Drone aircraft will be smarter, more social

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The Navy also has been seeking a more flexible way to deliver sonobuoys, disposable sonar systems which are typically dropped from aircraft into water to detect submarines or do underwater research and surveillance. Right now, to deploy those sensors accurately, a manned aircraft typically has to fly within 1,000 feet directly over a target site, which can put the vehicle and its occupants in harm's way.

An expendable UAV called the Coyote, developed by Tucson, Ariz.-based Advanced Ceramics Research, is designed to deliver such surveillance sensors from a plane flying at an altitude of up to 20,000 feet. A gliding UAV system developed by Kazak Composites of Woburn, Mass., could carry a sonobuoy up to 26 nautical miles when launched from an altitude of 30,000 feet. Both products have already undergone flight tests and hope to qualify for real-world Navy use within the next two years.

Eventually, UAVs may not be confined to air- and land-based launches. Last spring, an unmanned plane devised by Oregon Iron Works successfully completed what the company called the first documented successful autopilot of a seaplane. The 350-pound Sea Scout, made of composite aluminum, is capable of carrying a 35-pound payload and is designed to be stored in a standard shipping container to conserve deck space. Algorithms allow the plane to take off, operate and land autonomously on lakes, rivers, lagoons, bays and oceans.

The military has attempted to adapt land-based UAVs to maritime environments in the past, but they proved vulnerable to corrosion from the saltwater and required extra equipment for launching, said Joshua Pruzek, the Portland, Ore.-based company's military division manager. The canary yellow vehicle has already received a handful of updates and has been undergoing flight tests in Texas. Its target start date for commercial production is late 2008.

The companies showcased at the event are in the second phase of product development under the Navy's Small Business Innovation Research program, which means they typically have been working on their project inspired by Defense Department solicitations for about two years and have received more than $750,000 in funding toward their efforts.

When they reach the third phase, they're essentially on their own, left to forge partnerships with military units and larger defense contractors to conduct final testing on their products. If all goes well, the products move into the fleet and the marketplace. That's sometimes easier said than done, though--some companies have estimated it will still cost millions more dollars to make such a transition.

The Pentagon wants to encourage small businesses to come up with solutions to military conundrums, in part because they tend to be more nimble than larger contractors, Bill Balderson, a Navy deputy assistant secretary who presides over research, development and acquisition in its air programs, told conference attendees. But he warned that constant monetary constraints--and wariness at times about doing business with smaller, less-established companies--means that getting new technologies inserted into Pentagon operations can resemble a "combat sport."

[nzamparello]

Hehehe

Weren't early terminators in t3 unmanned flying drones??