AW&ST 紙에서 2주에 걸쳐 보도한 이스라엘 공군의 향후 무인기 (UAS, Unmanned Aerial System) 운용 계획과, IAI 社와
Elbit 社의 무인기 개발 관련 내용을 소개합니다.
첫 번째 기사에 (9월 6일字) 의하면, 이스라엘 공군은 2030년경에는 무인기와 유인기 운용 비율이 50:50 에 이를 것이라는
분석입니다. 2030년까지 80대의 F-35 JSF 가 계획대로 도입이 된다면 기존 F-15I 와 F-16I 를 합쳐 약 200여대의 유인기를
운용할 것으로 보이며, 이와 동시에 IAI 社의 Heron 및 Elbit 社의 Hermes 무인기 역시 향후 20년내에 약 200기를 확보 할
것으로 보도하고 있습니다.
한편 두번째 기사에서는 (8월 23일字), 이스라엘 방산기업 IAI 社와 Elbit 社가 향후 UAS 에 접목시키고자 하는 각종 기술
개발 관련 내용을 소개하고 있습니다. 아래 기사에서 兩社의 개발 내용을 간단 명료하게 나열하고 있으므로, 별도 설명은
생략합니다.
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Brave New World
Aviation Week & Space Technology, 09/06/2010
Author : Alon Ben-David
The Israeli air force will dramatically curtail the number of its fighters and, by 2030, half of its platforms will be unmanned, according to the IAF’s new road map.
The move means that the IAF — one of the pioneers in the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) — is the first major air force to bet its future so heavily on unmanned aviation. And it could presage where services with less money will eventually have to follow, even though most lack the Israelis’ level of experience in unmanned operations.
The IAF’s plan, recently approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but not widely disseminated, spells out a range of force adjustments to be implemented by the service. In addition, over time, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will likely become the centerpiece of the IAF’s manned fighter force, even if its recent procurement decision merely called for buying 19-20 of the single-engine stealth aircraft.
But the longer-term vision calls for procurement of 80 F-35 JSFs during the next 20 years. In parallel, the IAF will gradually decommission its remaining older platforms. In 2010, if all goes as anticipated, the IAF will operate a force of only 80 F-35s, 25 F-15Is and 100 F-16Is.
While
The changes now in the making are also a reflection of the IAF’s changing mission emphasis.
The service’s demonstrated superiority over its main opponent — the Syrian air force — has pushed
Although its last air-to-air combat took place in 1985, the IAF refuses to admit that the aerial challenge has almost disappeared from the Middle Eastern arena. Despite procurement of new MiG-29s, the Syrian air force does not pose a significant threat, nor are Egyptian air force F-16s or the Saudi F-15s viewed as an immediate concern. As a result, the IAF’s primary mission in recent conflicts has become to deliver munitions to ground targets. And other nations have shown that UAS can be no less effective for that than manned aircraft. While maintaining the ethos of the “combatant in the air,” the IAF now recognizes that many of its current missions will be conducted by unmanned systems in the future.
The rest of the force, likely around 200 unmanned aircraft, will consist of multirole long-endurance UAS. The IAF continues to bolster its UAS fleet, with an emphasis on long-range capabilities, procuring dozens more of Elbit’s Hermes 450 and Israel Aerospace Industries’ Heron 1 systems. Although it currently operates only two of the 4,000-kg. (8,800-lb.), high-altitude, long-endurance Eitan (Heron TP) UAS, the IAF will soon declare the first Eitan squadron operational. In addition, Elbit will begin delivering the first Hermes 900 systems to the IAF in 2011.
Among the IAF’s aging platforms, the F-16A/Bs will be the first to retire. The aircraft currently serves both as an advanced jet trainer and as a fighting platform. When the IAF selects its future advanced jet trainer — either
In contrast, the younger F-16C/D fleet (some of them in service since 1987) are undergoing an avionics upgrade called Barak 2020, which includes the installment of color displays, a new radio and a new debriefing system. “The Barak fighters are constantly undergoing structural strengthening upgrades and are expected to remain in service for at least another decade,” a senior IAF source told Aviation Week.
The two squadrons of Israeli F-15A/ B/C/D (“Baz”) fighters will undergo a life-extension program, based on the U.S. Air Force aircraft structural integrity program (ASIP). “We are buying partnership in the ASIP,” the IAF source says. With most of the aircraft already having received an avionics upgrade, the IAF will rewire its Baz fighters, upgrade the existing radar and map fatigue points in the airframe. The engine will remain untouched. The Baz air-superiority aircraft were recently qualified for attack missions and are expected to remain in service at least until 2025.
In 2008, the two F-15 squadrons were qualified for long-range strike missions. The IAF discovered that when carrying two simple weapons, such as the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, and no targeting pod, and with conformal fuel tanks, its aging Baz fighters can exceed the range of the F-15Is Ra’am and F-16Is Soufa. The Baz are deployed primarily as air superiority aircraft but could play a significant role in long-range strike missions.
That leaves
The initial batch of JSFs will consist of the conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) F-35A with some Israeli communications and intelligence elements installed, coupled with a U.S. pledge to adjust the F-35’s electronic warfare suite to any emerging regional threat. The
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What Next?
Israeli execs and operators talk about what comes next for unmanned aircraft
Aviation Week & Space Technology, 08/23/2010
Author : David A. Fulghum
In
“UAS are the future and will play a major role in asymmetric warfare [against stateless and military insurgent groups], as well as in high-intensity conflict,” says Yair Shamir, chairman of the board at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
The primary challenge is the price; a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) needs to be expendable. Combating asymmetric war is still in its infancy. Part of getting prepared for it will be the development of unmanned vehicles of all kinds.
“It would be unnecessary to send F‑35s to kill terrorists,” he says. “The F-35 should be a perfect airplane whatever it costs. But for UAV solutions, you have to be able to send huge quantities rather than high-performance designs. You are better off sending something cheap.”
Several concepts will define IAI’s efforts in the unmanned aviation world: Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in southern
• Cyber- and electronic warfare using UAVs is considered a great opportunity.
• In analyzing customer needs for UAVs, IAI leaders says quantity is seen as the primary consideration. Design goals will focus on how low-cost designs can support each other. They will not be identical and will take on many different tasks. There are to be both “master” and “slave” versions of these UAS.
• Active, electronically scanned array (AESA) sensors and electronic warfare capabilities will be essential for unmanned platforms. IAI has been developing the technology since it was built into the skin of the futuristic IAI Lavi fighter of the 1980s. UAVs are considered a natural for AESA and its ability to find small objects and differentiate among them.
• IAI is actively working on several new UAV platforms, say company officials. Some are similar to what is already in service, but newer versions will be cheaper, lighter and invisible.
“Stealth is a must,” Shamir says. “You have to play with the numbers and cost. If it’s not too expensive we can send hundreds or thousands, until [the enemy] runs out of missiles.”
Other possibilities include the bottom of the performance spectrum. Shamir says that during a speech to a small crowd he launched a 6-in. butterfly-like UAV with four flapping, transparent wings, but also with enough stability to take a live video of the observers from a camera on the small craft.
Joseph Ackerman, CEO of Elbit Systems —
“Customers aren’t looking for a product or a specific technology,” Ackerman says. “They are looking for an affordable solution that is available tomorrow for a low price. And if there is a delay, they will cancel the program. We see this all over the world.”
The answer, he says, is a “Sears Roebuck” operation where most of the needed technologies are already in-house and can be quickly assembled into a unique solution.
“We can give an 85% solution, but at low cost,” Ackerman says. “Nobody is going to buy any more B-2s. Our strategy is to build a range of UAVs up to 1.1 tons with the communications, sensors and intelligence payloads that let them do all necessary missions at long distances.”
Elbit has identified several trends:
• There is no need for jet engines. Endurance and low loiter speed are more important.
• In a few years, 40% of military air missions will be conducted by UAS.
• Taking out the pilot means less operator training, fewer countermeasures and elimination of aircrew losses. That lowers UAS costs to 5-10% of those for an F-16.
“You can send four UAVs — who cares, it’s cheaper and you don’t lose lives,” Ackerman says. “Countermeasures [to protect a manned aircraft] cost you billions. With UAVs, you can take risks.”
Missile-carrying UAS platforms might be used for boost-phase intercept but there are lots of problems, say non-industry sources. Such a system must catch the missile within the first 10-15 sec. of flight, specialized sensors are needed and it will have prove itself to be cheaper than other solutions.
Moving beyond the boardroom, what do Israeli military UAV operators — with more operational experience than those of almost any other nation — want in next-generation UAVs? “I think the next generation of aircraft will be UAVs for [conducting] all of the missions done today by jet fighters,” says Tomer Koriat, deputy program manager for Malat’s UAV operator training course.
However, another official who is an active duty UAV pilot involved in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions is less enamored of high- performance designs for his work.
“We looked at whether there was interest in a jet [UAV],” says Israeli air force Capt. O. “What we find was a primary interest in a platform with long endurance and minimum indicated airspeed over a given area. We don’t need the ability to get someplace quickly. We saw in the second Lebanon war and Cast Lead operation [in Gaza] that you need to cover a big area for a long time and to make sure that you can gather all the information needed by the combat commanders.”
He speaks with concern about the changing face of war he has to deal with.
“What we saw in Cast Lead was that when terrorists and civilians are in the same compound, the same street and sometimes holding hands, you must have the best real-time picture for the operator and those who give permission to fire.”
At the same time, UAVs have to work with an environment that can change from irregular war to full-up, conventional operations in a heartbeat.
“Make sure you are flexible and relevant to any other operation in the area,” says Capt. O. “When you prepare for flight, ensure that you are ready to take a plane flying above Gaza involved in an urban operation and transfer it in real time to a full-up war operation in Lebanon.”
The other maxim for UAVs is not to bring the ground troops to the ground control station, but rather to bring the maximum amount of the ground control station to all the users on the battlefield.
“That means video and basic radio communications and everything that is needed to get information down to the squad level,” he says. “You want to get information to the ground troops about the terrorist around the next corner. Any soldier should know if there is something ahead or on the roof.”
A crucial area for development beyond airframes and sensors will be designing flight crew profiles that let them operate at peak efficiency.
“It’s our opinion that it is fine for a pilot to sit 4.5-5 hr.,” Koriat says. “More is too much. Ten years ago pilots were flying sorties of 11 hr. Today, it’s not more than 4.5 hr. Most of the missions are not that exciting and they can last for 20 hr. But if the mission is very intense with a series of air strikes, you don’t want to overload the pilot and sensor operators. He will not be as efficient during the last air strike as he was with the first.”
Moreover, no one anywhere has solved the problem of operating unmanned aircraft in national airspace to everyone’s satisfaction.
“Operating UAVs in Israeli airspace is still a nightmare,” says Koriat. “Airspace is limited and it’s controlled by the air force. The air force is helping, so we get the airspace we need, but we have to plan several months ahead.”
Europeans, who describe themselves as behind the power curve with the introduction of UAS, still contend that UAVs are the future.
“Having an operational background [in high performance jets] is an advantage, as is having a UAV [operator] checkmark,” says Maj. T, a German Tornado reconnaissance pilot going through Heron I training in
IDAF F-16I Sufa ⓒ USAF
IDAF F-16I Sufa ⓒ USAF
IDAF F-16I Sufa ⓒ USAF
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD
IAI Heron ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD
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