digital communications so troops on the ground can see what the UAV sees).

As its model number (MQ-1C) indicates, this UAV is a Predator (MQ-1) replacement. The U.S. Air Force had planned to replace its MQ-1s with MQ-1Cs but later decided to buy only larger Reapers. The MQ-1C was developed for the army. The last member of the Predator family is the MQ-9 Reaper. This is a 4.7 ton, 11 meter (36 foot) long aircraft with a 20 meter (66 foot) wingspan that looks like the MQ-1. It has six hard points and can carry about a ton (2,400 pounds) of weapons. These include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500) pound smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour, and max endurance is 15 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in ground support missions.

The most numerous U.S. Army UAVs are the micro-UAVs (Ravens and Pumas). There are over 6,000 of these tiny (under six kg/13.2 pound) reconnaissance aircraft in army service. They are the most heavily used UAVs. The RQ-11 Raven is a two kilogram (4.4 pound) aircraft popular with combat and non-combat troops alike. The current RQ-11B can stay in the air for 80 minutes at a time. The Raven is battery powered (and largely silent unless flown close to the ground). It carries a color day vidcam or a two color infrared night camera. The larger (5.9 kg) Puma AE UAV can stay in the air twice as long as Raven is more resistant to bad weather and carries better sensors.

Israel has UAVs similar in capabilities to all those mentioned above, and in many cases the Israeli versions got into service first. But that won’t do much good with the Chinese closing in. Both the U.S. and Israel are nervous about Chinese entry into the UAV market. The Chinese stuff is often copied or stolen tech and usually not as effective orreliable. But the Chinese stuff is cheaper and they will sell anything to anyone who can pay.  The Chinese pay more attention to Israeli UAVs and sales methods than those of the United States. Israel exports 80 percent of its UAVs and has customers in fifty countries. Unlike the United States, Israeli UAVs can operate within Israel and are heavily used by the Israeli military. This gives Israeli UAVs that “combat proven” seal of approval.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Page
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: Why Pakistan Cannot Have Predators

DTN News: Why Pakistan Cannot Have Predators

Source: Strategy Page

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 20, 2010: For years, Pakistan has pressured the U.S. to sell (or give) them Predator UAVs. The Americans refused, at first quietly, but now openly. The U.S. has offered three units of the smaller (160 kg) Shadow 200 models. These are widely used by the U.S. Army, but are not large enough to carry 45 kg Hellfire missiles, like the one ton Predator does. The U.S. doesn't want Pakistan to have Predator/Hellfire partly to keep the technology away from China, partly to keep the systems from being used to kill tribal leaders the U.S. does not consider hostile. The U.S. also fears Pakistan would use Predators used against India. Above all, these UAVs are in big demand by American and NATO forces, who have priority. The Pakistanis are also prone to corruption, and giving them missile armed Predators would encourage Taliban and tribal leaders to offer money, or cooperation, to avoid a Hellfire missile. You can't bribe the Americans, which is what really annoys many Pakistanis. What also annoys Pakistanis is the Americans constantly pointing out that Islamic terrorists are killing far more Pakistanis than the Indian armed forces, and the two countries have not fought a way for over 30 years. Yet Pakistan still keeps most of its security forces aimed at India, while India pays more attention to the Chinese threat. Pakistan has another problem in that the most prolific exporter of world class UAVs, Israel, is one nation Pakistan officially hates and cannot do business with. The only other supplier of first rate UAVs is the United States. Some European nations are developing first rate UAVs, but these are not available yet. Each RQ-7B Shadow 200 UAV unit requires 20-30 troops to operate and maintain four UAVs and the ground control equipment. Typically, each combat brigade has one Shadow UAV system. Export customers pay about $16 million for each RQ-7B system, and this includes spare parts, technical assistance and training. The Shadow 200 UAVs cost $500,000 each, and can stay in the air six hours per sortie. A day camera and night vision camera is carried on each aircraft. Able to fly as high as 4,900 meters/15,000 feet, the Shadow can thus go into hostile territory and stay high enough (over 3,200 meters/10,000 feet) to be safe from hostile rifle and machine-gun fire. In Iraq and Afghanistan, most Shadow missions were at a lower altitude, and often over a city or town. Brigade and battalion commanders can then get a constant top down view of what's happening down below. Although this sort of thing is technically possible with a commander in a helicopter overhead, the helicopter attracts too much enemy fire to make this practical for any length of time, and are much more expensive to operate. The Shadow UAV, however, can fly high enough in day time to be safe from enemy fire. A night, the Shadow can come down lower because they are difficult to spot in the dark. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also offered Pakistan the smaller ScanEagle UAV, which has a longer endurance. The ScanEagle UAV weighs 18 kg (40 pounds), has a ten foot (three meter) wingspan and uses a new video technology (PixonVision), that provides greater resolution than other video cameras. The ScanEagle can stay in the air for up to 15 hours per flight, and fly as high as 5,200 meters (16,000 feet). The aircraft carries an optical system that is stabilized to keep the cameras focused on an object while the UAV moves. The UAV can operate at least a hundred kilometers from the controller. The ScanEagle is launched from a catapult and landed via a wing hook that catches a rope hanging from a fifty foot pole. Each ScanEagle costs about $100,000, and is widely used by commercial fishing, ocean survey and research ships.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com Disclaimer statement Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated, opinions expressed herein are those of the author of the page and do not necessarily represent the corporate views of DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News.

DTN News: U.S. Hopes To Give Pakistan Drones Within A Year

DTN News: U.S. Hopes To Give Pakistan Drones Within A Year Source: DTN News / Reuters By Phil Stewart (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 30, 2010: The Pentagon aims to deliver a fleet of surveillance drones to Pakistan within a year, but weaponised versions of the unmanned aircraft are still off-limits, a U.S. military official said on Monday. U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced plans in January to provide Islamabad with what aides said at the time were 12 Shadow drones, aiming to boost its ability to track insurgents. But a senior U.S. military official, briefing reporters at the Pentagon on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was still weighing whether Shadow drones were the model of unmanned aircraft best suited to its needs. "We looked at Shadows. We looked at Scan Eagles and other tactical UAVs that are out and about and what we want to do is try to find out" which model is best, the official said, referring to drones as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Shadows are manufactured by AAI Corporation, a unit of Textron Systems, while Scan Eagles are manufactured by Boeing Co. Islamabad has also pressed for weaponised drones, like the ones the CIA is covertly using in Pakistan to track and kill al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents. The official, asked about that request, said general U.S. policy was not to export weaponised capabilities of any drone aircraft. Washington has been reluctant to share sensitive technology so far. The number of surveillance drones that the United States would eventually provide to Pakistan depends on the cost of the model selected, the official said. "A key factor will be how quickly we can get the capabilities to them," the official said. Pressed on timing, the official said: "I would like to think that we would get them there within a year." Pakistan is already using some non-U.S., imported drone technology and has modified a C-130 military transport aircraft to allow some surveillance activities, the official said. Drones have proven to be a crucial technological advantage for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq, allowing it to remotely track militants and giving commanders battleground imagery in real time. Gates told a Senate hearing last week it was in the U.S. interest to try to help close allies get drone technology, despite limitations on exports imposed by an international pact, known as the Missile Technology Control Regime. The MTCR is a pact among at least 34 countries aimed at curbing the spread of unmanned delivery systems that could be used for weapons of mass destruction.

DTN News: AAI's Shadow Tactical UAS Flies 100,000th Mission

DTN News: AAI's Shadow Tactical UAS Flies 100,000th Mission *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) Hunt Valley, Md., - November 5, 2009: AAI Corporation, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today announced that its Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS) have completed 100,000 missions. With 113 systems ordered and 87 delivered, Shadow systems are deployed with the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Army Special Forces and Marine Corps. These systems have amassed more than 445,000 flight hours, the majority of which have been in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shadow is the smallest of the Shadow family of unmanned aircraft systems developed by AAI. It is in operational service with the US Army and US Marine Corps. Shadow is used to locate, recognise and identify targets up to 125km from a brigade tactical operations centre. The system recognises tactical vehicles by day and night from an altitude of 8,000ft and at a slant range of 3.5km. Imagery and telemetry data is transmitted in near-real time from the Shadow ground control station to joint stars common ground station, all-sources analysis system and to the army field artillery targeting and direction system. Shadow is in operational service in Afghanistan and in Iraq. By the end of December 2007, it had amassed more than 234,000 flight hours and flown in more than 55,000 missions. The Shadow family of unmanned aircraft systems is produced at AAI's facilities in Hunt Valley, Maryland. AAI Corporation is a subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation.* Ongoing system upgrades have been critical to enhancing the system's performance and reliability, enabling customers to evolve and expand mission profiles. While initially utilized as a day/night reconnaissance platform, AAI is now adding the capability to acquire and designate a target to its Shadow TUAS. In addition, deployed Shadow aircraft also are being equipped with a Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, or SINCGARS, communications relay. "The Shadow aircraft's mission set continues to expand through our ongoing enhancement activities," says Vice President of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Steven Reid. "We are fortunate to have several touch points with our users, from focus groups to direct feedback received by our field service representatives who work alongside deployed Shadow units. This valuable feedback keeps us connected to our customers' ever-changing mission needs so we can deliver system upgrades that meet those needs or anticipate new ones." Among current upgrades is a new lithium battery designed to provide power in the event of generator failure, giving the aircraft more than an hour and a half of additional flight time to land safely on base without necessitating an emergency parachute recovery. AAI also is integrating a new electronic fuel injection engine and a new fuel delivery system, which together are expected to bolster system reliability. The new battery, electronic fuel injection engine and fuel delivery system are expected to be fielded starting in late 2009. AAI's interoperable ground control technologies also are growing in maturity to deliver a wider range of user capabilities. The company's new Universal Ground Control Station, or UGCS, builds on the successful One System(r) Ground Control Station with greater operational flexibility and scalability, as well as enhanced features for command and control, joint services interoperability, information exchange and user ergonomics. "The Shadow system of today is not the Shadow system of six years ago, when it was first deployed into combat operations," says Reid. "Its capabilities, reliability and user friendliness have grown exponentially. What won't change is the teamwork AAI employees display to keep these valuable assets in the field with more than 95 percent availability, our commitment to developing the most robust system possible, and our responsiveness to existing and future user needs."

Analysis: UAVs Protect U.S. Troops In Iraq

Analysis: UAVs Protect U.S. Troops In Iraq

(NSI News Source Info) January 30, 2009: Unmanned aerial vehicles have proven their worth in the war on terror as reconnaissance and surveillance platforms that provide battlefield commanders with real-time, optically enhanced streaming video of terrain, suspicious movements and intelligence-driven targets of interest. On the brigade level, the Shadow-200 tactical UAV stands out. On the battalion level and lower, it's the Raven, a hand-launched UAV just 38 inches in length, with a 5-foot wingspan and with nose and side-mounted cameras. The battery-operated vehicle is so small, it can be packed in a suitcase and assembled in minutes. It can take to the air for about 60 minutes to provide soldiers in the field with real-time imagery of what lies ahead, although its cameras lack a zoom capability. But neither the Shadow nor the Raven is weapons-capable. The Predator-MQ1, however, is another matter. It's the big boy on the block with lethal punch to its payload, as terrorists in Iraq as well as Afghanistan have found out. "It's one of the most asked-for assets," said Lt. Col. Debra Lee, commander of the Air Force's 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. "There's a kind of bidding war that goes on for its time." The Predator is described by the Air Force as a "medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft system for interdiction and conducting armed reconnaissance against critical, perishable targets." It's 27 feet long, 6.9 feet high and has a wingspan of 48.7 feet. It's powered by a four-cylinder, 110-hp engine and cruises at speeds from 85 to 135 mph at heights of up to 25,000 feet. Its range is more than 400 miles. The electronics goody bag consists of a daytime variable-aperture TV camera, a variable-aperture infrared camera for low-light/night filming and other sensors that are packed under the nose in a basketball-sized and -shaped housing that rotates 360 degrees. The cameras stream real-time video to centers in the United States as well as to ground commanders closer to its flight sectors through satellite links. The cameras' optical zoom capabilities -- six step, 155x optical zoom -- can be enhanced two times and four times digitally. Its electronics also allow the Predator's cameras to "see" through smoke and haze. Attached to pylons on its wings are two laser-guided AGM Hellfire missiles. A Hellfire launched from a Predator in 2006 killed Iraq's most wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi was the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and for months had successfully escaped determined U.S. and Iraqi efforts to capture or kill him -- until intelligence about his travels in Diyala province in a particular vehicle was received. A Predator put paid to Zarqawi's orchestration of terror. "The Predator B -- MQ-9 -- can also carry 500-pound bombs," said Lee, normally a B-1 bomber pilot. "We had some here, but they're in Afghanistan now. But we hear we may be getting some again soon." The upgraded Predator is a 40-foot turboprop with a ceiling of 50,000 feet. Lee's unit is located at Joint Base Balad, which is north of Baghdad and west of Baquba. She and her 20 personnel, who include civilian contractors who maintain the Predators and their electronics, handle the birds during takeoff and landing phases.