Unmanned aerial vehicles are a proven asset for warfighters, but that hasn't stopped researchers from studying ways to make them more effective, less vulnerable and more lethal. A major effort these days given the number of UAVs flying in heavily trafficked airspace is controlling them all (and in particular enabling one person to control multiple aircraft simultaneously), preventing collisions and linking them to provide a more seamless, common picture to warfighters.
That's a major goal of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's HURT program which recently held its third successful demonstration April 9-24 at Fort Hunter Ligget, Calif. HURT, or Heterogeneous Unmanned Reconnaissance Team, enables multiple manned and unmanned aircraft to send tactical data to ground forces using handheld computers. Ground forces can use the touch screen to request specific imagery of nearby enemy positions, and the HURT system assigns the most appropriate aircraft to the task.
Darpa says the latest exercised proved that HURT can effectively control three tiers of reconnaissance aircraft, including a manned C-12 flying at 6,000 feet and conducting surveillance of areas as far as 100 miles from the combat zone. The second tier included Hunter, Shadow and Scan Eagle UAVs flying at 2,000 feet to scan areas as far as 50 miles away, while the third tier of micro UAVs, including Pointer, WASP and Raven, flew as low as 100 feet over the combat area. A software interface linked all the aircraft for a common picture.
The HURT systems two previous demonstrations included a 2006 Marine Corps exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., during which the system proved it could control multiple UAVs and a 2005 demonstration at the former site of George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor.
--Catherine MacRae Hockmuth
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