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Sept. 7, 2004 Volume 29, Issue 6 |
Flight lab works on new generation of aerial vehicle
The Raspet Research Flight Laboratory will use an initial $3 million federal defense grant to help design a new-generation unmanned aerial vehicle that could strengthen U.S. battlefield surveillance capabilities.
The congressional dollars will flow through the Advanced Technology Directorate of the U.S. Army's Space Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., in fiscal year 2005 to tap Raspet's research expertise in composite materials and glider technology.
"What we're proposing to do with the $3 million is develop a lower-cost, ultra-light unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV sensor platform," said Raspet director David Lawrence, a former test pilot and retired flight operations company president.
"We believe we can take the lightweight composite technology and sailplane aerodynamic know-how that we've gained over the past 50 years and develop a platform that will carry appropriate sensors and stay aloft for long periods of time," he added.
The U.S. Department of Defense has used UAVs in military operations since the 1950s to provide reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence of enemy forces without risking the lives of an aircrew. The remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment or other payloads.
Models in use since the mid 1990s include the U.S. Air Force's Predator, a long-endurance and medium altitude system that can provide over-the-horizon mission capabilities and carry Hellfire laser-guided missiles; and the high-altitude Global Hawk system for long-endurance reconnaissance missions.
"In Iraq, for instance, our troops need to be able to pinpoint the origin of mortar fire on a very timely basis," said Lawrence. "They can't do that very well from a ground-based sensor. But, from an airborne platform that has an acoustic sensor, you can get an instantaneous direction as to where the mortar round was fired, and you can have a lot quicker response in real time to take care of the enemy who fired the shot."
The lab currently is working with the ATK Co. of Iuka, which manufactures the Global Hawk, on the development of high-temperature composite materials and processes. It also is working with Huntsville, Ala.-based Miltec Inc. and its Oxford-based subsidiary, MRT, on development of a "plug-and-play" sensor package that will provide high-tech mission flexibility for future UAVs.
Lawrence said Raspet needs more than $16 million over the next three years to expand its current eight-member staff and purchase the testing equipment it will need to fully develop the UAV project and "establish ourselves as a state-of-the-art flight research laboratory."