By akademiotoelektronik, 12/01/2023

Will technology definitely erase the intrinsic weaknesses of male drones?

On July 11, 2018, a male MQ-9b Skyguardian drone of the manufacturer General Atomics Aircraft System Incorporated (GA-ASI)) piloted remotely from the United States arose in the United Kingdom at Fairford air base after a transatlantic flight of 24hours in the middle of inhabited air traffic.A first for the world of drones.This event is certainly to the drone what the flight of the Spirit of Saint-Louis of Lindbergh was for the planes inhabited in the late 1930s: the advent of a revolution in the employment of aviation employment.

Beyond the historical parallel, it demonstrates the level of maturity now reached by technologies developed for these platforms.They make it possible to learn a number of operational lessons that will not fail to influence the current employment concepts of male drones.Indeed, technological progress and deployed equipment today make it possible to erase many of the intrinsic limitations and weaknesses of the drone which forced its daily job in operations, or even prohibited, with rare exceptions, its use in national air spaces.Thus, the drone revolution now seems inexorably underway.We propose to study these advances through six new capacities that contribute to it.

Satcom Autoland

The transatlantic flight carried out on July 11, 2018 shows that it is now possible to deploy in flight an ISR (intelligence, surveillance and recognition)) capacity)) multicaptive at thousands of kilometers, like any other plane.The only need is to have a small team of technicians on the deployment field simply charged with the plane fuel and its reconnection in Blos (Bewond Line of Site)) with its cockpit located on the parking lot parking.It is no longer necessary to dismantle the plane or set up a whole logistics, including a complex set of antennas, electrical and technical support organized around the cockpit.For nations whose concept of employment is based on the remote split operations (RSO)), this does not change much in the missions.For the others who, like France, carry out their missions from the theaters of operations, this facilitates the provision of an ISR initial capacity, as in the context of an evacuation of nationals.

For example, within the framework of a mission to evacuate nationals like that which took place in Lebanon (operation "Balistic" in 2006)) or within the framework of the operation "Hamilton" in 2018, aMQ-9b could have taken off from Cognac, fly safely above the Mediterranean and provide 25-hour SRI support before landing in Cyprus on the basis of Akrotiri.A team of three people with a simple laptop arrived by a commercial flight would have been enough to ensure the replacement.The drone, once the fuel has been carried out, would have been available this time for a 36 -hour mission.This technical advance also makes it possible to make possible the short -term SRI missions, managed in this case only from a distance.Restrictions linked to overview and deployment authorizations will persist and it is likely that in an armed configuration it is more complicated, if not impossible.Nevertheless, this makes it possible to consider each aviation land existing in the operating area as a dutting land in the event of a weather or technical problem.Again, it is an intrinsic weakness that complicated operations and which is now lifted.It is thus possible to use advanced bases with a limited replacement team in order to reduce transit times and thus increase the surveillance time in the area of interest.In the case of a concept of employment only based on operations managed from the national territory (American and British models)), this saves the teams to deploy to provide the LRE (Launch and Recovery - take -off and landing)) function)), since it is made from a distance.This is a significant advantage since these systems are very greedy in human resources, in particular for the management and implementation of sensors.The French model, which consists in deploying steering cockpits and information analysis elements closest to the troops deployed, whether conventional or special, remains relevant.

In order to integrate into the airspace during the transit phases, it is fundamental, like modern aircraft, to dispose for drones male of equipment such as the TCAS (Traffic collision avoidance System)).

Sense and avoid

"Sense and Avoid" radars coupled to TCAS are now suitable for several Male drones (MQ - 9B and Hermes 900 for example)).They allow to offer a credible alternative to the traditional rule of "see and avoid" and thus opens the field to an undegreey cohabitation of drones equipped with these devices with the other habited planes.Established during the 1949 Chicago Convention, the latter represents the basis of air rules for theft of civil and military aircraft.If technology has largely increased the pilot's vision thanks to electronic devices like TCAS, this foundation remains intangible and de facto disqualifies drones.Indeed, the pilot is not on board, even if he is in control of the drone from a deported cockpit called improperly by the Anglo-Saxons GCS (Ground Control Station)).This is certainly the major evolution in the use of drones in this category.We could even go so far as to talk about a revolution.If today the TCAS replaces the human eye by far as a main avoidance sensor on line of line planes, the concept of "sense and avoid", however theorized, did not apply to drones due totechnical constraints and lack of equipment light sufficiently and little energy consumer to be aircraft.This is no longer the case now.

Coupled with TCAS and ADS-B (Auto Depend Surveillance Broadcast)), the male drones will have active time sensors in the form of an air-to-air radar allowing them, like any modern aircraft, ofMake automatic trajectory avoidance in front of any plane, whether it is cooperative, that is to say equipped with similar devices or not.We mean by non -cooperative aircraft all aircraft not having TCAS or IFF, like leisure planes.This advance, coupled with protections against ride and lighting, has several operational consequences.It will first allow you to fly in a perfectly normal way in the entire airspace without having to constantly physically separate the aircraft piloted aboard those piloted at a distance.If France is very advanced in male drone flights above its territory, this is nevertheless complex and subject to very strict and restrictive rules.The other advantage joins the above point by the fact that, from now on, the deployment of these planes can be done through any aerial space class.No need to create specific corridor networks.As with any other plane, a flight plan and overview authorizations are enough.Air Force Male drones could thus, within the framework of preplanified missions, of a partnership with other inter -ministerial organizations or training flights, thus put themselves at the service of customs, missions of saror civil security for example.

These equipment (TCAS)) and sensors (due radar gaze)) is not sufficient to allow a cohabitation without constraint between drones and other planes evolving above civilian populations in particular.The consolidation of the satellite link is fundamental.

Redundancy of the main satellite link

The redundancy of the main BLOS bond in Ku or Ka strip by another satellite connection operating in another frequency band (Inmarsat for example)), if not, ensures the continuation of the mission, at least permanently the maintenance of the piloting capacities of theplane, even in case of jamming.Satellite data connections, a real digital umbilical cord, are used for piloting, the implementation of sensors and the dissemination of data collected from the plane to the cockpit.Although they are robust and secured by cryptographic devices, the latter can sometimes be interrupted.The reasons can be multiple: electromagnetic or meteorological interference, jamming, or simply technical breakdown on the ground or on board the drone system.The consequences of this satellite connection interruption are primarily the stopping of the dissemination of sensor data and the incapacity of the crew to interact with the plane.

The plane certainly adopts standardized and predetermined behavior.It follows a permanently updated pre -programmed flight plan, to take into account meteorological developments in particular.But, in this case, it becomes more a robot according to a preprogrammed road than an plane whose interaction with its environment would allow it to manage complex situations.Unless you call upon AI (increased or artificial intelligence)), an option that is always debated, but which would have all its meaning in this particular phase of the flight where all the sensors on board are still operational.Beyond their consequence on the ISR mission, these liaison losses, fortunately rare, reveal a real weakness, especially in the event that drones evolve in an unregosed environment of other aircraft, or in the event that the weather situation comesto evolve in a very unfavorable way, as during the rainy season in Africa.However, thanks to this second satellite link, the plane will now always remain controlled and may in complete safety either pursue its mission with reduced flows for the FMV (Full Motion Video)), or be brought back or placed on a dutting ground.This double security undeniably contributes to preventing the scrambling and, in addition to the equipment of Sense and Avoid mentioned above, to make these planes perfectly fit in the flight in an unwavered environment.

The last step in this standardization process lies in the ability to produce piloting planes and cockpits according to standards which will allow, as for any civil aircraft, to certify them.This is the sine qua non condition of their limitless integration into general air traffic and for the overflight of the populations.

Certificability

The years 2019-2021 will see the advent of new drones (MQ-9b and Hermes-900)) which, built according to the standards of civil aircraft, will thus be certified and certified according to the standards established by the civil aviation authorities andNATO (Stanag 4671)) or British (UK Defstan 00-970)).Initially designed to fulfill a surveillance role and then of combat in external operations, the male drones remained confined to missions grouped under the now well known concept of Dirty Dull and Dangerous (DDD)).Thus, their production responded more to a logic of performance and low cost due to their supposed "disposable" nature than to compliance with navigability standards.In Israel, the historic leader in the production and employment of male drones with the United States, the airspace remains under full military control and the drones therefore do not have to apply civil standards.Customer requirements, in particular Europeans, have forced Israeli drone manufacturers to take this imperative into account to hope.Thus, without compliance with navigability standards for obtaining a flight certificate, no prolonged flight above civilian populations or the possibility of integrating into the air space in the middle of other aircraft.This therefore made thefts very complicated, in France for example, even if the MQ-9 Reaper crash statistics show that this system has a lower crash rate than that of the F-16, or even zero as in the United Kingdom.Although this state has the largest MQ -9 fleet in Europe, none can fly, not being certifiable, in its airspace.This is why the RAF opted for their replacement by the MQ - 9B Protector - the British name of the MQ - 9B Skyguardian.

The Eurodrone program is intended, in addition to providing Europe with sovereign capacity in the male segment, to meet these requirements of certification and navigability, and to allow, for example, to the Luftwaffe drones to fly in Germany.Although it has drones heron -1 and heron TP, none of these systems is authorized to fly in the German sky.There is an urgency to cross this course.It is more and more unacceptable to the taxpayer citizen, and sometimes the victim of terrorism, to think that these expensive means cannot be employed to increase their own security, in addition to traditional means, above the national territory or the borders ofthe European Union.The modes of action of modern terrorism have created a continuity between the national territory and the operating areas, in particular with networks animated by transnational criminal organizations broken to the art of bypassing the traditional means of police supervision orcustoms.These new certifiable drones therefore make it possible to consider their use without restriction on the national territory in support of counter-terrorism missions, but also, by extension, of all those contributing to the protection of citizens (SAR, anti-crime, during natural disasters)))).

The now possible implementation and deployment of these drones from the national territory for maritime surveillance missions implies flight time and increased endurance.

Doubly of endurance

The significant increase in the endurance of modern male drones now offers the possibility of obtaining an occupation of the airspace above a target and its environment.Time in zone will now count in days and no longer in hours.The transatlantic flight carried out by GA-ASI by means of an MQ-9b Skyguardian shows that Male drones now have endurance much greater than 24 hours, excluding transit time.These capacities facilitate the obtaining of what should now be called the air occupation.The intrinsic weakness of aviation lies in fact in its inability to last in its own environment, the airspace.Or at prohibitive costs for most nations, the United States apart from.The introduction of the real time indeed marks a new turning point in the history of air war.This trend, first limited due to the experimental nature of these new planes which were similar to fragile motorcycles, has gradually imposed itself in the context of the counter-insurgency or low or medium intensity war.In the mid -2000s, the advent of new drones in the MQ -9 Reaper and Heron TP class accelerated.Today, the needs concerning surveillance in the maritime field explode.In addition to increasing the activity of the Russian navy and continuous growth of the Chinese navy, the guarantee of free movement on seas and respect for exclusive economic zones and their natural resources as well as the waves of migrants in the Mediterraneanor in the Mozambique Canal have become a major issue.And this happens in a moment or, paradoxically, the size of the Western Marines fleets has never been so low.In addition, after having reduced their fleets to the congruent portion due to the disappearance in the 1990s of the Russian underwater threat, many countries were forced to reinvest in aircraft maritime.

However, their cost at the time of flight is of such a level that these devices, of the P -8 Poseidon type, for example, cannot in itself constitute the backbone of maritime surveillance.The new generation of male drones, at a much more modest flight cost, represents, with endurance of more than 40 hours, a credible and inexpensive solution for these maritime surveillance issues.An intelligent distribution of roles could consist in the alternate use of aircraft piloted remotely for daily surveillance, or DULL in Anglo-Saxon terminology, and planes piloted on board for intervention missions.

Finally, in order to take full advantage of this occupation of the airspace made possible by the characteristics mentioned above, the male drones must also have a plug and play capacity to integrate an ever greater variety of sensors.This is particularly the case for nations wishing to have full sovereignty in their intelligence collection.

Sensors modularity

Modern male drones allow, thanks to the digital separation of the flight control software from that of the mission system, to customize and aircraft, depending on the needs and aspirations of customers, a larger number of sensors on the samedevice.

Today, the Drone Male becomes an Isr Omnirôle and Plug and Play platform.As indicated in the previous paragraphs, modern male drones now make it possible to envisage permanent surveillance of a goal and its environment.In order to take advantage of the air occupation thus obtained, it is advisable to have a modularity of sensors according to the military or civil mission without, ideally, to observe the endurance.The palette of sensors is multiple and extends from traditional high definition cameras in real time (FMV)) to multimod radars via a whole panoply of guided weapons and multi-intelligence sensors (Comint, Elint, Wami (1)), hyperspectral, electronic war, anti-sous-marine buoys, etc..)).

The challenge is to give the customer the possibility, for obvious questions of sovereignty, to be quickly able to obtain an integration of his own armaments and sets of sensors.And this without calling into question navigability since the work will have been carried out on the flight control software which is by separate design of the mission system.Thus, in addition to cryptography, the customer will therefore have full control of the data collected during a special mission, secret or judicial vocation.This is where, beyond the construction of a composite air vehicle, the real sovereignty.In the daily management of a drone fleet implemented by an air force clearly identified, named and recognized as a male expert for the benefit of other armies and the interministerial, the possibility of having this flexibility plug and playTo aircraft a wide variety of sensors of national origin would be a considerable advance.

Conclusion

The technology will undoubtedly continue to allow standardization of the use of male drones like any other inhabited aircraft, as we wanted to demonstrate through the six capacities identified in this article.It makes it possible to erase all the current operational constraints linked to the weather, to regulations or simply to design problems.And this in complete safety for citizens since these systems will meet the most drastic navigability standards.This new momentum will therefore bring the hatching of a new generation of modern male drones which will be the response to the requirements of persistence, precision and time contraction throughout the specter of defense, civil security and maritime surveillance missionsnotably.However, it should be kept in mind that these planes remain controlled at a distance and that the data collected by the Kyrielle of embedded sensors requires being analyzed.Indeed, these uninhabited systems remain very dependent on crews all that is most human.

As I like to recall: "There is Nothing More Manned Than an Unmanned System!In order to cope with these issues, a first answer lies in a sharing of tasks.The model would be a sharing between state -based state means between the armies under the direction of an air medium expert and outsourcing to specialized civilian companies, in the field of ISR in particular, for routine surveillance missions.In other words, monotonous or routine missions (DULL)).Another technical response is in preparation, or even during experimentation.This is the introduction of a certain level of automation based on AI.This will first affect data analysis, then assistance in the management of multiple drones before then allowing a synchronous interaction with other inhabited aircraft according to the concept of "Slave Wingman".Another revolution.Paradoxically, it may be unmanned aircraft on board, and endowed with an AI, which restore all its strength to the prophetic quotation of Clément Ader: "Who will be master of the world will be master of the world.»»

Note

(1)) Wide Area Motion Imagery.

Legend of the photo on the front page: an American MQ-9 Reaper.The MQ-9B will win two additional points.(© US Air Force))

Pour aller plus loin...Article paru dans la revue DSI n°142, « La guerre des perceptions : tromper l’ennemi pour vaincre»», juillet-août 2019 .