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Remotely piloted vehicles

1999 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program

This web site provides access to a report prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on the Review of the ONR's Air and Surface Weaponry Program, National Academy Press, 1999. The report contains the findings and recommendations of the NRC's review committee, which was contracted by the United States Office of Nval Research (ONR) to examine the ONR's Air and Surface Weapons Technology (ASWT) Program. The program comprises the following weaponry mission areas: air superiority; precision stike; naval fire support; ship-defence; and supporting science and technology, including uninhabited combat air vehicle (UCAV) initiatives. An executive summary is available in HTML format, and the full text of the report can be accessed online in Open Book format.

2001 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Aircraft Technology Program

This provides access to a National Research Council, Naval Studies Board publication prepared by the Committee for the Review of ONR's Aircraft Technology Program, National Academy Press, 2001. The report contains the findings of the committee's review and evaluation of the programme in the areas of integrated avionics, propulsion and power, air vehicle technology, unmanned aerial vehicles / unmanned combat air vehicles (UAVs / UCAVs), and survivability against criteria selected by the committee. The text of the report is available in open book searchable format.

2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program

This web site provides access to a report prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on the Review of the ONR's Air and Surface Weaponry Program, National Academy Press, 2002. This report presents an assessment of the ASWT programme. The committee found the ASWT program to be reasonably well focused and containing several excellent science and technology (S&T) projects. An executive summary is available in HTML format, a report brief can be viewed and downloaded in PDf format, and the full text of the report can be accessed online in Open Book format.

A Concept for European Regulations for Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) : Final Report

This is the final report of a Joint JAA / EUROCONTROL UAV Task Force, 11 May 2004. The task force was established to address a development of an concept for the regulation of civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with respect to safety, security, airworthiness (including continued airworthiness), operational approval, maintenance and licensing. The UAV Task Force was established as a result of a joint initiative of the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) in September 2002. This document consists of a main body, two Annexes and five enclosures. The main body represents the consensus achieved by the UAV Task-Force. The Enclosure 1 sets up the scene with introductory information on the international and national regulatory framework for UAVs, describes the current and foreseen UAV applications and provides some details on the establishment of the UAV Task-Force. The enclosures 2-5 represent the output of the 3 Working Groups created within the Task-Force (General, Safety and Security; Airworthiness & Certification; Operations, Maintenance and Licensing) and EUROCONTROL for Air Traffic Management issues. The recommendations are summarized in the last part of the main body and mostly concern proposals for the relevant institution to initiate rule-making changes or policy making process to adjust the existing manned regulatory framework and address relevant technical issues. The text of the report and enclosures is available in PDF format.

A Genetic Algorithm for UAV Routing Integrated with a Parallel Swarm Simulation

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Second Lieutenant Matthew A Russell, USAF, AFIT/GCS/ENG/05-16, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology, in March 2005. This research investigation addresses the problem of routing and simulating swarms of UAVs. Sorties are modeled as instantiations of the NP-Complete Vehicle Routing Problem, and this work uses genetic algorithms (GAs) to provide a fast and robust algorithm for a priori and dynamic routing applications. Swarms of UAVs are modeled based on extensions of Reynolds' swarm research and are simulated on a Beowulf cluster as a parallel computing application using the Synchronous Environment for Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation (SPEEDES). In a test suite, standard measures such as benchmark problems, best published results, and parallel metrics are used as performance measures. The GA consistently provides efficient and effective results for a variety of VRP benchmarks. Analysis of the solution quality over time verifies that the GA exponentially improves solution quality and is robust to changing search landscapes - making it an ideal tool for employment in UAV routing applications. Parallel computing metrics calculated from the results of a PDES show that consistent speedup (almost linear in many cases) can be obtained using SPEEDES as the communication library for this UAV routing application. Results from the routing application and parallel simulation are synthesized to produce a more advanced model for routing UAVs. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

A Hybrid Jump Search and Tabu Search Metaheuristic for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Routing Problem

The site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by Captain Gary W. Kinney Jr, USAF, AFIT/GOA/ENS/00M-5, dated March 2000. The thesis describes the development of a meta-heuristic / tabu search hybrid, for the UAV mission routing problem. This allows real-life constraints such as time windows, target priorities, multiple depots, heterogeneous vehicle fleets, and pop-up threats to be incorporated into mission planning. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (462842 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

A Java Universal Vehicle Router in Support of Routing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The web site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by Second Lieutenant Robert W. Harder, USAF, AFIT/GOR/ENS/00M-16, dated March 2000. The thesis describes the development of a prototype vehicle router application for UAV mission planning operations. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (840,492 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

A Monocular Vision Based Approach to Flocking

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Second Lieutenant Brian P. Kirchner, USAF, AFIT/GCS/ENG/06-09, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. Flocking is seen in nature as a means for self protection, more efficient foraging, and other search behaviors. Although much research has been done regarding the application of this principle to autonomous vehicles, the majority of the research has relied on GPS information, broadcast communication, an omniscient central controller, or some other form of "global" knowledge. This approach, while effective, has serious drawbacks, especially regarding stealth, reliability, and biological grounding. This research effort uses three Pioneer P2-AT8 robots to achieve flocking behavior without the use of global knowledge. The sensory inputs are limited to two cameras, offset such that the area of stereo vision is minimal, thus making stereo image analysis techniques effectively impossible, but allowing a much larger effective field of vision. The flocking algorithm analyzes these images and updates each robot's velocity vector according to the relative position, heading, and speed of its nearest neighbor. The result of this velocity update is an eventual stabilization of speed and heading, resulting in a coherent, stable flock, demonstrated in both software simulation and in hardware. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

A Probabilistic Approach to UCAV Engine Sizing

A Probabilistic Approach to UCAV Engine Sizing; by Bryce Roth, Dr Dimitri Mavris, and Don Elliott, a paper prepared for presentation at the AIAA 34th Joint Propulsion Conference, July 13-15, 1998, Cleveland, OH, AIAA-98-3264. This paper is available from the web site at Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Aerospace Engineering. It describes a probabilistic approach to aircraft engine thrust sizing which is intended to assist the designer in making decisions in the very early stages of the design process when the operational concept is still evolving and uncertainty abounds (in both mission requirements and technological capability). The paper focusses on analysis of mission uncertainty such as that due to ambiguity in payload, range, maneuver requirements and its impact on propulsion sizing. (adapted from author's abstract). This is a PDF format document.

A Summary of Unmanned Aircraft Accident/Incident Data: Human Factors Implications

This technical report (DOT/FAA/AM-04/24) was produced by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine in December 2004 and was written by Kevin W. Williams. A review and analysis of unmanned aircraft (UA) accident data was conducted to identify important human factors issues related to their use. UA accident data were collected from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. Classification of the accident data was a two-step process. In the first step, accidents were classified into the categories of human factors, maintenance, aircraft, and unknown. Accidents could be classified into more than one category. In the second step, those accidents classified as human factors-related were classified according to specific human factors issues of alerts/alarms, display design, procedural error, skill-based error, or other. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

A Systems Architectural Model for Man-Packable/Operable Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Mini/Micro Aerial Vehicles

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Cory A. Cooper, USAF, Captain Matthew L. Ewoldt, USAF, Captain Steaven A. Meyer, USAF and Second Lieutenant Edward W. Talley, USAF, AFIT/ENY/GSE/05-M02, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2005. With the increase in both technology push and operational pull of mini/micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) within DoD organizations, an understanding of their interactions and capabilities is necessary. Many MAVs have already been developed for a specific usage and much speculation has been made on their future uses. Despite the growth of MAVs, there is currently no overarching systems architecture which would envelop and guide the DoD's MAV development efforts. The goal of this thesis is to apply sound systems engineering principals to develop a MAV architectural model describing their use in three separate but closely related mission areas: Over-the-Hill-Reconnaissance, Battle Damage Information, and Local Area Defense. This thesis focuses on single-man packable/operable MAVs utilized by small ground units synonymous with special operations forces. The three mission areas are combined to define a single overarching Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) MAV architecture. This architecture focuses on the current state of ISR MAVs and provides a baseline current capability. From this architecture, areas of interest relating to MAVs and their use in the DoD are discussed, focusing on enhancing both current and future capabilities of MAVs. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

A Tale of no Tail : An Anthology of the Flying Wing

This site is devoted to tailless aircraft from the earliest examples (Etrich, Dunne and others) through the 1930s, 40s and 50s (the era of the Horten Brothers, Lippisch and Northrop) and finally, the present day, where tailless designs have been adapted to the latest in ultra-miniature, pilotless aircraft, commonly known as Micro Air Vehicles (MAV). The site is part of the Lawrence Hargrave Aviation Pioneer site.

AAI Corporation Unmanned Aircraft Systems Home Page

Unmanned Air Aircraft Systems is one of AAI Corporation's five primary business units. The UAS Systems web site provides descriptions of the UAS product range including: Shadow 600, Shadow 400, Shadow 200, Pioneer, AAI Mission Planning and Control Station (MPCS), Ground Data Terminal (GDT), and other specialised UAS services such as operator training, payload development and integration, flight testing and turn-key operation. The site also links to other AAI Corporation resources including: company information, location, contact, and news, as well as a link to AAI Corporation's parent company, United Industrial Corporation (UIC).

AAI Corporation

AAI is a subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation (UIC) based in New York and is a manufacturer of high technology mechanical and electronic systems for the United States government and industry. The information on the site is arranged according to the Companies business activites: Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems, Training and Simulation Systems, Test Systems, Advanced Defence Programmes (includes Acoustic Detection Systems, Advanced Ground Support Equipment, Armament Systems, and Mechanical Systems), and Services such as Logistics and Depot Support, engineering and modification. The company's Unmanned Air Vehicle products include the Shadow 200 Shadow 400, and Shadow 600 series, Pioneer, iSTAR, and Aerosonde. The site also includes an A-Z product index, general company information, news and details of career opportunities.

ADF Employment of the Global Hawk Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

This web site provides access to an Air Power Studies Centre Working Paper titled: ADF Employment of the Global Hawk Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV), by Wing Commander Gary Hale, APSC Working Paper, 76,1999. The paper presents a brief description of the Global Hawk, including both the air and ground elements and examines the operational needs of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for the Global Hawk system. It identifies the key considerations for ADF employment of Global Hawk, describes the proposed ADF Global Hawk employment options, and finally, assesses those options against the ADF's operational needs. The full text is not currently available online but can be ordered through the Air Power Development Centre.

Advanced Autonomous Formation Control and Trajectory Management Techniques for Multiple Micro UAV Applications

This is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Educational Note RTO-EN-SCI-195, dated June 2008. Since the late 1990’s, has developed, amongst many of the NATO countries, a strong interest in developing Micro Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV’s) in enhancing the situation awareness on the battlefield in order to improve the accuracy of weapons targeting, and to aid war fighters in the pursuit of tacticasl missions on the ground. It is the desire to develop a viable cost-effective overall system design for accomplishing this goal. For example, future Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) concepts in concert with autonomous guidance and control operational scenarios significantly increase the regional functionality, while opening the design trade (performance specifications) space compared to existing military systems. The complexity of future NANO UAV’s control systems require that control system design engineers must, at the onset of the design process, be aware of the essential aspects involved in achieving a successful and a practical control system design and be aware of the associated computer computational requirements.. That is: factors such as functional requirements, performance specifications, dynamic model(s), control authority allocation, control system design, simulations, engineering visualization, interactive simulation, hardware-in-the-loop simulation/implementation, and system test. This lecture series is an excellent forum to present state-of-the-art system, design method, and the computational concepts on some or all of these factors. A table of contents, and the full text of the document can be accessed online in HTML format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Advanced Technologies Incorporated

This company provides aerospace research and development products and engineering and fabrication services such as wind tunnels, test equipment, prototype hardware and experimental helicopters. The site provides background information to the company and information on its product range with supporting images.

Advances in Vehicle Systems Concepts and Integration

This web site provides access to a NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO) document titled: Advances in Vehicle Systems Concepts and Integration, RTO-MP-44, March 2000. The report contains the proceedings of a joint symposium. Syposium (A) was titled: Aircraft update programmes: the economical alternative; and Symposium (B) was titled: Warfare automation: procedures and techniques for unmanned vehicles; held in Ankara, Turkey, 26-28 April 1999. The topics covered in symposium (A) included cockpit, sensor, engines, overview and lessons learned. Symposium (B) included Operational requiremnts for unmanned vehicles (UAVs), Integration and mission management, Platform management and critical technologies, and System concepts and mission experience. The citation and abstract information are in HTML format, and the full text is available online in PDF format (76 Mbytes).

AEgis Simulation Inc. - ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language) Software

ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language) products are owned by AEgis Software. Aerospace and defence applications of ACSL software products include: simulation of fixed and rotary wing flight dynamics; missile simulation, marine propulsion system simulation; and simulation of spacecraft dynamics. The site provides access to a range of information resources including: a product overview, a description of industry applications, and details of ACSL training programmes. The publications section provides access to a collection of papers in the ACSL electronic library. These cover many topic areas such as: aeronautics, aircraft design, aerodynamics, unmanned aircraft, engines, flight simulations, and vehicle dynamics. The full-text papers seem to be available in a variety of formats including HTML and PDF.

Aerodynamic Analysis of The Joined-Wing Configuration of A High-Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) Aircraft

This web site provides access to a University of Cincinnati, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics MS dissertation, by Rangarajan Sivaji, dated May 2004. The three-dimensional, unsteady, flow is simulated over the joined-wing section of a HALE (High-Altitude Long Endurance) aircraft based on the Sensorcraft configuration. This is the first step in the high-fidelity, nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of the HALE aircraft. The flow solution is obtained by solving the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) governing equations, using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model, or by using Detached Eddy Simulation (DES). With successful completion of the validation cases, simulations were performed at the lower and upper limits of the operating regime of the Sensorcraft. Inviscid simulations were also considered as a computationally efficient alternative to viscous simulations for the computation of the surface pressure loads to be applied on the structure, particularly at low angle of attack. This is verified by performing inviscid simulations, and comparing the resulting pressure with the corresponding viscous results at the Mach number of 0.6. The study serves as the foundation to provide an integrated aerodynamic and structural analyses software using a Multi-Disciplinary Computing Environment (MDICE) to predict the aeroelastic behavior of lifting bodies. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The title page, contents and the full text of the document are accessible online in PDF format (7.19 Mb). This title is part of the OhioLINL Electronic Theses and Dissertations Project.

Aerosonde Robotic Observation System

The Aerosonde is a miniature robotic aircraft for long-range environmental monitoring. It has been developed specifically for meteorological and environmental reconnaissance over oceanic and remote areas. The web site provides access to a range of information resources. Details are provided of the Company, the current Aerosonde programme collaborators, current events, and products and services. Details of the Aerosonde include: technical specifications, brief development history, and an image gallery that contains a 3view drawing, as well as a selection of QuickTime movies. The operations history section provides access to the full text of a selection of reports and the site is updated nearly daily in order to cover current missions.

Aerospace 2020 - Vol 1

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Advisory Report, AGARD-AR-360-01, dated April 1997. Volume 1, the summary volume, of the report of the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) study: 'Aerospace 2020'. This study explores the most advanced technologies, relevant to aerospace, being researched and developed in laboratories today. The study focuses on the most promising current technologies and the organizational and tactical consequences they will have at the field and system levels, over the course of the next 25 years. Topics include: a discussion of the impact of proliferation, human-machine interaction, synthetic environments, directed-energy weapons, information technologies, unmanned tactical aircraft, suborbital launchers, hypersonic missiles, and a discussion of affordability issues. Technologies are assessed from the viewpoints of both potential capabilities and threats. Observations and recommendations are presented. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text (3 Mb)is available in PDF format from the RTO's web site.

Aerospace 2020 Vol. II

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Advisory Report, AGARD-AR-360-02, Vol 11, dated September 1997. Volume II, the main volume, of the report of the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) study: 'Aerospace 2020'. This study explored the most advanced technologies, relevant to aerospace, being researched and developed in laboratories today. The study focused on the most promising current technologies and the organizational and tactical consequences they will have at the field and system levels, over the course of the next 25 years. Topics include: a discussion of the impact of proliferation, human-machine interaction, synthetic environments, directed-energy weapons, information technologies, unmanned tactical aircraft, suborbital launchers, hypersonic missiles, and a discussion of affordability issues. Technologies are assessed from the viewpoints of both potential capabilities and threats. Observations and recommendations are presented. Volume III contains technical papers in support of the conclusions reached. Volume I is a short summary of the conclusions. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text is available in PDF format from the RTO's web site.

Aerospace 2020

This is Research and Technology Organization (RTO) AGARD Advisory Report, AGARD-AR-360-03 (volume III), dated September 1997. It was sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. This study explored the most advanced technologies, relevant to aerospace, being researched and developed in laboratories today. The study focused on the most promising current technologies and the organizational and tactical consequences they will have at the field and system levels, over the course of the next 25 years. Topics include: a discussion of the impact of proliferation, human-machine interaction, synthetic environments, directed-energy weapons, information technologies, unmanned tactical aircraft, suborbital launchers, hypersonic missiles, and a discussion of affordability issues. Technologies are assessed from the viewpoints of both potential capabilities and threats. Observations and recommendations are presented. Volume II contains the conclusions of the report. Volume I is a short summary of these conclusions. Bibliographic details and an abstract are available in HTML format and the full text is available in PDF format from the RTO's web site.

AeroVironment Inc.

AeroVironment is a diverse company active in the following business areas: Sky Tower Telecommunications; Unmanned Air Vehicles; Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Systems; Distributed Energy; Environmental Services; Induastrial Posicharge; Power Processing Systems; Atmospheric Systems. In terms of UAVs current projects include: the Pointer, a production-ready electric UAV designed for remote monitoring and surveillance, a micro-UAV (MAV) program for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and high-altitude solar airplanes, including the Pathfinder, Centurion and Helios family, sponsored by NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) programme. Information Resources available from the web site include a company overview and brief description of the company's products and programmes.

AFIT UAV Swarm Mission Planning and Simulation System

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain James N. Slear, USAF, AFIT/GCE/ENG/06-08, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in June 2006. The purpose of this research is to design and implement a comprehensive mission planning system for swarms of autonomous aerial vehicles. The system integrates several problem domains including path planning, vehicle routing, and swarm behavior. The developed system consists of a parallel, multi-objective evolutionary algorithm-based path planner, a genetic algorithm-based vehicle router, and a parallel UAV swarm simulator. Each of the system's three primary components are developed on AFIT's Beowulf parallel computer clusters. Novel aspects of this research include: integrating terrain following technology into a swarm model as a means of detection avoidance, combining practical problems of path planning and routing into a comprehensive mission planning strategy, and the development of a swarm behavior model with path following capabilities. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Air Force Link : Fact Sheets

Provided by the United States Air Force, this site contains fact sheets on aspects of the USAF. Topics covered include organisations; space systems including satellites, GPS, surveillance and radar; weapons including missiles, sidewinder and joint direct attack munitions; and fighter, bomber, transport and reconniassance aircraft including Hercules, Globemaster, F 117A Nighthawk, F 15 Eagle, Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, and U 2. Each factsheet contains an overview of the mission, specifications and capabilities of the equipment, a picture and contact details.

Air Vehicle Path Planning

This is the full text of a thesis by Capitain Jeffrey M. Hebert, USAF, AFIT/DS/ENG/01-04, which was presented to the Faculty School of Engineering and Management of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in November 2001. This dissertation explores optimal path planning for air vehicles. An air vehicle exposed to illumination by a tracking radar is considered and the problem of determining an optimal planar trajectory connecting two prespecified points is addressed. An analytic solution yielding the trajectory minimizing the received radar energy reflected from the target is derived using the Calculus of Variations. Additionally, the related problem of an air vehicle tracked by a passive sensor is also solved. Using the insights gained from the single air vehicle radar exposure minimization problem, a hierarchical cooperative control law is formulated to determine the optimal trajectories that minimize the cumulative exposure of multiple air vehicles during a rendezvous maneuver. The problem of one air vehicle minimizing exposure to multiple radars is also addressed using a variational approach, as well as a sub-optimal minmax argument. Local and global optimality issues are explored. A novel decision criterion is developed determining the geometric conditions dictating when it is preferable to go between or around two radars. Lastly, an optimal minimum time control law is obtained for the target identification and classification mission of an autonomous air vehicle. It is available in PDF format.

Airspace Integration Plan for Unmanned Aviation

This document was prepared by the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense, November 2004. It outlines the key issues that must be addressed to achieve the goal of safe, routine use of the National Airspace System (NAS) by Department of Defense (DoD) Remotely Operated Aircraft (ROA). The Airspace Integration Plan is intended to provide the reader with background information, program status, and goals for the integration of military ROA into the United States� National Airspace. Integration of unmanned and manned aircraft for military operations, and ROA operating procedures are subjects beyond the scope of this document. The information detailed in this plan is based on a survey of existing technologies and regulations as well as proposed development and support for new solutions as required. To achieve full integration of military ROA by the desired 2010 timeframe, the plan identifies six critical regulatory and technology issues that must be addressed before safe and efficient integration can occur: Air Traffic (see Section 3.1), Airworthiness Certification (see Section 3.2), Aircrew Qualification (see Section 3.3), See-and-Avoid (see Section 4.1), Command, Control, Communications (see Section 4.2) and Reliability (see Section 4.3). Please note, while "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)" is a universally recognized term that encompasses a spectrum of aircraft that are autonomous, semi-autonomous, or remotely operated, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has historically used the term "Remotely Operated Aircraft (ROA)" for matters dealing with airspace. The text of the report is available in PDF format for the web site of United States Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Allied Aerospace

The Company provides a broad range of aerospace and defence products, services, and testing facitities. Allied Aerospace was formed in 1999 by the acquisition of GASL, Inc., Dynamic Engineering Inc., and Micro Craft, Inc. The company has five primary business areas: Propulsion Systems; test rigs and components (fans, compressors, turbines); Aerospace Systems; prototype and test hardware (fixed wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft, missiles); Wind Tunnel Test Services (two wind tunnels providing low speed, transonic, and supersonic flows); Unmanned Systems (UAVs); and Field Services (technical and management services to NASA and DoD). Perhaps Allied's best known products to date are the X-43 family of hypersonic test vehicles for NASA's Hyper-X Programme. The web site describes the company's products and services and provides news and employment information.

An Examination of Latency and Degradation Issues in Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle Environments

This is the full text of a thesis by Shane A. Dougherty which was presented to the Air Force Institue of Technology (AFIT) in 2002. There are two basic ways to control an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) as it searches for targets: allow the UCAV to act autonomously or employ man-in-the- loop control. There are also two target sets of interest: fixed or mobile targets. This research focuses on UCAV-based targeting of mobile targets using man-in-the- loop control. In particular, the interest is in how levels of satellite signal latency or signal degradation effect the ability to accurately track, target, and attack mobile targets. This research establishes a weapon effectiveness model assessing targeting inaccuracies as a function of signal latency and/or signal degradation. The research involved three phases. The first phase in the research was to identify the levels of latency associated with satellite communications. A literature review, supplemented by interviews with UAV operators, provided insight into the expected range latency values. The second phase of the research identified those factors whose value, in the presence of satellite signal latency, could influence targeting errors during UCAV employment. The final phase involved developing and testing a weapon effectiveness model explicitly modeling satellite signal latency in UCAV targeting against mobile targets. This phase included an effectiveness analysis study. [Taken from abstract]. Thwe full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University Researchweb site.

An Investigation Into Robust Wind Correction Algorithms for Off-the Shelf Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Autopilots

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Ensign Brent K. Robinson, USN, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-J14, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in June 2006. The research effort focuses on developing methods to design efficient wind correction algorithms to "piggyback" on current off-the-shelf Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) autopilots. Autonomous flight is certainly the near future for the aerospace industry and there exists great interest in defining a system that can guide and control aircraft with high levels of accuracy. The primary systems required to command the vehicles are already in place, but with only moderate abilities to adjust for dynamic environments (i.e. wind effects), if at all. The goal of this research is to develop a systematic procedure for implementing efficient and robust wind effects corrections to existing autopilots. The research will investigate the feasibility of an external dynamic environment control algorithm as a means of improving current, off-the-shelf autopilot technology relating to small UAVs. The research then presents three main focuses. First, a determination of the estimated winds utilizing the existing, on-board sensors. Second, the development of code that incorporates simple mathematical principals to counter the 2-Dimensional wind forces acting on the aircraft; and third, the integration of that code into the on-board navigational system. This "piggy-back" algorithm must assimilate smoothly with the current GPS technologies to provide acceptable and safe flight path following. The design procedures developed were demonstrated in simulation and with flight tests on the SiG Rascal 110 UAV. This report builds the framework from which future wind correction research at AFIT and the ANT Center are based. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Application of Maneuver-Based Control in Variable Autonomy Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles

This is the full text of a thesis by Alexander M. G. Walan which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2003. The rise in the capability and lethality of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) historically has been paralleled by an increase in the complexity in the command and control of these systems. This trend has continued with the command and control of the current fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator and Global Hawk. The control of these vehicles falls on the extremes on the manual vs autonomous spectrum. As the missions tasked to these vehicles increase in complexity and lethality, operators will increasingly require the ability to tailor the amount of control exercised over the vehicle. Maneuver Based Control (MBC) offers the potential to give future UCAV operators the ability to vary the autonomy of the vehicle against the amount of control they exercise over UCAV systems. The objective of this research is to validate the concept of Maneuver Based Control (MBC). This is accomplished under the umbrella of a conceptual UCAV mission. Particular attention is paid to the ability of this control scheme to increase operator situational awareness while decreasing the overall operator workload and required piloting skill. In addition, the ability for MBC to ensure effective control integrity over the vehicle is examined; ensuring that what vehicle does in response to a user's input is not divorced from the flight characteristics of vehicle. Utilizing an existing non-linear computer model for an F-16 aircraft, maneuvers representative of those performed in a real-world mission are computed and stored. These stored maneuvers are then used to illustrate the application of MBC to in-flight replanning and mission execution by way of a representative mission scenario. Particular attention is paid implementing MBC thru manual maneuver input and by modifying waypoints. Results indicate that MBC provides an effective method of variable control for future UCAVs. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Applications, Concepts and Technologies for Future Tactical UAVs

This is a NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO) report RTO-EN-SCI-138, October 2004. This was prepared by The Systems Concepts and Integration Panel (SCI) to support a Lecture Series presented on 2-3 June 2003 in Kosice, Slovakia; 5-6 June 2003 in Tallinn, Estonia; and 9-10 June 2003 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Lecture Series 237 addresses the development and evaluation of meaningful unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system architectures, mechanization, and technologies to enhance overall force structure affordability. Emerging technologies and future system concepts in concert with the existing experience base are presented. Pertinent system design considerations, trade-offs and alternatives for exploiting the full potential of UAV are addressed. With the UAV-related issues and matters as covered by this Lecture Series, it represents a powerful means to support collective UAV activities and contributes to formulating meaningful design and application criteria. The citation and abstract information are in HTML format, and the full text is available online in PDF format.

Assessment of Pilot Control Interfaces for Unmanned Aircraft

This provides access to a Federal Avaition Authority report DOT/FAA AM-07/08 written by Kevin Williams and dated April 2007. An inventory of control systems for unmanned aircraft was completed for 15 systems from nine separate manufacturers. To complete the inventory, a taxonomy of control architectures was developed. The taxonomy identified four levels of horizontal aircraft control, four levels of vertical control, and three levels of speed control. The most automated level of control was a waypoint-level that was found to be present in all of the systems inventoried. Implications of these levels of control on design are discussed. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is avialable in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has over 2,000 members from over 20 countries. It is a professional organisation committed to aiding the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by promoting the technology and presenting benefits and information about them. The site provides background information about the organisation, membership details, forthcoming conferences and links to sites of interest for unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned air vehicles.

Aurora Flight Sciences

Aurora specialized in the design and production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Aurora's business groups focus on the design, development, manufacturing and operaion of a high altitude long endurance UAVs for a wode range of tactical and science / research applications. The web site contains company information, including a brief history, and provides descriptions of various Aurora products and programmes. These include HALE designs such as Perseus A and Perseus B, Theseus A and Theseus B; the development of UAVs to fly in the Martian environment, MarsFlyer, ARES, and two High Altitude Deployment Demonstrators (HADD1 and HADD2); as well as tactical systems including GoldenEye-50, GoldenEye-100, Excalibur, Hunter II, and Orion. The site also provides access to a media collection for downloading including press releases and fact sheets. The site also gives employment and contact details.

Australian UAV Special Interest Group

This informal Special Interest Group (SIG) on UAVs was initiated by a meeting of people interested in UAVs on Friday 28 February 1997. Membership is currently open to anyone having an interest in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs), and/or drones. The web site provides access to a variety of information resources. These include an electronic discussion group, e-mail list, and terms of reference and objectives of a proposed UAV Association. The site also provdes a collection of links to other UAV internet web sites.

Automated Carrier Landing of an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle Using Dynamic Inversion

This is the full text of a thesis written by Nicholas Denison, which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in June 2007. Dynamic Inversion (DI) is a powerful nonlinear control technique which has been applied to several modern flight control systems. This research utilized concepts of DI in order to develop a controller to land an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) on an aircraft carrier. The Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) Equivalent Model was used as the test aircraft. An inner-loop DI controller was developed to control the pitch, roll, and yaw rate dynamics of the aircraft, while an outer-loop DI controller was developed to provide flight path commands to the inner-loop. The controller design and simulation were conducted in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Simulations were conducted for various starting positions near the carrier and for varying wind, wind turbulence, and sea state conditions. In the absence of wind and sea state turbulence, the controller performed well. After adding wind and sea state turbulence, the controller performance was degraded. Future work in this area should include a more robust disturbance rejection technique to compensate for wind turbulence effects and a method of carrier motion prediction to compensate for sea state effects. [Taken from abstract]. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Automatic Control of an Aircraft Employing Outboard Horizontal Stabilizers

This is a University of Calgary, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering PhD thesis, by Jason Mukherjee, dated March 2000. It examines the radio-operated control of an aircraft using fixed gain and adaptive controllers. A real-time feedback control system is developed to enhance the flying qualities of an experimental model aircraft. The Outboard Horizontal Stabilizer (OHS) concept is a nonconventional aircraft, designed to take advantage of the normally wasted energy developed by the wing tip vortices. The research is based on a remotely-controlled OHS aircraft fitted with various sensors and telemetry as part of a real time feedback control system. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the thesis accessible online in PDF format. This title is part of Library and Archives (LAC) Canada's theses collection. Access is provided via the Theses Canada Portal

Autonomous Vehicles in Support of Naval Operations

This is a full text report prepared by the Committee on Autonomous Vehicles in Support of Naval Operations, National Research Council and published by National Academies Press in 2005. Recent military experiences with automated vehicles have consistently demonstrated their value in a wide range of missions, and anticipated developments of the automated vehicles hold promise for increasingly significant role in future naval operations. It has been found by the committee that many naval requirements can be fulfilled, at last in part, by the automated vehicles already in the inventory or under development. It is also found to be important to put the existing system in operational situations in order to give personnel experience with the system's capability, and then to develop requirements based on this experience. In particular, since the operational utility and military worth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been demonstrated in recent military operations, it is essential that the naval services accelerate the introduction and/or fully exploit the capabilities of those UAV systems from all of the military systems, that are now in production or that have completed development. Also, it is important for the navy to pursue the development of the critical autonomous vehicle related technologies considering essential to the accomplishment of future naval missions. The elaborate description of significant findings and detailed recommendations can be seen from the full report. The report is available in open book format.

Aviation Week : Aerospace Source Book

This provides brief company profiles of aviation and aerospace companies grouped under the following headings: Prime Contractors; Major Airlines; Regional Airlines; and Cargo Airlines. The profiles can be viewed online in PDF format. The Aerospace Sourcebook also provides access to a series of articles which examine various market sectors including fighters, bombers, commercial and military transports, air freight, UAVs, trainers, rotorcraft, spacecraft, missiles, and avionics. The information is drawn from Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Balanced Insanity:Argument for the Inclusion of Tasking, Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination in Future Security Assistance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Programs

This is the full text of a thesis by Shane Hamilton USAF, which was presented to the faculty of the School of Advanced Air Power Studies (SAAS), Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama in 2005. The changes in the threat posed by global terrorism may be drastic, especially when weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are involved. The coalition nature of the current war on terrorism may also change rapidly as coalition partners enter, leave, or rejoin the coalition. The United States and its coalition partners must take advantage of the capabilities of modern communications to transmit and share the most basic levels of intelligence to meet the threat posed by global, potentially catastrophic terrorism. Time spent analyzing raw information and collating it into finished analytical products as in the NATO alliance framework may simply not be available. The Cold War intelligence structure no longer achieves the nation’s goals when America’s alliances in the global war on terror are based on loose regional or global coalitions organized to meet specific threats. Perhaps the most glaring example of the disconnect between America’s stated policies regarding the global war on terror and its obsolete security assistance programs is the sale of intelligence unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to foreign coalition partners. The United States, as the leader of the worldwide coalition against terrorism, is involved in maintaining the intelligence databases critical to success in a war that spans the globe. As the leading nation of this coalition it is in the best interests of the United States to maintain a global intelligence network capable of sharing critical information among its partners. If all coalition partners have access to interoperable intelligence systems, there is a decreased reliance on liaison officers, translators, and other less effective methods to achieve interoperability. A shared intelligence picture ensures the coalition’s military commander has centralized control of intelligence.. With the direct exchange of intelligence, there is less of a chance for fog and friction to affect the coalition’s intelligence capabilities. The United States uses its tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (TPED) procedures to internally share intelligence information to all potential users but the nation has not included its TPED architecture in any security assistance sale of intelligence collection UAVs to date. The lack of a shared TPED structure limits the effectiveness of the coalition against terror, impeding efforts to win the war. The United States must decide if the benefits gained from sharing its TPED procedures through the security assistance program outweigh the costs associated with such a decision. This thesis finds that to reap the full potential from future UAV security assistance programs the United States needs to include the TPED process in future security assistance transfers to its coalition partners in the global war on terror. The rewards of such a change in policy will not accrue without risk. The United States government needs to balance the coalition’s security assistance requests, and the attendant risks of each potential coalition recipient of security assistance TPED, on a case-by-case basis. Such a process should allow the United States to increase the interoperability of the coalition fighting the global war on terror while still maintaining a tight control on security. The United States should initiate a change in the security assistance program immediately to allow it to transfer TPED in future UAV security assistance programs whenever the government finds that the potential rewards of such a transfer outweigh the potential risks. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University Research Web site.

BATTLESPACE Inc

BATTLESPACE provides service and support to the US Government, corporate and international customers with hands-on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operational and maintenance training, mission analysis and concept of operations development. The Company offers commercial outsourcing services to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle community in application areas that include: Terrestrial and Atmospheric Remote Sensing; Environmental / Pollution Monitoring; Law Enforcement / Border Surveillance; Coastal and Ocean Surveillance; and Emergency / Disaster Support. The web site provides information about the company, and its current programmes. The executive summary and full text of a paper titled A White Paper on Outsourcing UAV Services dated 20 February 1997, is available online.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc

This is the web site of Bell Helicopter Textron, a company which designs and manufactures rotorcraft. The site provides company information including employment opportunities, press releases and news, and company history. Some information about their products is available, including product brochures for many of the models. These include craft in the following categories - commercial, military, tiltrotors, specialty and pre-owned. Product information for the commercial helicopters is particularly detailed and includes product data books and technical specifications books.

Building Robust Systems with Fallible Construction

This is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Technical Report RTO-TR-IST-047, dated April 2008. The Task Group focused on identifying challenges that have not been adequately resolved by traditional Software Fault Tolerance. The Task Group did not have the resources to itself undertake research to produce solutions, but felt that producing a catalogue of issues requiring further investigation was a useful first step leading to their eventual resolution, and in itself was a worthwhile contribution. A table of contents, and the full text of the document can be accessed online in HTML format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

CAP 722 : Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operations in UK Airspace : Guidance

This page provides access to a UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) publication, Civil Aviation Paper CAP 722, prepared by the Directorate of Airspace Policy, 3rd Edition inc. amdt 2009/01 dated April 2009. Intended to assist those who are involved in the development of UAS to identify the route to certification, in order to ensure that the required standards and practices are met by all UAS operators. Overall, the purpose of the document is to highlight the safety requirements that have to be met, in terms of airworthiness and operational standards, before a UAS is allowed to operate in the UK. The text of CAP 722 is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Capanina : Stratospheric Broadband

This EU-funded research programme aims to develop broadband capability from aerial platforms and high altitude platforms (HAPs)(airships) powered by solar power in order to meet the ever growing demand for higher data rate communications. This site provides details of the project partners, an FAQ, a project summary and explanations of why the technology is being developed. The news section provides links to articles on other web sites about the project. Parts of this site were still under construction in May 2004.

Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies

The Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) was established by the Office of Naval Research in the spring of 1996 to provide Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) flight services to the research, development, test and evaluation communities. The site includes descriptive information on the Center's facilities and current projects.

Characterization of a Rotary Flat Tail as a Spoiler and Parametric Analysis of Improving Directional Stability in a Portable UAV

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Ensign Troy A Leveron, USNR, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-J06, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in May 2005. The United States Air Force Research Lab, Munitions Directorate, Flight Vehicles, Integration Branch (AFRL/MNAV), has developed a flexible wing micro air vehicle (MAV) to be used with special tactics groups. In keeping with the requirement that this MAV be compact, previous research developed a rotatable tail mechanism which resulted in tail movement similar to that of a bird's tail. In this study the design of this tail was modified to produce a more storable vehicle. The redesign also allowed the tail to deflect upward to large angles, enabling the tail to be used as a spoiler. The aerodynamic affects of adding a vertical stabilizer mechanism to improve the stability of the vehicle and rotatable tail combination was also quantified. Data from these tests confirmed the tail is a plausible method to reduce lift and increase drag, consistent with proper spoiler function. A wide range of angles were used to demonstrate that forces and moments from the flat tail were similar to those of traditional rudder. Directional stability was improved by the stabilizer, and recommendations for further improvements are given. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Characterization of the Global Hawk Low Pressure Turbine First Rotor

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Timothy L. Garmoe, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-S02, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in September 2005. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Propulsion Directorate at Wright Patterson Air Force Base has studied the performance of turbine blade geometries utilizing a large scale, low speed, drawdown wind tunnel in an effort to better understand gas turbine blade aerodynamics. Currently, the Air Force's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Global Hawk has been operated primarily at flight conditions other than the design point of its Allison AE3007H turbofan engine. This off design condition decreased the Reynolds number at the low pressure turbine causing losses in efficiency and loading. Two different blades were studied to maximize performance of the Global Hawk turbine. The first was an experimental, high turning angle blade designated the Pak-B and the second was based on the two dimensional mean diameter section of the first stage blade of the low pressure turbine used in the Global Hawk (GH1R). The Pak-B blade has been the subject of past research. The primary goals of this study were to validate the wind tunnel after previous upgrades, physically modify the test section to accept the Global Hawk blades, and to characterize the GH1R blades. A Reynolds number sweep was performed from 10K to 100K by 5K increments on a linear turbine cascade of 8 first rotor test blades. Measurements of wake velocity, total pressure losses, and boundary layer velocity were made to examine the flow. These measurements resulted in an averaged integrated total pressure loss profile for the Global Hawk first rotor. The operational primary mission inlet Reynolds number for the GH1R blade was calculated to be 13,500 and compared to the loss profile. It was shown that the Global Hawk first rotor has much lower losses than that of the Pak-B blade, and shows no signs of mid-line separation. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Commercial Regional Space/Airborne Imaging

This is the full text of a thesis by Birce Boga, Ali Durmus, Ugur Akyazi and Arif Arin which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)in 2002. In most recent years, both high-resolution imagery systems and images were only available to military and national security organizations. Distinctive changes within the commercial image industry allowed space-borne pioneers to provide high-resolution images. Space-borne Image Company�s Ikonos satellite provides a 1-meter resolution for the past 3 years. Current development of 0.5-meter resolution will be offered in the near future. Access of these images is available in ground stations located worldwide in different regions. Studies have shown that these high quality images are eye-catching and may serve a purpose through its design; on contrary it�s high cost and accessibility does not meet all the requirements of a nation or a region. A nation certainly cannot rely on a foreign commercial company for reconnaissance needs in times of crisis. The best frequency of coverage for a single point on earth is available once every 2.9 days on an average with high resolution. This study seeks a commercial imaging solution for regional applications. Mission requirements are set well above the existing commercial imaging systems including: continuous coverage during daylight hours, daily re-visitation, service 5 to 25 �simultaneous� customers, competitive resolution and cost. Alternatives considered include satellites, small satellites, UAVs and mixed systems. Inflatable technologies that permit higher orbit altitude and solar-powered UAVs with extended on-station times are also evaluated in this study. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Commercial Use of UAVs

This is the Laboratory for Information Systems & Telecommunications, (LIST), website. LIST is an interdisciplinary research group in the department of electrical & computer engineering at the University of Florida. It brings some information about UAVs and their use in commercial applications. It provides access to 52 UAV manufacturers and a brief history of UAVs. It also brings a project proposal on Airborne Traffic Surveillance Systems in pdf format.

Computational Aeroelastic Analysis of Micro Air Vehicle With Experimentally Determined Modes

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Second Lieutenant Joshua A. Stults, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-M23, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2005. A computational aeroelastic analysis of a micro air vehicle (MAV) is conducted. This MAV has a 24 inch wing span, and is designed for local area reconnaissance. Wind tunnel data for the MAV with a rigid carbon fiber wing and a flexible carbon fiber ribbed nylon wing are compared to CFD results incorporating static and dynamic deformations. We use laser vibrometry to determine the mode shapes of the flexible wing. From these shapes, CFD grid deformations are calculated as part of a closely-coupled aeroelastic solution method. The accuracy of MAV performance predictions using CFD with and without aeroelastic modeling is evaluated against previous wind-tunnel experiments. The performance benefits of the flexible wing, and the applicability and limitations of the model are evaluated in the present research effort. Some suggestions are made as to improvements that can be made to increase the range of applicability and the accuracy of the model. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Concept of Operations for High Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Operated Aircraft in the National Airspace System

This is an an Access 5 Project document, prepared by the Access 5 Systems Engineering and Integration Team, version 2.0, March 2005. It presents a baseline for operational concepts for HALE ROAs and defines the overall ROA system planning which includes infrastructure and technology requirements for access into the NAS. The text of the document is available in PDF format (1.6 Mb) from the Access 5 Project web site.

Controlling Sideslip Angle to Reduce the Radar Exposure of a Tactical, Rotary Winged UAV

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Major Jonathan D. Bulseco, USA, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-M26, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2005. This work investigates another way of contributing to the radar minimization solution for air vehicles in a threat environment. While much research has been conducted on structural solutions to radar exposure minimization, not much work has been done in the area of using control to continuously assess and present the smallest radar cross section of an air vehicle to oncoming threat radar systems by changing the aircraft's orientation. This work looks at the application of sideslip/beta angle feedback control of an unmanned helicopter to minimize radar cross section exposure in a hostile radar environment. A new way of controlling aircraft trajectory is introduced that incorporates both path and orientation optimization feedback; the aircraft's heading is controlled to orient the vehicle in a way that reduces its radar cross section, while sideslip angle is used to control the aircraft's path. A representative hostile environment is created and results show that a substantial reduction in radar cross section exposure can be achieved with beta feedback control. A linear state space model is derived for the OH-6A helicopter with the JANRAD software program. Eigenstructure assignment is used to shape the response of the helicopter into desired response modes. A Matlab based flight control system is developed around the derived helicopter model with altitude, heading, and beta angle command signals that drive four conventional helicopter control inputs. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Cranfield University Aerospace

Cranfield has been at the forefront of the development of aerospace technology for 60 years and is one of the largest academic centres in western Europe for strategic applied research, development and design. Cranfield University Aerospace brings together the University’s aerospace capabilities from all its five Schools into areas of strategic importance for its clients, within the aerospace and aviation markets. It consists of the following technology areas: flow control and prediction, computer integrated design, air transport management, human factors, avionics and simulation, structures and materials, air vehicle technology, flight test and dynamics and astronautics and space engineering. The site details Cranfield University Aerospace's capabilities, courses and current projects.

Damage Considerations of a Flexible Micro Air Vehicle Wing Using 3-D Laser Vibrometry

This is the full text of a thesis by Leo Lopez Mendoza (USN) which was presented to the faculty of the Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, U.S Air Force Institute of Technology dated June 2007. In recent years there has been a major push towards a new class of unmanned aerial vehicles: micro air vehicles. A great amount of research has been done towards the aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, construction, and flight characteristics of flexible wing micro air vehicles. However, there has not been much research done regarding possible structural deficiencies of a flexible micro air vehicle wing. The focus of this research is to evaluate the effects of damage on a flexible micro air vehicle wing, particularly its natural frequencies and mode shapes, using three dimensional laser vibrometry. The flexible micro air vehicle wing studied was based on a University of Florida micro air vehicle wing design and was examined using measurements from the Polytec 400-3D Scanning Vibrometer. Comparisons of the wing’s natural frequencies and displacements were made between the wing’s undamaged and damaged states. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is avialable in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

DARPA Tactical Technology Office : Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) System Demonstration Program

The Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program is a joint DARPA/Air Force/Navy effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value for a networked system of high performance, weaponized unmanned air vehicles to effectively and affordably prosecute 21st century combat missions, including Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), surveillance, and precision strike within the emerging global command and control architecture. The website contains details of recent programme accomplishments and a programme overview, as well as briefings and presentations. Descriptions are provided of the Boeing X-45 and the Northrop Grumman X-47. Please note on November 1, 2005, management of the J-UCAS program transitioned to the new Joint Program Office headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This is the archived website developed by the DARPA J-UCAS office during its management of the programme.

Death By A Thousand Cuts : Micro-Air Vehicles (MAV) In The Service Of Air Force Missions

This provides access to an Air University, Air War College Research Report, AU/AWC/_/2001-4, April 2001, by Lt Col. Arthur F. Huber, II, USAF. The research paper provides an outline of the contemporary technological dimension of MAVs and contemplates how they might be used to enhance Air Force operations. The full text of this report is available in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 4.0 document.

Decision Factors for Cooperative Multiple Warhead UAV Target Classification and Attack with Control Applications

This is the full text of a thesis by Douglas Dwayne Decker which was presented to the Air Force Insitute of Tehcnology (AFIT) in 2004. Autonomous wide area search,classification and attack using Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles(UCAVs) is considered. The wide area search and attack scenario is modelled, capturing the important problem parameters of target density in the battlespace, the density of false targets,the seeker and Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) modules� performance parameters, as well as munition parameters such as search rate, time, and warhead lethality. The analysis in this research is an important stepping stone towards es-tablishing benefits of cooperative search and engagement in a multi-vehicle scenario. This research uses probabilistic analysis to formulate and analytically solve for the probability of success in search and engagement as well as probabilities of other events of interest.Two methods are used to compute these probabilities. The first method utilizes a detailed examination of the sub-events required for the event of interest to occur.The second method utilizes a Markov chain approach. In each method, general expressions are first obtained that are applicable to any assumed a priori distributions of targets and false targets. These expressions are subsequently applied to a multiple warhead munition/UCAV operating in a single target/multiple false target scenario and then several multiple target/multiple false target scenarios. This research shows how the analytically derived results can be applied to all facets of the balanced system design and operation of Wide Area Search Munitions (WASM)including the evaluation of cooperation schemes andrules of engagement. This dissertation also formulates the problem as a control problem and examines the possibility of utilizing this formulation in the real-time estimation of the target and false target distribution parameters. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Defense Acquisitions : Assessments of Selected Major Weapon Programs

This provides access to a US Government Accountability Office Report (GAO-06-391) date March 2006. In the last 5 years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has doubled its planned investments in new weapon systems from about $700 billion in 2001 to nearly $1.4 trillion in 2006. While the weapons that DOD develops have no rival in superiority, weapon systems acquisition remains a long-standing high risk area. GAO's reviews over the past 30 years have found consistent problems with weapon acquisitions such as cost increases, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls. In addition, DOD faces several budgetary challenges that underscore the need to deliver its new weapon programs within estimated costs and to obtain the most from these investments. This reportprovides congressional and DOD decision makers with an independent, knowledge-based assessment of selected defense programs that identifies potential risks and needed actions when a program's projected attainment of knowledge diverges from the best practices. Programs for the assessments were selected based on several factors including, (1)high dollar value, (2) stage in acquisition, and (3)congressional interest. The majority of the 52 programs covered in this report are considered major defense acquisition programs by DOD. This report also highlights higher level issues raised by the cumulative experiences of individual programs. GAO updates this report annually under the Comptroller General's authority. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the report is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the central research and development organisation for the US Department of Defense (DoD). The site describes its mission and organisation, and gives background information including a history. Resources available also include a news release archive back to 1995, budget information, the full text of solicitations, information on doing business with DARPA, papers presented at DARPATech from '00 to 2004 and the full text of the Technology Transition study in PDF format.

Defense Science Board Study on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles

This is the Final Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), published by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense For Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C., February 2004. The Task Force was asked to evaluate the current status of UAVs and UCAVs and to provide recommendations on how to better integrate them into the force structure. The findings fall into eight subject areas: introduction of UAVs into the force structure; UAV unit production costs; UAV mishap rates; communications constraints; UAV interoperability and mission management; integration of UAVs into national airspace; focus technology investments; and reduction of UAV combat vulnerability. The text of the report is available in PDF format from the web site of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

Delphion Patent Search Form

This site allows you to search for United States patents, European patents and patent applications, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application data from the World Intellectual Property Office, the Patent Abstracts of Japan and INPADOC data. The service can be searched in several different ways, including patent number, US classification and Boolean keyword search. It is possible to view to the bibliographic information of granted US patents free of charge, all other services are payable. You will need to register to use this service, which is free of charge.

Demonstration of Linked UAV Observations and Atmospheric Model Predictions in Chem/Bio Attack Response

This technical report (NPS-MR-03-001) was published by the United States Naval Postgraduate School Monterey in January 2003. Faculty and staff from the Departments of Meteorology and Aeronautics evaluated the integration of components for a near-real time decision aid designed to enable small units to respond in a focused way to a ChemBio attack. This effort included the field-testing of an atmospheric dispersion prediction model, an instrumented UAV for collecting meteorological data, and the means for linking the UAV data to real-time dispersion prediction. The primary modeling effort focused on an adaptation of the �Wind On Constant Streamline Surfaces� (WOCSS) model developed to run on a small computer with input from an external mesoscale model (MM5). The combined models were run for approximately one month for the region surrounding Camp Roberts, CA In situ meteorological data were collected at the Camp Roberts airfield from 2 October to 5 November 2002 to validate the model predictions. The model results showed promise in capturing the diurnal evolution of near-surface temperatures that drive the local circulations in the warm season. Linking WOCSS with the atmospheric mesoscale model forecasts showed no significant improvement in wind forecasts when compared to the mesoscale model wind forecasts alone. Linking WOCSS to the trajectory visualization code revealed that vertical wind component estimates needed to be improved. The linked model/UAV demonstration of 7-9 October 2002 tested the synthesis of UAV measurements and dispersion model predictions. Although a UAV mishap occurred soon after the demonstration began, the instrumented UAV performance during this early period and in preliminary flight tests indicate that the hardware/software architecture for UAV data collection and its linkage with real-time dispersion prediction will be successful. Overall, the demonstration proved the feasibility of linking a coarse grid mesoscale model to a fine-scale diagnostic wind model for producing fine resolution forward and backward trajectories. [Taken from abstract]. This is available in pdf format so will require Adobe Acrobat software in order to read it.

Design and Flight Test Results for Micro-Sized Fixed-Wing and VTOL Aircraft

This is the full text of a report written by Stephen J. Morris, of the MLB Company in 1997. This technical paper studies the importance of aerodynamics, propulsion, and mission requirements on the design of a MAV (Micro Air Vehicle). It is available online as an HTML format document.

Development and Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications

This web site provides access to a NATO Research and Technology Organization document titled: Development and Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications, RTO-EN-009, April 2000. The report contains lecture notes from an RTO Applied Vehicle Panel Special Course, held at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI), 13-17 September 1999. The course covered the following topics: overview of current Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems; design and airworthiness; propulsion; microflyers; experimental research at low Reynolds numbers; payloads and sensors; datalinks; airspace policy; air traffic management; and, tools for software and subsystem architecture validation. The citation and abstract information is in HTML format, and the full text is available online in PDF format (43 Mbytes). A copy of the document can be downloaded using FTP.

Development of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Platform: Modeling, Simulating, and Flight Testing

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captian Nidal M. Jodeh, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-M18, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. The Advanced Navigation Technology (ANT) Center at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) conducts extensive research in advanced guidance, navigation, and control to exploit the full potential of autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The research in this thesis describes a UAV research platform developed to support the ANT Center?s goals. This platform is now the bedrock for UAV simulation and local flight test at AFIT. The research has three major components. The first component is development of a physical, inertial, and aerodynamic model representing an existing aircraft. A systematic analysis of the airframe leads to a complete geometric, inertial, and aerodynamic representation. The airframe analysis included the use of USAF Digital Datcom, an aerodynamic modeling software tool. Second is the development and implementation of a non-linear, six degree of freedom simulation, employing the developed model. Constructed in Matlab/SIMULINK, the simulation enables control design and pre-flight analysis through out the entire flight envelope. Detailed post-flight analysis was also performed in Matlab/SIMULINK. Additionally, Hardware in the Loop benchmark simulation was constructed and used for initial flight test plans as well as test team training. The third and final component of the research was an experimental flight test program. Both open loop and autonomous flights were conducted. Openloop flights characterized the aircraft dynamics for comparison with the Matlab simulation results. Autonomous flights tuned the autopilot controller through waypoint tracking in preparation for future advanced navigation research and provided data for Hardware in the Loop simulation validation. This report, along with other significant legacy documentation and procedures, builds the foundation from which future AFIT and ANT Center UAV simulations and flight tests are based. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Development of Cursor-on-Target Control for Semi-Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This is the full text of a thesis written by Joshua Crouse, which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in June 2007. The research presented in this thesis focuses on developing, demonstrating, and evaluating the concept of a Cursor-on-Target control system for semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft systems. The Department of Defense has mapped out a strategy in which unmanned aircraft systems will increasingly replace piloted aircraft. During most phases of flight autonomous unmanned aircraft control reduces operator workload, however, real-time information exchange often requires an operator to relay decision changes to the unmanned aircraft. The goal of this research is to develop a preliminary Cursor-on-Target control system to enable the operator to guide the unmanned aircraft with minimal workload during high task phases of flight and then evaluate the operator?s ability to conduct the mission using that control system. For this research, the problem of Cursor-on-Target control design has multiple components. Initially, a Cursor-on-Target controller is developed in Simulink. Then, this controller is integrated into the Aviator Visual Design Simulator to develop an operator-in-the-loop test platform. Finally, a ground target is simulated and tracked to validate the Cursor-on-Target controller. The Cursor-on-Target control system is then evaluated using a proposed operator rating scale. [Taken from abstract][. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order tio read it.

Drag Estimates for the Joined-Wing Sensor Craft

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Ensign Ryan L. Craft, USN, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-J02, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology, in June 2005. This research studied the drag effects of the joined-wing sensor craft technology demonstrator being developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Although many performance parameters have been studied and evaluated for this vehicle, to date no detailed drag estimates have been conducted for the AFRL configuration. Previous performance parameters of the aircraft have been estimated based solely on a constant lift-to-drag ratio assumption. Using the Air Vehicles Technology Integration Environment created by Dr. Maxwell Blair, and supplemented by MATLAB code, this study explored three different drag prediction methods to determine accurate estimates of both parasite and induced drag. The Roskam/AVTIE Pan Air method was determined as the best approach to estimate drag by measuring parasite drag effects using XFOIL, a respected environment within the aviation industry to accurately predict all viscous drag effects, and determined induced drag from Pan Air, a creditable software package based on inviscid flow field solutions about three-dimensional objects. This method will be incorporated into a single design environment, in conjunction with AVTIE, to estimate drag and aid future AFRL joined-wing design studies incorporating wing twist, aeroelastic effects, and other geometric changes to the baseline configuration. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

DRS Unmanned Technologies

DRS Unmanned Technologies is a division of DRS Technologies, involved in the development and manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles. The web site describes the company's range of products including the Sentry and Neptune air vehicles and supporting systems. Brief specifications and performance data are provided. There is also an image gallery which contains a series of photos as well as video clips.

Dynamic Route Replanning and Retasking of Unmanned Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicles

The site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by Captain David E. R. Pritchard, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/00M-10, dated March 2000. The thesis presents a study of in-flight mission replanning systems for High Altitude and Endurance (HAE) unmanned reconnaissance aircraft systems. The capability of current conventional mission planning systems is analysed. An extrapolation of this current capablility is made to depict near future developments. The design of an improved notional PC-based in-flight replanning system (IFRS) is described. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (731,577 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

Endurance UAVs : Air Combat Command : Concept of Operations

Air combat command concept of operations for endurance unmanned aerial vehicles 3rd December 1996 - Version 2, prepared by Maj. Greg S. Lamb and Maj. Tony G. Stone. This Concept of Operations (CONOPS) describes the operational employment of various classes of Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being designed to support warfighters. It provides an overview of the principal endurance UAV components and organisations, the intended operational environment, and the primary command and control relationships and responsibilities. The full text of the document is available on the web site of the Federation of American Scientists, and is available in HTML format.

Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology

The Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Programme is concerned with developing the potential of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for use in Earth and atmospheric science research and miniaturization of instruments and sensors that can be carried by the aircrafts. There are descriptions of various vehicles used in the programme including Altus, Centurion, D-2, Helios, Pathfinder, Perseus A, Perseus B and Proteus.There are also links to current and past research projects. This web site is the product of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

Establishment of a System Operating Characteristic for Autonomous Wide Area Search Vehicles

This is the full text of a Doctoral thesis by Major Brian A. Kish, USAF, AFIT/DS/ENY/05-5, which was presented to the Faculty School of Engineering and Management of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in September 2005. The optimal employment of autonomous search and destroy vehicles is addressed. The results apply to air, land, or water vehicles with 1, k, or infinite warheads. The specific scenarios considered involve an air vehicle searching a battle space for stationary targets in the presence of false targets. Encounters are modeled with uniform, Poisson, and normal distributions. Linear and circular search patterns are examined. All relevant parameters are extracted from intelligence information, the sensor performance specification, and the air vehicle performance specification. Analytic system effectiveness measures are derived using applied probability theory. The effectiveness measures derived in this dissertation handle time-varying parameters that characterize the battle space environment and the performance of the system. This allows the formulation and solution of optimization problems that maximize the probability of target attacks while at the same time constraining the probability of false target attacks. Optimal schedules for controlling sensor threshold and area coverage rate during a mission are derived and compared to the constant-parameter results. These schedules establish a system operating characteristic. An increase in system effectiveness is demonstrated when parameters are dynamically controlled during a mission. Plots depicting sensitivity to the constraint on false target attacks and sensitivity to the number of warheads are generated to give decision makers the complete trade space for either designing new systems or operating existing systems. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Evaluating Novel Threats to the Homeland : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Cruise Missiles

This provides access to a Rand Organization publication written by Brian Jackson ...[et al] dated 2008. Changes in technology and adversary behavior will invariably produce new threats that must be assessed by defense and homeland security planners, and a decision must be made about whether they merit changes in current defenses or the development of new defensive approaches. An example of such a novel threat is the use of cruise missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by terrorist groups or other asymmetric actors to attack homeland targets. Individual threats cannot be assessed in isolation, however, since adversaries always have many options for staging attacks. To examine the threat of UAVs and cruise missiles, RAND utilized a “red analysis of alternatives” approach, wherein the benefits, costs, and risks of different options are considered from the point of view of a potential adversary. For several types of attacks, the suitability of cruise missiles and UAVs was compared against other options, such as vest bombs, car bombs, and mortars. This approach identifies the operational problems faced by a potential adversary to help the defense understand how the capabilities that different attack modes provide may overcome those problems. Given the insights this analysis of alternatives produced into the circumstances under which UAVs and cruise missiles might be preferred by an attacker, RAND explored defensive options to address the threat. This analysis considered defensive options targeting the full range of adversary activities, including activities before, during, and after an attack, rather than a preferential focus on classical terminal-defense strategies. UAVs and cruise missiles represent a “niche threat” within a larger threat context; therefore, defenses were sought that provide common protection against both this and other asymmetric threats. The monograph concludes with a discussion of cross-cutting lessons about this threat and the assessment of novel threats in general. This research was sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. It should be of interest to homeland security policymakers, military and defense planners, analysts examining the terrorist threat, technology and defense system designers, and individuals charged with protecting potential targets in the U.S. homeland from terrorist attack. Develops approaches for assessing asymmetric attacks using cruise missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles, a novel potential threat to homeland targets, in the context of other options available to terrorist actors and for identifying the factors that might make these technologies attractive to adversaries. These approaches provide the basis for exploring defensive options. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Evaluating Novel Threats to the Homeland. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Cruise Missiles

This technical report (MG-626-DTRA) was produced by The RAND Corporation in 2008 and was written by Brian A. Jackson, David R. Frelinger, Michael J. Lostumbo and Robert W. Button. Changes in technology and adversary behavior will invariably produce new threats that must be assessed by defense and homeland security planners, and a decision must be made about whether they merit changes in current defenses or the development of new defensive approaches. An example of such a novel threat is the use of cruise missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by terrorist groups or other asymmetric actors to attack homeland targets. Individual threats cannot be assessed in isolation, however, since adversaries always have many options for staging attacks. To examine the threat of UAVs and cruise missiles, RAND utilized a “red analysis of alternatives” approach, wherein the benefits, costs, and risks of different options are considered from the point of view of a potential adversary. For several types of attacks, the suitability of cruise missiles and UAVs was compared against other options, such as vest bombs, car bombs, and mortars. This approach identifies the operational problems faced by a potential adversary to help the defense understand how the capabilities that different attack modes provide may overcome those problems. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Experimental Analysis of Propeller Interactions With a Flexible Wing Micro-Air-Vehicle

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Brian J. Gamble, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-M10, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. An investigation into the effects of the propeller slipstream on a flexible wing micro-air-vehicle (MAV) was conducted. The Air Force Research Lab, Munitions Directorate designed a man-portable MAV with a 24 in. wingspan and 6 in. root chord to be used for battle damage assessment and reconnaissance. Two wings have been developed for this MAV. One is a rigid carbon-fiber wing and the other consists of flexible parachute material attached to a carbon-fiber skeleton. Experimental methods were implemented to investigate propeller and wing interactions, characterizing torque and thrust requirements on the motor along with aerodynamic forces on the aircraft as the wing was placed in various locations. Initially, the motor and propeller were mounted on an air bearing table and connected to a torque and load cell. A fuselage prototype was developed and built to mount the wing at multiple heights and distances from the propeller while keeping the same angle of attack. The airframe was attached to a six degree-of-freedom balance. A tri-axial hot-wire anemometer was used to capture velocity profiles in the wind tunnel to characterize propeller wake interactions. Momentum theory provided a method to extract drag and thrust from the velocity profiles. Propeller wake results indicate 12-18% of propeller thrust translates into aircraft drag while 25-45% of motor torque is countered by aircraft roll moment. Values depend on wing location. Results indicate that changing wing location is a viable option for improving pitch and yaw stability, without increasing power requirements. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Experimental Investigation Into the Aerodynamic Ground Effect of a Tailless Chevron and Lambda-shaped UCAVs

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Won In, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-M16, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. As future aircraft migrate toward tailless, blended wing body configurations, aircraft designers are faced with a lack of experimental data that represent these types of configurations. A wind tunnel investigation was conducted to identify the ground effect region of two unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) models. The AFIT low-speed wind tunnel (LSWT) and ground plane were used to study the forces and moments on the UCAV models in ground effect. The Chevron and Lambda planforms used in this study were originally tested in full-scale for stability and control without ground effects. A static ground plane was used in this study. Hot-wire results showed a minimal difference between the transducer velocity and the hot-wire measured velocity and these differences were accounted for as wind tunnel blockage. In addition to hot-wire results, flow visualization results revealed the AFIT LSWT had an adequate testing environment for the use of the ground plane. The ground effect region for the Chevron and Lambda UCAVs was characterized by an increase in lift, drag, and a decrease in lift-to-drag ratio. These trends were also noted in previous studies of similar aspect ratio and wing sweep. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Experimental Investigation Into the Aerodynamic Ground Effect of a Tailless Chevron-Shaped UCAV

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Ensign Brett L. Jones, USNR, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-J04, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in June 2005. This experimental study adequately identified the ground effect region of an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). The AFIT 3' x 3' low-speed wind tunnel and a ground plane were used to simulate the forces and moments on a UCAV model in ground effect. The chevron planform used in this study was originally tested for stability and control and the following extends the already existing database to incude ground effects. The ground plane was a flat plate mounted with cylindrindrical legs. To expand the capabilities of the AFIT 3' x 3' low-speed wind tunnel, hot-wire measurements and flow visualization revealed an adequate testing environment for the use of the ground plane. Examination of the flow through the test section indicated a significant difference in test section transducer velocity and the hot-wire measured velocity. This disparity along with the velocity difference due to the ground plane were accounted for as wind tunnel blockage. In addition, the flow visualization revealed the horseshoe vortices that built up on the front two mounted legs of the ground plane. The ground effect region for the chevron UCAV was characterized by an increase in lift, drag, and a decrease in lift-to-drag ratio. These trends were also noted in previous studies of similar aspect ratio and wing sweep. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Experimental Investigation of the Aerodynamic Ground Effect of a Tailless Lambda-Shaped UCAV with Wing Flaps

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Ensign Jason T. Mostaccio, USN, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-J11, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in June 2006. This experimental study adequately identified the ground effect region of a lambda-shaped unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). The lambda planform used in this study was originally tested in a previous experiment to determine the stability and control characteristics generated out-of-ground-effect. The following study extends the existing database by analyzing the inherent aerodynamic behavior that is produced by employing trailing edge flap deflections while flying in-ground-effect (IGE). To accomplish this objective, static ground effect tests were performed in the AFIT 3? x 3? subsonic wind tunnel where a ground plane was used to simulate the forces and moments on the UCAV IGE. Removable aluminum flap pieces were attached to the model, in a split flap configuration, along the midboard and outboard trailing edges of the UCAV, and the corresponding IGE data was collected for symmetric and asymmetric deflections of +10o and +20o. Based on the results of this study, the ground effect region for the lambda UCAV, with flaps deployed was characterized by an increase in the lift, a reduction in the induced drag but an increase in the overall drag, and an increase in the lift-to-drag ratio. These trends were noted in previous ground effect studies for aircraft with trailing edge flaps, and similar aspect ratios and wing sweep. Additionally, a flow visualization analysis revealed that a vortical flow pattern, that is characteristic of delta wing configurations, developed over the upper surface of the wing at high angles of attack. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Extracting Mission Semantics from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Telemetry and Flight Plans

This site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by Captain Walter T. Berridge, USAF, AFIC/GCS/ENG/00M-01, dated March 2000. This thesis examines the use of text-based data to identify and create data items for the retrieval of accompanying video material. Four attributes are drived or calculated from mission-related telemetry or target data. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (1,680,589 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database

F-16 Uninhabited Air Combat Vehicles

This full text report number AU/ACS/282/1998-04, by Kenneth E. Thompson, of the Air University, Air Command and Staff College, is dated April 1998. The report dicusses the feasibility of an interim UCAV program, based around the modification of the multi-role F-16 fighter into an unmanned aircraft. It is available in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 3.0 document (880,461 bytes)

Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)

Founded in 1905, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), is the world's air sports federation. It has a number of functions including: the establishment of rules for the control and certification of world aeronautical and astronautical records; devising regulations for air sporting events; and the promotion of skill, proficiency and safety in aeronautics. The web site brings together a range of information sources including news, events, mailing lists and discussion forums. Within the framework of FAI, each air sport has an International Commission which is responsible for making the rules for competitions and which generally oversees the activies of their particular air sport. Each of the Commissions have their own sections of the web site, and these cover: ballooning (and airships); general aviation; gliding; hang gliding; aeromodeling; parachuting; aerobatics; astronautic records; human powered flight; microlight; paragliding; and rotorcraft. There are also a series of technical commissions including: aviation and space education; amateur built and experimental aircraft; air sports medicine (Comission Internationale Medico-Physiologique - CIMP); and the environment. There is a documents area which contains copies of key policy documents including the FAI's Anti-Doping Rules and Procedures, the Strategic Plan, and Code of Ethics. The site also provides access to the FAI's journal, Air Sports International.

Fighter Pilot Inventory and Requirements Model; A Ten Year Look with Impact of UAV Increase

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Major Russell S. Garner and Major Paul A. Villem, AFIT/EN/TR-05-02, which was presented to the Faculty School of Engineering and Management of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in June 2005. Historically, managing fighter pilot requirements has been a continual challenge for the Air Force Personnel Center. In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have become a highly sought after commodity, and the number of UAV billets have increased, with more increases expected in the near future. Currently 45% of UAV squadrons are manned by combat aircrew. Fighter pilots fills the majority of these slots. This dramatic increase in UAV requirements demands analysis for the impact on fighter pilot requirements. An increase in UAV fighter pilot billets represents a direct increase in force requirements, however, there may be an indirect effect on training and man year requirements. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Flexible MEMS Skin Technology for Distributed Fluidic Sensing

This is a California Institute of Technology PhD dissertation, by Xong Yu, dated 1 January 2002. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [10.23 Mb]. A novel flexible skin technology, which is compatible with MEMS and ICs processes, was developed in the Caltech Micromachining Lab for the distributed fluidic sensing. With this technology, a flexible shear-stress sensor skin was fabricated and successfully implemented on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The flow separation detection along the leading edge of UAV was demonstrated in both wind tunnel and the real flight test. The complete UAV sensing/computing/controlling system, including microsensors, microelectronics, and microactuators, was also demonstrated in wind tunnel and ready for the flight test. This technology was further explored by making an underwater shear-stress sensor skin for applications such as flow pattern measurement of radio controlled submarines, and the study of the safety and arming mechanisms of next generation smart torpedoes. This title is part of California Institute of Technology's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Collection

Flight Test – Sharing Knowledge and Experience

This site provides access to the Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) Meeting Proceedings, RTO-MP-SCI-162. The papers are from the RTO Systems Concepts and Integration (SCI) Symposium, held in Warsaw, Poland, 9-11 May 2005. Topics covered by the papers include: Programme Operations; Test Methods; Programmes Overview; Facilities and Flight Test Instrumentation; Programmes – Operations. The document is contained in the RTO's Publication Library.

Flightglobal.com

This is the website of Flight International, Airline Business, ACAS, Air Transport Intelligence (ATI) and The Flight Collection. It provides jobs, blogs, and primarily industry news. It is a large site and much of the content is to be found behind the browse links on the left of the page. These links are: aircraft, air transport, airlines, defence, safety, UAVs, helicopters, business and GA, maintenance, and spaceflight. The site contains the content of the current issues of Flight International and Airline Business as soon as it is published along with searchable archives going back to 1996 which are accessible to all. It also covers worldwide major air shows (Paris, Dubai, Asian Aerospace, and Farnborough) and produces daily newspapers during these events. There are three versions of the site - global, professional and expert.

Flying Into the Future

This article appeared in Georgia Tech Research News in February 1998. It was written by Amy Stone of the Georgia Institute of Technology's department of Aerospace Sciences and Electronic Systems and introduces the concept of micro air vehicles (MAVs) and the project that is being undertaken to design a microflyer.

Force Structure: Improved Strategic Planning Can Enhance DOD's Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Efforts

This technical report(GAO-04-342)was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2004. The current generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been under development for defense applications since the 1980s. UAVs were used in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003 to observe, track, target, and strike enemy forces. These successes have heightened interest in UAVs within the Department of Defense (DOD) and the services. GAO was asked to (1) determine how much funding DOD requested, was appropriated, and was obligated for major UAV development efforts during fiscal years 1999-2003 and (2) assess whether DOD's approach to planning for UAVs provides reasonable assurance that its investment in UAVs will facilitate their integration into the force structure. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Formation Flight Control for Aerial Refueling

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Stephen M. Ross, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-M35, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology, in March 2006. A controller is designed for an aircraft to autonomously fly formation during aerial refueling. Requirements for a refueling autopilot are stated. A six-degree-of-freedom model is developed for an F-16 lead aircraft and a Learjet LJ-25 wing aircraft. Bare airframe stability of both aircraft is investigated, and stability augmentation is performed. A Matlab Simulink (trademark) simulation is built to reproduce the sensor inputs that will be available to the wing aircraft in flight, including disturbances. Control frames are investigated to determine the optimum presentation of the error vector for control during the task of air refueling. Control laws are developed from the initial premise of proportional-plus-integral (PI) control on position error only, and made more complex until desired performance is achieved. Tanker flight profiles are designed for the lead aircraft, and simulations are accomplished to estimate controller performance. Stability and robustness are investigated through the addition of noise, turbulence, and time delays while exploring the capability limits during increasingly aggressive profiles. Modifications for flight test are described, and flight test results are reviewed from seven formation flights of a USAF C-12 and a Learjet LJ-25 under fully autonomous control in an operationally representative refueling environment. Actual controller performance is analyzed and compared to predictions, and suggestions are made for future controllers. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Formation Flight of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

This is a senior design project report subimtted by Ryan Becker, Chris Borowski and Ognjen Petrovic in June, 2004 to the Santa Clara University. This Santa Clara University�s Aerial Robotics Team developed an autonomous fleet of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) capable of performing aerial reconnaissance and demonstrating basic formation flying capabilities. In a single plane configuration, the team exploited the capabilities of a commercial autopilot in order to automatically fly through a pre-determined set of navigational waypoints and using real-time video feed in order to image and provide open-loop tracking of specific targets. This capability was be showcased in the international Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) UAV competition in June 2004. In a two-plane follow-the-leader configuration, a human pilot flys a lead plane, and a chase plane automatically follows the lead plane�s trajectory. This is accomplished through the use of Ground ControlStation software, written by the team, that collects trajectory information from both planes and controls the follow-the-leader formation. In performing this project, the team has accomplished three significant objectives. First, it has successfully developed a flight system that will prove to be competitive in the AUVSI competition. Second, it has demonstrated an impressive multi-UAV flight capability that demonstrates the power of multi-UAV formations for enhancing the ability of UAVs to perform scientific, civil, humanitarian, and national defense missions. Finally, it has established a viable and impressive multi-UAV test bed for future SCU robotics education and research projects. The full text of the report can be accessed as PDF document.

Freewing Aerial Robotics Corp.

Freewing Aerial Robotics Corporation, designs and produces aircraft utilizing the Company's proprietary Freewing Tilt-Body 153 technology. The internet site provides a profile of the company, its history and expertise. There is a good description of the principles underlying the Tilt-Body technology, including the application of this technology to the UCAV role. There is also a description on pivoting wing technology. There are descriptions of the Company's UAV products, and a number of QuickTime video clips of the Scorpion UAV.

Full Capability Formation Flight Control

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Major Ryan K. Osteroos, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/05-M16, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in February 2005. The subject of automatic formation flight control is of current interest to the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Previous control approaches have been refined in this work to allow more robust maneuvering and to include a fourth control parameter. The equations of motion for each aircraft as a point mass, expressed in a wind-axis coordinate system, are coupled into differential equations that model the two aircraft system dynamics. Control laws are developed that include proportional and integral action. Gains are determined based on formation performance. Lead maneuvers are simulated and the controller is gauged on its ability to maintain the commanded formations in and out of the vortex wake generated by the lead aircraft. A Dryden wind model at varying intensities is applied to the system. In simulation the controller maintained acceptable performance in all maneuvers tested. A slightly modified controller was applied to a USAF NF-16D aircraft for flight testing. Utilizing a data link system and a virtual lead aircraft generated from a ground based control station, the NF-16D was able to flight test the controller. In-flight, the controller was stable, and able to perform all of the desired formation hold and change maneuvers. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Future Combat Systems

The role of the US Future Combat Systems (FCS) is to ensure that US forces adapt to match any opponent it will face in the 21st century. It is the Army's modernisation programme consisting of a family of manned and unmanned systems connected by a common network that enables the modular force. The aim is to provide soldiers with leading-edge technologies and capabilities so they can dominated in complex environments. This site provides an overview of FCS including news, multimedia and descriptions of its technology including UAVs, unattended ground sensors, NLOS-OS (Non Line of Sight Launch System), intelligent munitions system and command and control vehicle.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) in San Diego, California develops, manufactures and services unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Company's products include: Predator, Prowler, Altus and GNAT UAV systems. The site provides a brief description of each system, and there is a photo library, which includes a series of images of each aircraft and supporting ground systems.

Georgia Institute of Technology : Aerial Robotics

This web site brings together a number of resources related to the International Aerial Robotics Competition and is hosted at the School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. The site provides details of the competition which is organised by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems. There are also links to the School of Aerospace Engineering's UAV Laboratory and Controls Group. There is an International Aerial Robotics Competition Discussion Forum, as well as a couple of related newsgroups and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The site provides links to the web sites of other academic groups involved in the Competition.

Georgia Institute of Technology : Mobile Robot Laboratory

The Georgia Tech Mobile Robot Laboratory is concerned with the science and technology of intelligent mobile robots. The site provides descriptions of current research projects including the Autonomous Scout Rotorcraft Testbed (ASRT) - an autonomous helicopter with the ability to track a moving person-sized object. There are also references to articles produced by staff, as well as some full-text online papers, and a gallery of images and video clips.

Georgia Institute of Technology : Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Research Facility

The Unmanned Aerial Research Facility (UAVRF) is part of Gerorgia Institute of Technology's School of Aerospace Engineering. The site provides access to a range of information resources. These include descriptions of current work such as the Active-Vision Control Systems, and Software Enabled Control projects. The site also provides access to articles produced by staff, a description of facilities and resources, and a large collection of still images and video clips.

Human Factors Implications of Unmanned Aircraft Accidents: Flight-Control Problems

This technical report (DOT/FAA/AM-6/8) was produced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine in April 2006 and was written by K. W. Williams. This research focuses on three types of flight control problems associated with unmanned aircraft systems. The three flight control problems are: 1)external pilot difficulties with inconsistent mapping of the controls to the movement of the aircraft 2) difficulties associated with the transfer of control from one control location to another during the flight and 3) problems associated the automation of flight control. Specific accidents associated with each type of control problem are given as examples. The accidents involve several different aircraft systems that are currently in use. Solutions for each type of control problem are offered. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Human Systems Integration and Automation Issues in Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This technical report (NPS-OR-008) was published by the United States Naval Postgraduate School Monterey in October 2004. The goal of this report is to identify Human System Integration (HSI) and automation issues that contribute to improved effectiveness and efficiency in the operation of U.S. military Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs). HSI issues relevant to SUAV operations are reviewed and observations from field trials are summarized. Short-term improvements are suggested, research issues are identified, and an overview is provided of automation technologies applicable to future SUAV design. {taken from abstract]. This is available in PDF format so will require Adobe Acrobat software in order to read it.

Improving UAV Handling Qualities Using Time Delay Compensation

The site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis by Major Andrew Joseph Thurling, USAF, AFIT/CAE/ENY/00M-01, dated March 2000. The thesis presents a study of control loop time delay and its effect on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle handling. It describes the identification and of a compensation technique, and its flight testing on a UAV. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (3,776,730 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

Inertia Measurement and Dynamic Stability Analysis of a Radio-Controlled Joined-Wing Aircraft

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain William A. McClelland, USAF, AFIT/GA/ENY/06-M07, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautical Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. Dynamic stability and stall during steady level turns were examined for VA-1, a joined-wing flight demonstrator aircraft. Configurations with a lower vertical tail and fairings over the main landing gear were compared with a recommendation on the combination had the best drag and dynamic stability characteristics. The dynamic stability analysis was broken into four key parts: a twist test experimentally measured mass moments of inertia, a panel method was used to find non-dimensional stability derivatives, lateral and longitudinal state space models estimated dynamic stability characteristics and handling quality levels were evaluated using a Cooper-Harper based rating system. VA-1 was found to have good longitudinal and lateral flight qualities for cruise flight. The lower vertical tail could be removed to reduce weight and drag without degrading dynamic stability. Spanwise lift coefficients for different wing sections in trimmed steady state turns at 50 and 55 degrees of bank were estimated to see which sections of the wing stalled first. The analysis revealed VA-1 can turn using bank angles less than 50 degrees without stall and that stall first occurred at the aileron, immediately outboard of the wing joint. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Innovative Development : Global Hawk and DarkStar - Flight Test in the HAE UAV ACTD Program

This technical report (MR-1475-AF) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2002 and was written by Jeffrey A. Drezner and Robert S. Leonard. In 1994, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, in conjunction with the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office, initiated an effort�designated the High-Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (HAE UAV ACTD)�whose goal was to facilitate the development of UAVs through the use of a new and innovative acquisition strategy. This report addresses the effect of that acquisition strategy on the flight test program of the two air vehicles: the conventional Global Hawk and the low-observable DarkStar. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Innovative Development : Global Hawk and DarkStar - Their Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration Program Experience, Executive Summary

This technical report (MR-1473-AF) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2002 and was written by Jeffrey A. Drezner and Robert S. Leonard. In 1994, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office launched a joint initiative with the goal to overcome the impediments that had hampered past unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development. This effort�designated the High-Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (HAE UAV ACTD) program�applied an innovative acquisition strategy to the development of two UAVs: one conventionally configured (Global Hawk) and the other with a low-observable configuration (DarkStar). The report summarizes the major research findings regarding the HAE UAV ACTD program's acquisition strategy. [Taken from Abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Innovative Development : Global Hawk and DarkStar - Transitions Within and Out of the HAE UAV ACTD Program

This technical report (MR-1476-AF) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2002 and was written by Jeffery A. Drezner and Robert S. Leonard. This report assesses two transitions of the HAE UAV ACTD program�the first from DARPA to Air Force management and the second from an ACTD to a Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP)�toward the goal of determining which elements of the program's novel acquisition strategy facilitated these transitions and which engendered problems. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Interfaces for Ground and Air Military Robots : Workshop Summary

This is a full text report made available by National Academies Press written by Tal Oron-Gilad, Rapporteur, Planning Committee for the Workshop on Scalable Interfaces for Air and Ground Military Robots, Committee on Human Factors, National Research Council and dated 2005. In the early years of robotics and automated vehicles, the fight was against nature and not against a manifestly intelligent opponent. In this context, researchers and engineers in artificial intelligence aspired to design completely autonomous systems. In military environments, however, where prediction and anticipation are complicated by the existence of an intelligent adversary, it is essential to retain human operators in the control loop. Future military and civilian interface technologies will be influenced greatly by currently evolving autonomous and semiautonomous systems. Operators will act at times as monitors, as controllers, and as supervisors, each role putting different and new demands on their perceptual, motor, and cognitive capacities. In particular, future combat systems will require operators to control and monitor aerial and ground robotic systems and to act as part of larger teams coordinating diverse robotic systems over multiple echelons. The goals for future operator control units are that they be (1) integrated into the soldier’s total task environment, (2) capable of being used to monitor and control multiple systems, and (3) interchangeable, with a minimum of practice, among nonexpert soldiers. Display designers should give consideration to the trade-offs between meeting diverse operational requirements and minimizing display and control requirements. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available to read online.

International Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing Aircraft (V/STOL) Historical Society

The site brings together links to V/STOL related web resources that have been created by, or feature significant contributions, from IVHS members. The V/STOL Encyclopedia Series include a number of presentations: German V/STOL Concepts in the Twentieth Century (fighters, rotorcraft, and transports), and French V/STOL Rotorcraft and Propellercraft. The site describes and where possible provides links to relevant V/STOL publications including: VTOL UAV's 'Come of Age: US Navy Begins Development of VTUAV' by Michael W. McKee, Ph.D., American Helicopter Society, Vertiflite, Summer 2000; and 'Bell Designs Are Accelerating at Full Tilt', by Michael Hirschberg, American Helicopter Society, Vertiflite, Fall 1999.

Lawrence Hargrave : Australian Aviation Pioneer

The site is intended to highlight the work and legacy of a number of Australian aviation pioneers including Lawrence Hargrave, John and Reginald Duigan, and Keith Meggs. It is the work of two academics from Monash University. The site contains biograhical notes, an extensive bibliography, a gallery of images, timelines, and a listing of Hargrave's papers, some of which are available online. A number of technologies of current interest are also highlighted including tailless aircraft (flying wings) and Micro Air Vehicles. The MAV pages in particular provide a very extensive set of links to related web resources. These cover the following topics: Bird and Insect Flight Ornithopters; Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) and related projects; Blimps and Other Flying Objects; Miniature Engines; and Minature Robotics. The site also provides an anthology of aviation pioneers.

Mass Properties Calculation and Fuel Analysis in the Conceptual Design of Uninhabited Air Vehicles

This is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University MSc thesis, by Osgar John Ohanian, III, dated December 1, 2003. In this thesis, several methods are presented in order to automatically calculate the mass properties of aircraft structural components and fuel stored in tanks. The first method set forth calculates the mass properties of homogenous solids represented by polyhedral surface geometry. A newly developed method for calculating the mass properties of thin shell objects, given the same type of geometric representation, is derived and explained. A methodology for characterizing the mass properties of fuel in tanks has also been developed. While the concepts therein are not completely original, the synthesis of past research from diverse sources has yielded a new comprehensive approach to fuel mass property analysis during conceptual design. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format. This title is part of Virginia Tech's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD).

MEMS Aerospace Applications

This is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Educational Note, RTO-EN-AVT-105, Paris, February 2004. The material in this publication was assembled to support a Lecture Series under the sponsorship of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT) on 3-4 October 2002 in Montreal, Canada; on 24-25 February 2003 in Ankara, Turkey; on 27-28 February 2003 in VKI Brussels, Belgium; and on 3-4 March 2003 in Monterey, California, USA. Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) are miniature devices, which integrate actuators, sensors, and a processor (controller) to form intelligent systems. They are characterized by their close relationship to integrated-circuit components both in terms of manufacturing techniques and their potential for integrations with electronics. This Lecture Series provides an introduction to MEMS technology and then focuses on six potential aerospace applications: active control of thin boundary layer flow, complete inertial and navigation units on a single chip, fuzing / safety and arming systems for torpedo applications, micro power generation using micro fuel cells and micro engines for potential standalone sensors and actuators with wireless communication, and micro rockets, applications in harsh environments, and applications for autonomous inventory and storage environments monitoring and for service life predictions. Following on from these MEMS applications, Micro-Optic-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MOEMS) are described in the context of optical communication & sensing systems. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, individual papers and the full text of the document (4.3 Mbytes) can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Micro Aerial Vehicle Development Group : University of Notre Dame

This is the home page of this group, which is comprised of postgraduate and undergraduate students who are working towards designing useable micro aerial vehicles (MAVs). The site provides images and video clips (requiring Windows Media Player or Mac Quick Time), a description of the research carried out, including links to several full text conference papers, and information on the Group's entry to the annual Micro Aerial Vehicle Competition hosted by the University of Florida. A bibliography is also provided.

Micro Air Vehicle "Entomopter" Project

This site describes the development of an electromechanical multimode (flying/crawling) insect, by a design team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Cambridge University and ETS Labs. The mechanical insect, known as an "Entomopter" is based around a new development called a reciprocating chemical muscle (RCM) which is capable of generating autonomic wing beating from a chemical energy source. The site includes a description of the project and the full text of a number of research papers relating to the project are available, as well as a Quicktime movie (1.7 MB) of the RCM testbed. The site includes a 57 MB mpg resizable animation of the Entomopter-based aerial Mars Surveyor mission.

Micro Air Vehicles : Toward a New Dimension In Flight

This is the full text of an article written by James M. McMichael, Program Manager Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Colonel Michael S. Francis, USAF (Ret.) formerly of Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. The article, which was produced in 1997, provides an overview of micro air vehicles (MAVs). Potential scenarios for their use are proposed and the technical challenges are discussed. The article is in HTML format.

MicroPilot

This site is from a company that specialises in supplying low cost UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) systems as well as individual components including autopilot and GPS (global positioning systems). The site also includes an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), several full text papers and reports about the subject in both HTML and Word format. Manuals are also provided for the company's products in Word.

Microsoft, Al Jazeera and the Predator: Challenge Effects-Based Operations in the Global War on Terror

This is the full text of a thesis by Major David Kumashiro which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2005. A complex and interdependent environment in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) highlights the challenge of translating the theory of effects-based operations (EBO) into practice, particularly with respect to influencing the will of the people and achieving a desired endstate. The following paper seeks to illustrate the conditions and challenges surrounding the translation of current effects-based theory into operational practice in GWOT by using three conceptual constructs. First, the Microsoft Corporation, its connectivity to the Internet, and the persistent attacks by computer hackers on Microsoft products help frame the adversary and the complex environment and conditions surrounding GWOT. Second, the Al Jazeera satellite news network serves as an anecdotal backdrop for the challenges military planners face in managing EBO assessment and controlling the �effects� in EBO. Third, the versatility of both the MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle and Special Operations Forces (SOF) illustrate the importance of developing and maintaining collective knowledge, technological relevance, and doctrinal adaptability in an ever-changing GWOT environment. Military planners who follow an effects-based strategy should recognize EBO�s inherent limitations and plan for its characteristic uncertainty and uncontrollability. In the end, the ability to manage the constructive and destructive strategic effects required to achieve a desired endstate as complex as that found in GWOT requires a holistic perspective that is, at its heart, more art than science. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University ResearchWeb site.

Microspies : A Web Anthology

This anthology was published by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum as a supplement to an article on Micro Air Vehicle developments in the April/May 2000 issue of AIR&SPACE Magazine. The supplement describes, and links to, a series of web-based information resources relating to MAV technologies.

Military.com

Designed for America's military community, this site aims to meet the needs of military consumers. It is a joint service site and covers travel, careers, reunions, finance and merchandise, as well as military history, military equipment, military news and military operations. There are areas tailored specifically to members of the army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, veterans and spouses which you have to register to use, but subscriptions are free.

MIT Information Control Engineering : Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

This site is the home page of Massachussets Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. The main feature of the site is full text access to many reports and papers produced by the Laboratory's staff in the subject areas of aerial robotics and path planning, air traffic management, control and operations research.

MLB Company : Spy Planes

MLB produces and sells micro air vehicles (MAVs), unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), spy planes, and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), and builds aircraft for research and development in aeronautics, communications and robotics. The web site describes the company's products and services including MLB's Bat UAV. Brief specifications, a system outline and mission overview are provided. A number of other past projects are described. There is an image gallery which illustrates possible applications for the company's products as well as movies page with video clips of the Bat in operation. The company information section of the site includes a number of full text papers for downloading. These include papers on Autonomous Robots in SWAT Applications; Mini-UAVs for Convoy Protection, Integrated Aerodynamics and Control System Design for Tailless Aircraft; Design of Micro Air Vehicles and Flight Test Validation; Design and Flight Test Results for Micro-Sized Fixed-Wing and VTOL Aircraft and, Flight Tests of an Oblique Flying Wing Small Scale Demonstrator.

Model Aircraft : A Guide To Safe Flying

This provides access to a UK Civil Aviation Authority Publication Civil Aviation Paper CAP 658, 3rd edition, August 2006. CAP 658 provides advice on the safe operation of model aircraft including model displays and large models over 20 kg. The text is available in PDF format (243 kb) from the CAA's publications web site.

Modeling Information Quality Expectation in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm Sensor Databases

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by First Lieutenant Patrick D. Baldwin, USAF, AFIT/GCS/ENG/05-01, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2005. Swarming Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are the future of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). Swarms of hundreds of these vehicles, each equipped with multiple sensors, will one day fill the skies over hostile areas. As the sensors collect hundreds of gigabytes of data, telemetry data links will be unable to transmit the complete data picture to the ground in real time. The collected data will be stored on board the UAVs and selectively downloaded through queries issued from analysts on the ground. Analysts expect to find relevant sensor data within the collection of acquired sensor data. This expectation is not a quantified value, rather a confidence that this relevant data exists. An expectation of the likely quality of the available sensor information is determined by the user through the use of the methods and tools developed in this thesis. This work develops swarm coverage analysis models using position in time data from the swarm. With these models, a geometric analysis of the swarm is conducted that shows analysts when and where the swarm likely collected sensor data most relevant to a need. Convex hulls are used to calculate areas of coverage as well as swarm and sensor densities. Target profiling algorithms are developed that show target coverage over time from the swarm for each sensor type. Target-centric and sensor-centric analyses allow analysts to quickly determine where individual swarm agents were relative to a target at any point during the mission. Finally a series of visualizations of the swarm and targets are created that allow the analyst to view swarm activity from the perspective of individual swarm members or targets. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Modeling Piezoceramic Twist Actuation in Single-Cell Anisotropic Torque Box of Low-Observable UAV Wing

The site provides access to an Air University Air Force Institute of Technology MSc Thesis, by Captain Peter Cseke, Jr, USAF, dated March 2000. The thesis describes a study involving the modeling of torsion of the designed baseline Unmanned Aerial Vehicle's wing torqubox, by extending the Bredt-Batho theorem. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format (1,820,791 bytes). The document is part of the Air University Research Database.

Modeling, Stability, and Control of a Rotatable Tail on a Micro Air Vehicle

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Travis J. Higgs, USAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-05, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in December 2005. This research uses existing experimental wind tunnel data to develop a non-linear model that is used to characterize the stability of a flexible wing Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) with a rotatable tail. The experimental data are curve fit based on either angle of attack or angle of sideslip, and the coupled effect of tail rotation and tail deflection on the force and moment coefficients. Static optimization trims the input and state variables for Steady Level Unaccelerated Flight (SLUF). The resulting initial conditions are fed to an open loop non-linear Simulink/Matlab simulation. The study found that the bare MAV design is unstable, but parametric studies identified practical modifications that could be made to the MAV to improve its open loop stability characteristics. The study found that the coupling effect due to the dihedreal derivative played a large role in destabilizing the lateral-directional dynamics and a feedback Stability Augmentation System is required for flight. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

NASA Image eXchange (NIX)

The NASA Image eXchange (NIX) provides a single point of entry to various photographic databases of six NASA centers (Langley, Lewis, Ames, Dryden, Goddard and Johnson). Search capabilities of NIX include simple searches, complex searches, and browsing. NIX returns thumbnail sized images, textual descriptions, image numbers, links to higher resolution images, links to more information, and links to the NASA Center that stores each image. NIX also provides tips to users on searching, copyright information, and a comments section. NIX is currently being expanded to include additional photos from the remaining centers.

NATO Research and Research Technology Organization (RTO)

The Research and Technology Organization is the focus for defence research and technology activities within NATO. It was formed by a merger of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research & Development (AGARD) and the Defence Research Group (DRG). The RTO web site provides access to a wide range of information resources. The mission, objectives history, and organisational structure of the RTO are described. An events calendar provides details of RTO activities. The site provides details of the work programmes and publications of the RTO technical panels, the Information Management Committee (IMC) and the Modeling and Simulation Group. A growing number of RTO reports are also available online, and the site provides access to searchable abstracts and Full Text Publication Library. There is also a link to the Science, Technology and Research Network (STARNET), which has been developed by the IMC as a means to facilitate access to existing information resources worldwide.

Nonproliferation: Improvements Needed for Controls on Exports of Cruise Missile and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology

This technical report (GAO-04-493T)was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2004. Cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) pose a growing threat to U.S. national security interests as accurate, inexpensive delivery systems for conventional, chemical, and biological weapons. GAO assessed (1) the tools the U.S. and foreign governments use to address proliferation risks posed by the sale of these items and (2) efforts to verify the end use of exported cruise missiles, UAVs, and related technology. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Operator State Estimation for Adaptive Aiding in Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles

This is the full text of a Doctoral thesis by Christopher A. Russell, AFIT/DS/ENG/05-01, which was presented to the Faculty Graduate School of Engineering and Management of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in September 2005. This research demonstrated the first closed-loop implementation of adaptive automation using operator functional state in an operationally relevant environment. In the Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) environment, operators can become cognitively overloaded and their performance may decrease during mission critical events. This research demonstrates an unprecedented closed-loop system, one that adaptively aids UCAV operators based on their cognitive functional state A series of experiments were conducted to 1) determine the best classifiers for estimating operator functional state, 2) determine if physiological measures can be used to develop multiple cognitive models based on information processing demands and task type, 3) determine the salient psychophysiological measures in operator functional state, and 4) demonstrate the benefits of intelligent adaptive aiding using operator functional state. Aiding the operator actually improved performance and increased mission effectiveness by 67%. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Optimization of the Aerodynamics of Small-scale Flapping Aircraft in Hover

This full text thesis by Sidney Lebental was presented to Duke University in June 2008. Flapping flight is one of the most widespread mean of transportation. It is a complex unsteady aerodynamic problem that has been studied extensively in the past century. Nevertheless, by its complex nature, flapping flight remains a challenging subject. With the development of micro air vehicles, researchers need new computational methods to design these aircrafts efficiently. In this dissertation, three different methods of optimization for flapping flight are presented, with an emphasis on hovering with each their advantages and drawbacks. The first method was developed by Hall et al. It is an extremely fast and powerful three-dimensional approach. However, the assumptions made to develop this theory limit its use to lightly loaded wings. In addition, it only models the motion of the trailing edge and not the actual motion of the wing. In a second part, a two-dimensional unsteady potential method is presented. It uses a freely convected wake which removes the lightly loaded restriction. This method shows the existence of an optimal combination of plunging and pitching motion. The motion is optimal in the sense that for a required force vector, the aerodynamic power is minimal. The last method incorporates the three-dimensional effects. These effects are especially important for low aspect ratio wings. Thus, a three-dimensional unsteady potential vortex method was developed. This method also exhibits the presence of an optimal flapping/pitching motion. In addition, it agrees really well with the two previous methods and with the actual kinematics of birds during hovering flapping flight. To conclude, some preliminary design tools for flapping wings in forward and hovering flight are presented in this thesis. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format.

Palm-size spy plane

The web site provides access to a 1998 feature article by Steven Ashley on the development of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), from the journal, Mechanical Engineering. The article includes a number of images including: AeroVironment's Black Widow prototype micro aerial vehicle; an egg-sized gas-turbine engine produced by M-DOT; and a mock-up which illustrates the Black Widow's flex circuit.

Past UAV Program Failures and Implications For Current UAV Programs

This web site provides access to an Air University, Air Command and Staff College research report by Maj. Barak j. Carlson, USAF, AU/ACSC/037/2001-04, April 2001. The paper presents an examination of a number of Department of Defense (DoD) UAV development efforts and identifies common causes for the repeated failure of DoD UAV programmes to become operationally robust. The RQ-4A Global Hawk UAV Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (ACTD) programme and the X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) programme are reviewed in order to assess whether lessons have been learnt from earlier failures. The full text of the of the report is available online in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 4.0 document.

Pathfinder and the Development of a Solar Rechargeable Aircraft

The Pathfinder is a flying testbed for proving key technologies, critical system integration approaches, and flight control issues essential to achieving solar rechargeable flight at high altitude. This web site provides access to a full-text paper (pdf file, 640K), published in the journal, Energy and Technology Review, dated July 1994. There is also an HTML format abstract of the paper available online.

PCUAV (Parent-Child Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)

This is the home page of the MIT/Draper Technology Development Partnership Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It details the PCUAV Project which has been under development since 1998 and is concerned with demonstrating key technologies of long distance unmanned surveillance. The site provides an overview of the project including photographs and video footage and ongoing research areas.

Performance Analysis of a Cooperative Search Algorithm for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles under Limited Communication Conditions

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Second Lieutenant Kevin M. Morris, USAF, AFIT/GE/ENG/06-44, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. This research investigates the impacts of realistic wireless communications upon a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) utilizing a distributed search algorithm. The UAVs are used to survey an area for mobile targets and they require communication to cooperatively locate the targets. The mobile targets do not continually radiate energy, which exacerbates the search effort; a UAV could fly directly over a target and not detect it. A simulation of cooperative UAVs is implemented using the OPNET Modeler network simulation tool. The search performance of a group of UAVs is observed when communication range, data rate, and the number of UAVs are varied. The performance is evaluated based on the total time it takes for the UAVs to completely detect all the targets in a given search area, the number of times internal areas are scanned, the amount of communication throughput achieved, the network traffic generated, network latency, and number of network collisions. The results indicate that the number of UAVs was found to have the greatest impact on the group's ability to search an area, implying that the data shared between the UAVs provides little benefit to the search algorithm. In addition, it was found that a network with a 100 Kbps or faster data rate should allow for minimal congestion and a large degree of scalability. The findings demonstrate that the proposed four-stage search algorithm should operate reasonably well under realistic conditions. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Persistent and Critical Issues in the Nation�s Aviation and Aeronautics Enterprise

This report was released by the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Washington, DC, November 2003. A Steering Committee consisting of members of key United States engineering and aerospace associations was asked by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to provide the engineering community's perspective on prioritizing technologies critical to the long-term health of the nations's civil and military aviation and aeronautics technology enterprise. This statement summarises the Steering Committee�s findings and recommendations. It includes an overview of cross-cutting technology and policy issues, as well as individual sections covering aerodynamics, aircraft propulsion, avionics and embedded information technology, flight mechanics and control, information technology in design, and structures and materials. The text is available in PDF format. Useful tables and figures include Uninhabited Air Vehicles (UAV) Project Count, by Country of Development; National Aeronautics and Space Administration Aeronautics R&T Funding; U.S. Department of Defense Aeronautics R&T Funding; Aerospace Engineering Degrees Awarded; Graduate Degrees In Aeronautical Engineering, U.S. and Foreign; and a List of Recent X-plane Prototype Programmes.

Pilotless Air Force?

This web site provides access to an Air University research paper titled: The Pilotless Air Force?; prepared by Maj Robert C. Nolan, in partial fulfilment of the graduation requirements of the ACSC (Air Command Staff College), dated March 1997. The paper addesses issues relating to the replacement of human operators with advanced technology. It focuses specifically on the UAV issue and explores the possibility that airmen will be replaced by unmanned vehicles in the next twenty years. The full text is available online in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 3.0 document (175,997 bytes).

Pioneer UAV Home Page

This web site is produced by Pioneer UAV, Inc. The company is jointly owned by AAI Corporation and Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd. The site describes the Pinoneer UAV and its associated system components. The text covers: the air vehicle, ground control station, data link, remote receiving station, and portable control station. There are also descriptions of the payloads, history, and a full text paper, by Steven E. Reid titled: Operational use of the Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system; paper presented at the SPIE Technical Conference, Airborne Reconnaissance XX, in Denver, Colorado on 6 August 1996. The site also provides access to a collection of press releases, plus a page of links to related sites.

Platforms Wireless International Corporation

This company provides a product called the Airborne Wireless Communications System, using ARC systems technology, which is designed to replace ground-based wireless systems and satellites. The site provides a detailed overview of the company, product information, photographs, video, demonstrations and news. In addition, the 'marketing' area makes a world telecom market overview available.

Policy for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Certification

This is a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Advanced Notice of Proposed Amendment, A-NPA No 16-2005, 7 November 2005. The purpose of the document is to enable consultation on a proposed policy for the certification of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Systems, and is a first step towards more comprehensive UAV regulation. The closing date for responses to the consultation is 7th February 2006. The text of the document is available as a PDF file and along with the response form (MS Word format), can be accessed from the EASA Web site.

Power-Scavenging MEMS Robots

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Second Lieutenant Daniel J. Denninghoff, USAF, AFIT/GE/ENG/06-17, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in March 2006. This thesis includes the design, modeling, and testing of novel, power-scavenging, biologically inspired MEMS microrobots. Over one hundred 500-μm and 990-μm microrobots with two, four, and eight wings were designed, fabricated, characterized. These microrobots constitute the smallest documented attempt at powered flight. Each microrobot wing is comprised of downward-deflecting, laser-powered thermal actuators made of gold and polysilicon; the microrobots were fabricated in PolyMUMPs (Polysilicon Multi-User MEMS Processes). Characterization results of the microrobots illustrate how wing-tip deflection can be maximized by optimizing the gold-to-polysilicon ratio as well as the dimensions of the actuator-wings. From these results, an optimum actuator-wing configuration was identified. It also was determined that the actuator-wing configuration with maximum deflection and surface area yet minimum mass had the greatest lift-to-weight ratio. Powered testing results showed that the microrobots successfully scavenged power from a remote 660-nm laser. These microrobots also demonstrated rapid downward flapping, but none achieved flight. The results show that the microrobots were too heavy and lacked sufficient wing surface area. It was determined that a successfully flying microrobot can be achieved by adding a robust, light-weight material to the optimum actuator-wing configuration-similar to insect wings. The ultimate objective of the flying microrobot project is an autonomous, fully maneuverable flying microrobot that is capable of sensing and acting upon a target. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Qualitative Knowledge Construction for Engineering Systems : Extending the Design Structure Matrix Methodology in Scope and Procedure

This is the full text of a thesis written by Jason E. Bartolomei which was presented to the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in June 2007. This thesis presents a new modeling framework and research methodology for the study of engineering systems. The thesis begins with a formal conceptualization of Engineering Systems based upon a synthesis of various literatures. Using this conceptualization, a new modeling framework is presented called the Engineering Systems Matrix (ESM). The ESM is an improvement to existing system-level modeling frameworks, such as the Design Structure Matrix (DSM), by providing a dynamic, end-to-end representation of an engineering system. In support of this contribution, a new research methodology is presented called Qualitative Knowledge Construction (QKC). QKC can be thought of as a Bayesian-type approach to grounded theory. The methodology integrates qualitative social science with quantitative methods by developing a procedure for translating textual reports of observations, interview transcripts, system documentation, and figures into coded data represented in the ESM. The thesis develops the ESM framework and the QKC methodology in the context of - a real world engineering system, a US Air Force miniature uninhabited air vehicle (MAV) product development system. [Taken from abstract]. This is in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software is required in order to read it.

Review of ONR's Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles Program

This web site provides access to a publication produced by the Committee for the Review of ONR's Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles Program, Naval Studies Board, National Research Council, 2000. It contains a table of contents, executive summary, a study overview, an assessment of the ONR 351 UAV/UCAV program, and an evaluation of the program's integration with other related department of the Navy and Department of Defense activities. The full text of the report is available online in Openbook format.

Robotics at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego

This web site describes robot and robotics activities at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego. SSC San Diego, and its predecessor organisations have been involved in various aspects of robotics since the early 1960's. There are currently two groups involved in robotics research: Advanced Systems Division (Code D37): land and air robots; and The Ocean Systems Division (Code D74): underwater robots. The site contains information on UAV programmes including: Multipurpose Surveillance and Security Mission Platform (MSSMP) (formerly the Air Mobile Ground Security and Surveillance System (AMGSSS)) and Airborne Remotely Operated Device (AROD). The MSSMP description provides links to a number of full text papers, which are available online.

Robots with The Right Stuff

This site provides access to the full text of an article from Wired (Magazine) issue 4.03, 1996, in which the author Phil Patton, provides a brief, but readable report on the US UAV programme. In the article Patton describes the Predator and the unveiling of the DarkStar. He also provides a brief overview of the arguments advocated by the proponents of future combat applications of UAVs, and describes the operational use of the Predator in the Balkans.

Routing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles While Considering General Restricted Operating Zones

The site provides access to an Air University, Air Force Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Engineering and Management, MSc Thesis, by 1st Lieutenant Darin T. Brown, USAF, AFIT/GOR/ENS/01M-04, dated March 2001. The thesis describes an enhancement of the router developed at the Air Force Institute of Technology in order to provide it with the ability to define general restricted operating zones and to build routes that consider these zones. It also examines and compares a probabilistic tabu search heuristic and two reactive tabu search heuristics for solving vehicle routing problems. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The full text can be accessed in PDF format. The document is part of the Air University Research Database

Saab Group

The Saab Group is an international company specialising in aviation, space and defence. The site describes the companies business units, and provides investor information, key financial statistics, details of job opportunities. A searchable database of all products produced by the Saab Group is available. This includes the Gripen fighter, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and the Saab 340 and 2000 family of commercial aircraft. There is also a publications database which provides access to the annual report, brochures and the in-house magazine. Documents are available in PDF format. In addition, there is a history of the Saab company, contact details, information on the press releases, as well as an image and a movie bank.

Safety Considerations for Operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the National Airspace System

This is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) International Center for Air Transportation, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics report, prepared by Roland E. Weibel and R. John Hansman, ICAT-2005-1, March 2005. There is currently a broad effort underway in the United States and internationally by several organizations to craft regulations enabling the safe operation of UAVs in the NAS. To inform future Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, an investigation of the safety considerations for UAV operation in the NAS was performed. Key issues relevant to operations in the NAS, including performance and operating architecture were examined. A system safety analysis was performed according to FAA system safety guidelines for two critical hazards in UAV operation: midair collision and ground impact. Event-based models were developed describing the likelihood of ground fatalities and midair collisions under several assumptions. From the models, a risk analysis was performed calculating the expected level of safety for each hazard without mitigation. The variation of expected level of safety was determined based on vehicle characteristics and population density for the ground impact hazard, and traffic density for midair collisions. The text of the report is available in PDF format (2.1 Mb).

Scaled Composites LLC

Scaled Composites is an aerospace and specialty composites development company located in Mojave, California. Founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan, Scaled has a broad experience in air vehicle design, tooling, and manufacturing, specialty composite structure design, analysis and fabrication, and developmental flight test. The site provides brief descriptions about the company's products, expertise, and activities, including tilt-rotor and tilt-body UAV designs. The site also includes notices of career opportunities. There is also a link to short description on the areas of expertise namely: Conceptual Design; Aerodynamic Design; Structural Analysis and Design; Tooling; Fabrication; Structural Testing; and Flight Testing.

Scaling Flight Tests of Unmanned Air Vehicles

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Captain Jeevani I. Abeygoonewardene, SLAF, AFIT-GAE-ENY-06-S01, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institite of Technology (AFIT), in September 2006. Increasing technological advances and research interest in unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), have led to the need for having safe, inexpensive and effective means of experimenting with their fight performance and surveillance capabilities. Work has previously been done in areas of controlling, analyzing, and predicting cooperative and autonomous operations of UAVs and other vehicles. In addition, there are well established guidelines for scaling experiments in fluid mechanics, where geometric, kinematic and dynamic similarity is obtained by formulating problems in terms of non dimensional variables using dimensional analysis. However, little or no work has been done in developing experiments or guidelines for air vehicles and their sensors. The currently available experiments for such purposes, which are designed around commercially available equipment, have not been standardized and cannot be related to the real systems and the real requirements. The analysis done in this research provides an important step in setting up guidelines for experimental scaling of flight tests of UAVs. This makes it possible to use computer simulations and ground hardware experiments in a useful way for performance evaluations before having to fly the actual vehicle. Equations and simulations used have been defined in non-dimensional terms in order to allow for a scale independent approach as per the Buckingham Pi theorem. Comparisons have been drawn of flight and sensor performance characteristics between a nominal wide search area vehicle and two surrogate hardware systems having widely varying operating characteristics. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Schiebel Corporation

The company produces a range of high technology products including actuators, mine detection equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The product range includes the Camcopter rotary wing UAV. The web site contains news and press information, contact details, and product information.

Signal Processing Strategies for Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar

This is a Ohio State University, Department of Electrical Engineering PhD thesis, by Brian D. Rigling, dated 2003. Recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology are spurring new interest in the fields of bistatic and multistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This dissertation develops the theory necessary to extract useful information from bistatic and multistatic SAR phase history data. The approach taken in this work involves generalization of several existing monostatic SAR signal processing algorithms. A model for bistatic SAR data collection is introduced, and based on this model, a maximum likelihood algorithm for nonparametric scene reconstruction, or image formation, is proposed. The effect of platform motion measurement errors on bistatic SAR imagery are examined. Design of nonlinear receiver flight paths, with the goal of preserving and reconstructing three-dimensional scene information, is considered. Parametric models for the three-dimensional bistatic responses from canonical scattering centers are proposed and validated against high-frequency simulation results. Lastly, algorithms for three-dimensional surface reconstruction from multistatic SAR data are proposed, based on existing theory for monostatic stereo SAR and interferometric processing. A theoretical framework for predicting the performance of these algorithms is suggested. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML and the full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format (2.04 Mb). This title is part of the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Service.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, is involved in the design and manufacture of advanced helicopters for commercial, industrial and military uses. The web site includes background information about the company and a brief history, which provides a link to the Igor Sikorsky Historical Archives. The product range of helicopters is described. The publications section of the site contains a selection of product brochures which contain summaries of perfomance specifications. These include for example the S-70A International Black Hawk, the S-70B International Seahawk, and the S-92. The publications section also contains details of the company's Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals, online technical directives (access restricted to owners and operators), and online Safety Advisories. There is also a news section which contains press releases and an inhouse journal, Sikorsky Lifeline. The site also contains information on the Company's community activities, aircraft sales, job opportunities, and an image gallery.

Special Operations Forces and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Sooner or Later?

This web site provides access to a thesis titled: Special Operations Forces and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Sooner or Later? by Stephen P. Howard, Air University, School of Advanced Airpower Studies thesis, June 1995. This study analyzes whether Special Operations Forces should use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to support intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, communications and re-supply capability deficiencies. The author's objective is to review the missions and requirements of the United States Special Operations Command, examine current and future unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, and analyze whether unmanned aircraft technologies are mature enough to meet the demanding Special Operations missions. The full text of the document is available online in pdf format (278,855 bytes).

Stability Analysis of Network-Based Cooperative Resource Allocation Strategies

This is a Ohio State University, Department of Electrical Engineering PhD thesis, by Alvaro E. Gil, dated 2003. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML and the full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format (1.10 Mb). It focuses on three types of resource allocation problems where via an imperfect communication network multiple agents can share the workload presented by multiple task types. A model is defined for a network of processors processing task types from buffers and show that they lead to the cumulative demand being bounded by a constant. Simulations are used to demonstrate when they can be superior to one noncooperative strategy. A cooperative control problem is modeled for a network of autonomous uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs) where it is assumed that before the mission starts a set of tasks is given to a set of UAVs, but then after deployment the UAVs must cooperate to decide which UAV should process each task. The cooperative scheduling of tasks for a set of UAVs where the cooperation must occur over a network that has random but bounded delays is introduced. The study shows how to view this as a cooperative scheduling (resource allocation) problem, and how to derive bounds on mission-level performance metrics for cooperative scheduling methods. Simulations are used to compare the approach to a noncooperative strategy and to provide design guidelines for the cooperative scheduler. Finally, an inexpensive laboratory testbed for networked cooperative scheduling strategies is described and the performance of two scheduling strategies that seek to optimize different objectives are compared. This title is part of the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Service.

Storm Shadow Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicle Design Project

This site presents information on the Storm Shadow Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) design project. This is the work of a group of seniors in the Department of Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering at the University of Illinois. The design was undertaken in the spring of 1998 to satisfy a senior design project requirement. The site provides information on the design, the project and the team. Further information is presented under the following headings: payload, mission scenarios, performance, aerodynamics, propulsion, stability and control, structures, weight and balance, auxiliary systems, and cost analysis. There is also an image gallery, glossary, reference list, and a page of related links.

Strikestar 2025

This web site provides access to a research paper titled: Strikestar 2025: a research paper presented to Air Force 2025, by Bruce W. Carmichael, Troy E. DeVine, Robert J. Kaufman, Patrick E. Pence, and Richard S. Wilcox; August 1996. The paper presents an assessment of a concept to use unmanned aerial vehicles as strike platforms by 2025 and beyond. The authors conclude that the use of unmanned vehicles for missions beyond reconnaissance is both technically feasible and cost-attractive. The paper covers a number of topics including: the need for a strike UAV, developmental considerations, StrikeStar technology, and concept of operations. The full text of the paper is available online in HTML and PDF format (3,414,699 bytes).

Subsystem Integration for Tactical Missiles (SITM) and Design and Operation of Unmanned Air Vehicles (DOUAV)

This is Research and Technology Organization(RTO) AGARD Conference Proceedings, AGARD-CP-591, dated November 1996. This proceedings was sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. The papers address examples of integrating advanced sensors, guidance control systems, and navigation systems. Methods for testing missiles, including lessons learned from Norway's testing of the Penguin Mk2, are discussed. Design issues, payloads and their associated technologies, and operational issues are examined in relation to Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). Specific systems described included: the French Self Contained Early Warning System against anti-ship missiles; the Phoenix; Boeing's heliwing; the Crecelle; and the US Navy's Tilt Rotor UAV demonstrator. For individual titles, see N97-20564 through N97-20589. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text of the document (83 Mb) can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

Sydney University : Unmanned Aircraft Research Group

The web site provides information relating to current UAV and RPV research activities in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Sydney. A number of full text papers are available such as: "Maturing UAV Capabilities - Stepping from Technology Demonstrators to Mission Specific Systems"'; and "UAVs Over Australia - Market and Opportunities", paper presented to the Bristol RPV/UAV Systems Conference, Bristol, UK 30 March to 1 April 1998. The site also includes a QuickTime video clip of the first flight of Sydney University Aeronautical Engineering's Rapid Prototype Delta UAV, UAV Brumby.

System Design Consideration for Unmanned Tactical Aircraft (UTA)

This is Research and Technology Organization(RTO) AGARD Conference Proceedings, AGARD-CP-594, dated July 1998. This volume contains the Technical Evaluation Report, the Keynote Address and the 26 unclassified papers, presented at the Mission Systems Panel 8th Symposium held in Amfithea (Athens) Greece from 7th to 9th October 1997. The papers presented covered the following headings: Applications Operational Concepts I & II; Advances in UTA Techniques and Technologies (NAV, CI, G&C); Advances in UTA Techniques and Technologies (Sensors, Processing, Data Fusion). Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. A table of contents, and the full text of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library.

System Identification of a Model-Scale Helicopter

This is a technical report (CMU-RI-TR-00-03) prepared by Bernard Mettler, Takeo Kanade, the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University and Mark B. Tischler, Ames Research Center, NASA in January, 2000. The report describes the process and results of the dynamic modeling of a model-scale unmanned helicopter (Yamaha R-50 with 10 ft rotor diameter) using system identification. A complete dynamic model was derived for both hover and cruise flight conditions. In addition to standard helicopter flight characteristics, the model explicitly accounts for the stabilizer bar, which has a strong influence on the flight dynamics and is widely used in model-scale helicopters. The accuracy of the developed model is verified by the comparison between predicted and actual responses from the model and the flight experiments (in both frequency and time domains), and between key identified parameters and their theoretical values. Scaling of the main characteristics of the R-50 model-scale helicopter with respect to those of a UH-1H full-size helicopter was performed to determine how the size influences the flight dynamics of helicopters. The abstract of the study is available in HTML. The full text can be downloaded as a PDF (517KB) document.

T-Wing Tail-Sitter UAV

The web site provides information relating to current UAV activity named as T-Wing in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Sydney. The T-Wing is a tail-sitter technology demonstrator UAV that is being jointly developed by the University of Sydney and an Australian company, Sonacom Pty Ltd. This site provides images, video clips and a number of full text papers (in pdf format), relating to T-Wing.

Tactical Aircraft: Changing Conditions Drive Need for New F/A-22 Business Case

This technical report (GAO-04-391) was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2004. Following a history of increasing cost estimates to complete F/A-22 development, Congress asked GAO to assess the Air Force's F/A-22 development program annually and determine whether the Air Force is meeting key performance, schedule, and cost goals. On April 23, 2003, a congressional subcommittee requested that the Department of Defense (DOD) provide more detailed information on the business case that supports the estimated quantities and costs for an affordable F/A-22 program. Specifically, GAO (1) identified changes in the F/A-22 program since its inception, (2) reviewed the status of the development activities, and (3) examined the sufficiency of business case information provided for congressional oversight. This is a PDF so ADOBE Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Tactical Reconnaissance : UAVs versus Manned Aircraft

This web site provides access to a research paper titled: Tactical reconnaissance - UAVs versus manned aircraft: a research paper presented to the Research Department, Air Command and Staff College, by Rajesh Kumar; Air University, March 1997, AU/ACSC/0349/97-03. The paper presents a comparative study of the capabilities and cost effectiveness of UAVs and manned aircraft in the tactical/theatre reconnaissance role. The full text of the paper is available online in PDF format (127,729 bytes).

Testing of Defense Systems in an Evolutionary Acquisition Environment

This is a full text book made available by the U.S. National Academies Press and published in 2006. Testing of Defense Systems in an Evolutionary Acquisition Environment Executive Summary Evolutionary acquisition is a Department of Defense (DoD) process for defense system development in which a system is developed in stages as part of a single acquisition program. The different stages can be additional hardware and software capabilities or performance gains due to advances in technological maturity and reliability growth. DoD has presented evolutionary acquisition as the preferred option for development of key complex defense systems, a leading example being the Army’s Future Combat System. While it is quite common to modify a defense system after fielding, the intention in evolutionary acquisition is that these improvements are planned for and accommodated by the choice of system architectures and overall system design, to the extent possible. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

The Aerodynamic Performance of the Houck Configuration Flow Guides

This is the full text of a thesis by Dermot Killian USN, which was presented to Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio dated June 2007. In an effort to explore efficient wing designs for UAV's, the Air Force is investigating the patented Houck Aircraft Configuration, which is a joined-wing aircraft with curved flow guides of varying camber connecting the upper and lower wingtips. Models were drawn in three-dimensions using Solidworks(registered) with upper and lower wings drawn as identical NACA 2412 airfoil sections for all models. A variety of airfoil sections between the upper and lower wingtips were drawn and rotated to achieve a combination of cant and angle of attack variation. Subsequently, a solid part was lofted through these sections and merged with the upper and lower wings. Each model was built by a rapid prototype machine. A six-component balance in the AFIT low-speed wind tunnel provided measurements yielding the aerodynamic data of each model. Comparisons are made to the same basic planform area without flow guides and to a case where the wingtips are joined with a flat plate. At a Reynolds number of 38K, the increase in skin friction drag outweighed any possible reduction of induced drag. However for Reynolds numbers in the 57K to 120K range, improvements in L/Dmax of about 2-5% over the no flow guide case were measured. [Taken from abstract]. The full text of the thesis is avaialble in PDF format and is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)'s Scientific and Technical Information Network.

The Eagle Eye UAV

This is the web site of Bell Helicopter Textron that is related to the Eagle Eye UAV. The Bell Eagle Eye has the space, weight and power to carry surveillance, targeting, Electronic Warfare and lethal payloads. Offering speed flexibility as well as Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), the Bell Eagle Eye is the most versatile UAV on the market. This site brings together as well a pocket guide of the Eagle Eye in pdf format.

The Integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles into the Function of Counterair

The site provides access to an Air University Air Command and Staff College Research Report, by Major Ronald L. Banks, AU/ACS/021/2000-04, dated April 2000. The report examines the potential for expanding the combat role of UAVs. The reports includes analyses of recent UAV military deployments; the counterair function; current and future UAV capabilities; and possible UAV payloads for counterair operations. The author concludes with a suggested plan for UAV integration into the counterair role. Citation details and an abstract are available in HTML format. The text of the report can be accessed in PDF format (285,425 bytes).

The Role of Humans in Intelligent and Automated Systems

This is Research and Technology Organization Meeting Proceedings, RTO-MP-088, Paris, October 2003. The document contains papers presented at the RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel (HFM) Symposium, held in Warsaw, Poland, 7-9 October 2001. The Symposium considered the problem, research approaches and techniques for how automation technology can take advantage of human strengths and compensate for human disadvantages. The Symposium consisted of an Opening Session, three sessions on design philosophy, two sessions and a roundtable discussion on design methodology, two sessions on design evaluation, and a Capstone Panel with open discussion. Six Keynote Addresses were interspersed throughout the programme. 18 papers were presented, and 5 poster-boards were available for review. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The contributions cover various topics including cockpit automation, air traffic management, and UAV operations. A table of contents, and the full text (18.4 Mbytes) of the document can be accessed online in PDF format. The document is contained in the RTO's Full Text Publication Library

The UCAV Ascendancy : What are the Problem Issues?

This report was written by Dr Carlo Kopp, a defence analyst and lecturer at Monash University. The paper explores a number of fundamental technology issues which will present obstacles to Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles fulfilling a broader portion of the mission spectrum currently performed by manned combat aircraft. These obstacles are then discussed in the context of Australia�s AIR 6000 program [Taken from abstract]. The report is available in PDF format.

Three Component Velocity Measurements in the Tip Vortex of a Micro-Air-Vehicle

This is the full text of a Master's thesis by Major Hong J. Park, ROKAF, AFIT/GAE/ENY/06-S08, which was presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Air University's Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in September 2006. The purpose of this research was to improve the MAV that will be used for battle damage assessment and reconnaissance or local surveillance through the experiments in AFIT wind tunnel. The experiments were performed to investigate the wing displacement and wing tip vortex interaction. To conduct the experiments, telescopic survey tool and tri-axial hot-wire anemometer was utilized. The results indicate that wing tip displacement of the flexible wing was approximately 8 times that of the rigid wing in an unstalled condition and data suggests that flexible wing has a denser core-distribution of velocity within the wing tip vortex and delays the angle at which separation occurs. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format on the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) which is provided by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Time-Domain Simulations of Aerodynamic Forces on Three-Dimensional Configurations, Unstable Aeroelastic Responses, and Control by Neural Network Systems

This is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics PhD dissertation, by Zhicun Wang, dated May 7, 2004. In this study the nonlinear interactions between aerodynamic forces and wing structures are numerically investigated as integrated dynamic systems, including structural models, aerodynamics, and control systems, in the time domain. An elastic beam model coupled with rigid-body rotation is developed for the wing structure, and the natural frequencies and mode shapes are found by the finite-element method. A general unsteady vortex-lattice method is used to provide aerodynamic forces. This method is verified by comparing the numerical solutions with the experimental results for several cases; and thereafter applied to several applications such as the inboard-wing/twin-fuselage configuration, and formation flights. Flutter analysis is carried out for a High-Altitude-Long-Endurance aircraft wing cantilevered from the wall of the wind tunnel, a full-span wing mounted on a free-to-roll sting at its mid-span without and with a center mass (fuselage). In addition, a predictive control technique based on neural networks is investigated to suppress flutter oscillations. Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [5.11 Mb]. This title is part of Virginia Tech�s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection (VT ETD)

Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database

The Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource on transportation information. TRIS is produced and maintained by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) at the National Academies of Sciences. TRIS contains over 640,000 records of published and ongoing research on all modes and disciplines in the field of transportation. Each year over 25,000 new records are added to TRIS. Other features to note about the resource include the following: selected links to full text or sources of full text; links to the IRRD database for further coverage of international transportation; and searching by author, title, and subject.

U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board

The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) provides a link between the Air Force and the U.S. scientific community. The Board promotes the exchange of the latest scientific and technical information that may enhance the accomplishment of the Air Force mission. In addition, it may consider management challenges that affect Air Force use of scientific knowledge and technological advances. This site contains studies and reports produced by the Board. These are either in the form of summaries or full text. Full text reports include: A Space Roadmap for the 21st Century Aerospace Force (1998); Global Air Navigation Systems Study Volumes 1 and 2 (1997) and a UAV study (1996). These are PDF format reports.

UAV Technologies and Combat Operations

This web site provides access to the report of a study carried out by the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board in 1996. The study includes a summary volume, plus individual panel reports. The summary volume covers mission task concepts, air vehicle platform considerations, system/sub-system elements and human factors. The web site includes an executive summary of the report in both HTML and PDF formats. The full text of the report, with appendices, is available online in PDF format.

UAV World (Uavworld.com)

The aim of this site is to provide coverage of worldwide news, legislation and system and technology developments for international military, civil and commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) markets. The information resorces on the site are divided between free access and a member's areas. The free section contains daily news, a newsletter archive, and an events calendar. There is also a sample newsletter plus information on how to subscribe. The members areas provides access to market and technology trend data, and information on new systems and related products, and details of legislation, including UAV certification issues and initiatives.

UAVs and ISR Sensor Technology

This web site provides access to an Air University, Air Command and Staff College research report by Maj. Jeffrey T. Butler, USAF, AU/ACSC/033/2001-04, April 2001. The paper examines the United States Air Force�s need to develop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and sensors for airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data collection. Additionally, it highlights recommendations for optimizing the employment and development of ISR UAVs and sensors. The full text of the of the report is available online in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 4.0 document.

UAVS Project Office

The mission statement of the Tactical UAV Project Office is to: "Acquire for Operational and Tactical Commanders a near-real time, highly accurate, sustainable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capability for 'over the horizon/hill' Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA)." The TUAV web site provides access to a range of information resources including: contact details, vision, mission statement, links to related sites, and press releases.

UCAV - The Next Generation of Air-Superiority Fighter?

This thesis was submitted by Major William K. Lewis in June 2002 to the Faculty of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies of Air University at Maxwell Airforce Base Alabama. It is available in PDF format. Air superiority is an essential military mission, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Control of the air is not an end of its own, but rather it provides the flexibility and freedom of action central to a full range of military capabilities. In the coming century the United States will confront a number of disparate and ambiguous challenges to its hegemony. The resources available to meet those challenges will undoubtedly be constrained. Extremely long lead times in the acquisition and procurement of new technologies mean that now, as the F-22 Raptor begins to replace the venerable F-15 Eagle, the next- generation air-superiority fighter is entering development. Unmanned aircraft must be considered as an alternative to manned aircraft for this critical mission. While cost has been the driving factor for advances in UCAV, technology has been the major limitation. This thesis concludes that an air-superiority UCAV should be feasible by the year 2025 and that it should provide an effective and affordable alternative to manned air-superiority fighters. [Taken from abstract].

UCAVs and Commercial Satellites: "The Missing Link"

Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles and Commercial Satellites: the Missing Link, by Mark Nichols, Air University, Air War College Research Report, AU/AWC/RWP/188/1998-04, April 1998. The purpose of this research paper is to determine the importance of commercial sattellite links to the newest familiy of unmanned aerial vehicles-the Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). This paper will focus on communication links and more specifically, satellite requirements and the commercial satellite opportunites available to make the UCAV concept a more viable and robust system in the future. A significant portion of this paper will discuss the utility of using commercial satellite constellations in low earth orbits (LEOs) as primary and secondary command and control links. (Author's abstract). The full text of this report is available in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 4.0 document (143,345 bytes).

UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group

This is the web site of the Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It contains a range of information resources including information on low-speed airfoil tests for model aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and small wind turbines. There is a listing of current research activities and personnel in the Group. A link is provided to the UIUC Airfoil Data Site, which contains airfoil coordinates (for over 1550 airfoils) and performance data. The performance data is mostly for low Reynolds number applications. A link is also provided to The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage (563 kB), which is compiled and maintained by Dave Lednicer. The guide includes a listing of what airfoils have been used on over 4000 aircraftA link to the Aircraft Dynamics Model page provides access to 20 aircraft models for use with the open source FlightGear flight simulator.

Uninhabited Air Vehicles : Critical Leverage Systems for our Nation's Defense in 2025

This web site provides access to an Air University, Air Command and Staff College research report by Maj. Thomas G. O'Reilly, Air University, AU/ACSC/152/1999-04, April 1999. The paper reviews what progress has been made by the United States Air Force in the development of UCAV and URAV systems in the wake of the Air Force 2025 study. The full text of the of the report is available online in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat 3.0 document (228,385 bytes).

Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles : Airpower By The People, For The People, But Not With The People

This study dated 1999 examines the obstacles that uninhabited combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) will face in achieving significant operational capability and discusses whether or not they can be overcome. The author starts out by tracing the evolution of UCAVs starting before the first manned flight and ending in the late 1970s when the Air Force abandoned all efforts in UCAV development. The study also describes the obstacles that prevented UCAVs from becoming operational in the past. Next, the writer explains how the UCAV reappeared in Air Force research and development efforts in the 1990s, and explains whether the same obstacles of the past will be obstacles in the future. The study concludes with a description of the obstacles that UCAVs will likely face and recommends solutions to help overcome them. (Author's abstract) This report is available in PDF format, (Adobe Acrobat 4.0 document, 366,804 bytes).

United States Navy : Navy Fact File

This site provides descriptions of US Navy weapon systems including fixed wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft, missiles, surface ships and submarines. Each entry includes a brief description, specifications and an image. Aircraft types described include the V-22A Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, and RQ-2A Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle End-to-End Support Considerations

This technical report (MG-350-AF) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2005 and was written by John G. Drew, Russell Shaver, Kristin F. Lynch, Mahyar A. Amouzegar and Don Snyder. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been used successfully in recent combat operations, such as operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. These successes have confirmed the military utility of UAVs and portend that a greater number of such vehicles may become part of the DoD�s future force posture. However, because of the rapid acquisition strategy used to get these UAVs into the field as quickly as possible, the implications for their long-term support needs are unclear. The authors examine current support postures for UAV systems, such as Global Hawk and Predator. Through this examination, it became clear that there is a gap between traditional methods of determining logistics requirements and rapid acquisition processes. A balance needs to be struck between providing a new capability rapidly and the effects of that on long-term support of that capability. Some of the areas the Air Force will need to consider for future developments are budgeting to resolve issues that arise during testing and evaluation, training issues, and planning for standardization with future use of spiral development. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Reliability Study

This document was prepared by the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense, February 2003. The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability of current Defense Department unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in order to (1) allow an assessment of the risk posed by unmanned aviation to persons and property in the development of airspace regulations and (2) identify potential means for improving their mission availability, reliability, and effectiveness. The study examines the reliability of currently fielded and emerging military UAVs. Failures are categorized within the five general areas of power/propulsion, flight control, communication, human error/ground, and miscellaneous. The analysis focused on the reliability of the UAV air vehicle (or when specified, the entire system) and does not include mission aborts due to payload-related problems unless noted. Comparisons are drawn with contemporary manned aircraft and foreign UAVs. Factors beyond component failures and operational issues affecting UAV reliability are also examined. Recommendations to improve reliability are identified (bolded and italicized) in Sections 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 and are discussed in detail in the Section 5.0. The text of the report is available in PDF format on the web site of the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Forum

The purpose of the site is to facilitate an exchange of ideas and information on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). There is a message board which has a number of topic forums including UAV reliability, Test and Evaluation, Propulsion, Survivability, General Topics and UAV Jobs. The Library section contains news reports; reference list; image gallery; video clips; a reference desk (facility for e-mailing questions and a page of frequently asked questions); a glossary of terms; an index of recent UAV accidents and causes; and a tabular summary of current efforts by Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) to create industry-wide standards for the design, manufacture, testing, and operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The Events section contains a calender and a conference listing. The Vehicle section provides information about UAV types and includes: a table showing manufacturers and models; production, development, conceptual and research vehicles; and specifications. The Vendors section provides a snap-shot of the US UAV industry; along with a listing and links to prime contractors; and suppliers of components such as sensors, data links and engines. The Users section focusses on UAV customers including the US Army, US Navy, Marine Corps, and US Air Force. The Requirements and Opportunities section contains synopses of recent, UAV-related Commerce Business Daily (CBD) announcements (RFPs, RFIs, or BAAs), Mission Need Statement (MNS) requirements, and Operational Requirements Document (ORD), and Key Performance Parameters (KPPs). These are arranged under the following: procurement, demonstration, Battle Lab experiment related and other requirements and opportunities.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): An Assessment of Historical Operations and Future Possibilities

This web site provides access to a research paper titled: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): An Assessment of Historical Operations and Future Possibilities, by Christopher A. Jones, a research paper presented to the Research Department, Air Command and Staff College, Air University, AU/ACS/0230D/97-03, March 1997. The paper presents an analysis of the lessons learned from U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) activities and visions of potential applications. The full text of the paper is available online in PDF format (1,016,980 bytes).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles : Background and Issues for Congress

This is a Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress RL31872, prepared by Elizabeth Bone and Christopher Bolkcom, April 25, 2003. The reports highlights a number of UAV relates issues for Congress including: the proper pace, scope, and management of Department of Defense (DoD) UAV procurement; appropriate investment priorities for UAVs versus manned aircraft; UAV future roles and applications; and aerospace industrial base considerations. This report will be updated as necessary. The text of the report is available in PDF format.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles : Implications for Military Operations

This is Air University Center for Strategy and Technology Occasional Paper No. 16, by David Glade, Lt Col, USAF, July 2000. The development of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) could potentially revolutionize how military force is used in the future. This paper considers the wisdom of using unmanned aerial vehicles for employing lethal force, and in particular examines which air power missions are best accomplished by uninhabited, piloted, and autonomous vehicles. It explores the essential role of pilots and contrasts it with the roles of remotely piloted and autonomous vehicles. The text of the paper is available in PDF format.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Roadmap 2002 - 2027

This document was developed by the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics), Air Warfare, December 2002. It presents the Department of Defense�s (DoD) roadmap for developing and employing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) over 25 years (2002 to 2027). The roadmap describes 49 goals for a range of topics that includes platforms, sensors, communications, technology, small UAVs, interoperability standards, airspace, the intelligence collection process, weapons and reliability. A "Top-10" list of key items for rapid unmanned capability advancement has been derived from these goals. It describes ongoing UAV efforts (Section 2) and identifies the capabilities needed by theater commanders to which UAVs could be applied (Section 3), then couples them to emerging technologies (Section 4) and operational concepts (Section 5) that could enable these capabilities within the Services� programmes. The resulting Roadmap (Section 6) links capability-enhancing technologies to the life cycles of current and projected UAV programmes. Please note that this is now an archive document which has been preserved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This document has been supplanted by the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005 - 2030.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Improved Stategic and Acquisition Planning Can Help Address Emerging Challenges

This is technical report (GAO-05-395T) was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2005. The current generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has been under development for defense applications since the 1980s, and as the Department of Defense (DOD) transforms its military operations, UAVs are becoming increasingly vital. Today's testimony identifies (1) GAO's preliminary observations on operational successes and emerging challenges from ongoing GAO work reviewing UAV current operations, (2) the extent to which DOD has developed a strategic plan and oversight body to manage its investment in UAVs, and (3) lessons from GAO's prior work that can be used to promote the efficient development, fielding, and operational use of UAVs. [Taken from abstract]. This is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Major Management Issues Facing DOD's Development and Fielding Efforts

This technical report(GAO-04-530T)was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2004. The current generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been under development since the 1980s. UAVs were used in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003 to observe,track, target, and strike enemy forces. These successes have heightened interest in UAVs within the Department of Defense (DOD). Congress has beenparticularly interested in DOD's approach to managing the growingnumber of UAV programs. GAO was asked to summarize (1) the results of its most current report on DOD's approach to developing and fielding UAVs1 and the extent to which the approach provides reasonable assurance that its investment will lead to effective integration of UAVs into the force structure, and (2) the major management issues GAO has identified in prior reports on UAV research and development. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems: New DOD Programs Can Learn from Past Efforts to Craft Better and Less Risky Acquisition Strategies

This technical report (GAO-06-447) was published by the United States General Accounting Office in March 2006. Through 2011, the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to spend $20 billion to significantly increase its inventory of unmanned aircraft systems, which are providing new intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike capabilities to U.S. combat forces--including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite their success on the battlefield, DOD's unmanned aircraft programs have experienced cost and schedule overruns and performance shortfalls. Given the sizable planned investment in these systems, GAO was asked to review DOD's three largest unmanned aircraft programs in terms of cost. Specifically, GAO assessed the Global Hawk and Predator programs' acquisition strategies and identified lessons from these two programs that can be applied to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program, the next generation of unmanned aircraft. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format so Adobe Acrobat softwaree will be required in order to read it.

Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles:Examining the Political, Moral and Social Implications

This is a full text of a thesis by James Dawkins USAF, which was presented to the faculty of the School of Advan ced Airporwer Studies (SASS), Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama in 2005. There will likely be political, moral, and social implications of UCAV employment that strategists and military commanders will need to pay attention to as they craft strategies for future conflict. UCAVs are a very appealing option for the politician faced with use-of-force decisions due to reduced forward basing requirements and the possibility of zero friendly operator casualties. The flexibility of the weapon system offers the politician a seemingly high degree of control over the process of war. Together, these advantages may make a politician more inclined to use force first rather than last. In the moral realm, UCAVs are neither immoral nor illegal simply because risk to one of the combatants is removed. Additionally, notions of chivalry and fairness are not good standards by which to judge this technology. The social impact of widespread UCAV employment on the operator is an area of further concern. Remote-control war, however, does not change the underlying assumptions that have been the basis for the military ethos in the past. The final chapter highlights the dynamic between political, moral, and social issues as it addresses a range of possible unintended consequences resulting from extensive UCAV employment. Ultimately, the purpose of this thesis is to provide strategists greater clarity on the political, moral, and social issues surrounding UCAV employment. Doing so allows them to more effectively address, both objectively and subjectively, the implications of this new technology. [Taken from abstract]. The full text is available in PDF format and is provided by the Air University Research Web site.

Unmanned Dynamics, LLC

The Company provides software solutions for real-time control, particularly in the design of software systems for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). This includes development of aircraft dynamic models, autopilot design, sensor fusion and simulation. The company provides software products such as the AeroSim aeronautical simulation blockset for Matlab, as well as consulting services in the areas of unmanned vehicles, simulation, navigation, and control system design. The web site provides a brief description of the company. The Products section contains information on the AeroSim Blockset, a Matlab/Simulink block library which provides components for rapid development of nonlinear 6-DOF aircraft dynamic models. Academic and non-commercial users (such as government organisations) may download the Aerosim Blockset free of charge. A product data sheet and a user's guide are also available.

Unmanned Vehicle Distributed Sensor Management and Information Exchange Demonstration

This technical report (NPS-OR-04-003) was published by the United States Naval Post Graduate School Monterey in March 2004. On 24 Feb 2004 the Naval Postgraduate School, Commander, THIRD Fleet staff, and AKSI Solutions, LLC, conducted a demonstration for information exchange from a local network of distributed sensors, to a remote decision-making node. The goal was to establish connectivity between the two nodes, assess quality of relayed data transmission from distributed sensors, and determine viability of the technology for future testing and evaluation of distributed sensor information exchange for maritime missions. The demonstration brought to light the impact of limited bandwidth for data flow, dependence of information quality on collection management, and the need for an architecture to support the recognized maritime picture information exchange. This paper describes the demonstration, expectations, outcomes, and implications for follow-on testing, sensor management applications, information exchange, and use of prototype systems that support emerging technologies. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

The site brings together a range of information sources, many of which are in PDF files. These include UAV yearbooks, background information, facts and figures, a photo library, technical specifications, research project definitions and a review of the association's activities. The site also contains news items and announcements, conference and event information, links to related sites, as well as a selection of documents relating to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Users wishing to use the site must first complete a registration form. The site is also available at two alternative websites ucare-network and uas-international.org .

UVOnline

Provided by the Shephard Group, this free service provides The web site provides access to the latest industry news stories, a news archive and show reports, as well as a diary of forthcoming events. Shephard UAV Datasource is also provided - a searchable online database with technical specifications for tactical and strategic military and civil unmanned aerial vehicles. Sections include current production and development models, micro/miniature aerial vehicles (MAVs), unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and lethal UAVs. There is also a free daily email update.

Vortex Formation and Drag on Low Aspect Ratio, Normal Flat Plates

This is a California Institute of Technology, Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories PhD dissertation, by Matthew James Ringuette, Defended 21 May, 2004. It describes experiments to investigate the role of vortex formation in the drag force generation of low aspect ratio, normal flat plates starting from rest. This very simplified case is a first, fundamental step toward understanding the more complicated flow of hovering flight, which relies primarily on drag for propulsion. The relative importance of the plate's free end, or tip, with varying aspect ratio was also studied. Identifying the relationship among aspect ratio, vortex formation, and drag force can provide insight into the wing aspect ratios and kinematics found nature, with the eventual goal of designing man-made flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAV). The experiments were carried out using flat plate models in a towing tank at a moderate Reynolds number of 3000. Two aspect ratios, 6 and 2, were considered, the latter in order to have a highly tip-dominated case. A force balance measured the time-varying drag, and multiple, perpendicular sections of the flow velocity were measured quantitatively using digital particle image velocimetry. Vorticity fields were calculated from the velocity data, and features in the drag force for different aspect ratios were related to the vortex dynamics. Finally, since the flow is highly three-dimensional, dye flow visualization was done to characterize its structure and to augment the two-dimensional digital particle image velocimetry data Bibliographic and abstract details are available in HTML format. The full text of the document is accessible online in PDF format [3.32 Mb]. This title is part of California Institute of Technology's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Collection

Wireless Networks

This web site, which brings together a number of information resources relating to High Altitute Platforms (HAPs) and wireless systems, has been produced by the Communications Research Group of the Department of Electronics at the University of York. The site provides access to a collection of information resources including presentations and articles. It also describes previous and current funded research projects involving the University of York team. These include the EU funded CAPANINA Project, and HeliNet, which ran between January 2000 - May 2003 and was funded by the European Union Framework 5 Programme.

World Aviation and Space Records

This pages are part of the web site of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which certifies and register aeronautical records. The lists of world records are presented in the following categories: Class A - Free Balloons; Class B - Airships; Class C - Aeroplanes; Class D - Gliders and Motor Gliders; Class E - Rotocraft; Class F - Aeromodeling; Class G - Parachuting; Class H - Vertical Take-off and Landing Aeroplanes; Class I - Human Powered Aircraft; Class K - Spacecraft; Class M - Tilt-Wing/Tilt Engine Aircraft; Class N - Short-Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Aeroplanes; Class O - Hang Gliding and Paragliding; Class P - Aerospacecraft; Class R - Microlight; Class S - Space Models; and Class U - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The site also provides a check list for setting an aviation world record and a standard preliminary claim form for downloading.

X-33 History Home Page

The X-33 is a half-scale prototype of a Single-Stage-to-Orbit (SSTO) Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The goal of NASA's X-33 program is to demonstrate certain technologies and to reduce business and technical risks so that, by the end of the decade, private industry can build, operate, and maintain a fleet of commercial RLVs. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works' X-33 design uses a lifting body shape coupled with an aerospike rocket engine to propel it to speeds in excess of Mach 15. The web site provides access to a variety of information resources. These include a project description; fact sheets; and a time line of key X-33 events. There are links to web site of related interest including: X-34; DC-X and DC-XA (Data Clipper); and future X Pages. The web site also contains: "The X-33 on the Internet: An Annotated Arachniography", a guide to X-33 sites and pages found by using several search engines. Owing to the termination of the program, the site was last updated in April 2001.

X-36 Tailless Agility Research Aircraft

The X-36 is a 28-percent scale, remotely piloted research vehicle that will demonstrate the feasibility of using new flight control technologies in place of vertical and horizontal tails to improve the maneuverability and survivability of future fighter aircraft. It is being developed jointly by Boeing and NASA and the Dryden Flight Research Center here presents a Fact Sheet about the X-36.

X-43 Hyper-X : Hypersonic Experimental Research Aircraft

NASA's X-43 Hyper-X programme is intended to achieve air-breathing hypersonic flight. The web site provides access to a range of information relating to the project. There is a three-view diagram of the X-43A vehicle, there is a description of the project objectives, including the demonstration of a ramjet/scramjet engine, an outline of current developments and flight testing. The site provides links to related sites including: Hyper-X images on Dryden's research aircraft photo server; Hyper-X images on NASA Langley's LISAR server; and Hyper-X launch and flight animations (QuickTime format).

X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV)

The site is provided by The Federation of American Scientists (FAS), which conducts analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy, including national security, nuclear weapons, arms sales, biological hazards, secrecy, and space policy. The site describes the UCAV concept and presents a brief overview of the joint DARPA/Air Force Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) J-UCAS Program. The aim of the Program is to demonstrate the technical feasibility for a UCAV system to effectively and affordably prosecute 21st century lethal strike missions within the emerging global command and control architecture. The site includes a number of UCAV images and links to a range of related UCAV resources on the web.

X-Planes Data Site

This is a personal interest web site devoted to the X-series of experimental aircraft. The site provides an X-Planes quick list. The site features "classic" X-planes, such as the Bell X-1 and the North American X-15. More modern designs including the X-21a, the X-29A, and the X-32A/X-32B are also included. The site provides a guide to various non-linkable X-Plane resources, as well as links to other X-planes and related web sites.

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