CONTENTS

 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

 History
 UAV Ground Control Station (GCS)
 Medium Altitude Endurance UAV (Predator)
 System components
 A look inside Predator
 Payload
 Ground Control Station
 TESAR (Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar)
 High Altitude Endurance UAV (Global Hawk)
 Cypher
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Applications of UAV
 The future shape of UAVs
 Conclusion
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVS)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are remotely piloted or self-piloted

aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment or other
payloads. They have been used in a reconnaissance and intelligence-
gathering role since the 1950s, and more challenging roles are envisioned,
including combat missions.
Both helicopters and spy planes have a very serious weakness: they
must be piloted by human beings. And so, they cannot be lost with impunity;
they cannot enter into or create toxic environments. One must avoid both the
purely negative consequences of crashes (death and property destruction),
but also the consequences that are positive for one's enemies (the taking of
prisoners of war, hostages and other potential sources of sensitive
information).
Because most of them can use the US military's system of satellites to
communicate with their ground stations, these UAVs have mostly been used
by the Air Force for reconnaissance and surveillance ("Imagery
Intelligence") at very long ranges (between 50 and 3,000 nautical miles
away). But they have also been used as combat aircraft, that is, as robotic
killers.

And so, in order to maim and kill from a distance without fear of
being maimed or killed, the United States military has since 1964 spent
billions of dollars researching and developing uninhabited (or "unmanned")
aerial vehicles ("UAVs").
HISTORY

A buildup of domestic UAV configurations, promoted by the

Department of Defense (DOD) occurred in the late 1980s and well into the
90s. This occurred as the DOD sought UAVs to satisfy their mission unique
surveillance requirements in either a Close Range, Short Range or long
range category of vehicle. Close Range was defined to be within 50
kilometers, Short Range was defined as within 200 kilometers and long
range as anything beyond. With the advent of newer technology and with the
demonstrated performance of the UAVs provided to the DOD by industry,
the Close and Short Range categories have since been combined, and a later
separate Shipboard category has also been incorporated with them. The
current classes or combination of these type vehicles are called the Tactical
UAV, followed by the Endurance category. For the potential civilian user of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, rather than continue with this terminology for
the various categories of UAV, the following category titles are used: Local,
Regional, and Endurance.
The unmanned aerial vehicle have flown into combat alongside
manned warplanes, have provided air support to ground forces, and have
attacked areas where enemy air defenses have not been fully suppressed.
They could also be used in areas that are traditionally too dangerous to send
in manned aircraft, such as open ocean environments or biologically or
chemically contaminated environments.
TACTICAL UAV

Smaller unmanned aircraft used for short- range missions -- "tactical"

UAVs. They are designed to support tactical commanders with near-real-
time imagery intelligence at ranges up to 200 kilometers. Tactical UAVs
might use launching platforms mounted on trucks or ships. A tactical aircraft
called the Pioneer has already achieved near-legend status in the small UAV
industry. Iraqi soldiers reportedly surrendered to a Pioneer drone that was
spotting targets for the battleship. For tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, the
need for human piloting, whether from outside or inside the craft, is
eliminated. The vehicle essentially flies itself, while an air vehicle operator
directs the flight path using a mouse on a digital map display.

MEDIUM ALTITUDE ENDURANCE UAV (PREDATOR)

RQ-1A Predator is a long endurance, medium altitude unmanned aircraft

system for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Surveillance imagery
from synthetic aperture radar, video cameras and a forward looking infra-red
(FLIR) can be distributed in real time both to the front line soldier and to the
operational commander or worldwide in real time via satellite
communication links. The high resolution FLIR has six fields of view,
19mm to 560mm.
It provides an imagery intelligence to satisfy JTF and theater
commanders at ranges out to 500 nautical miles.
The Predator is quite similar to the Global Hawk: it also requires a human
operator and a long run-way for take-offs and landings. But, at $4.5 million
each, the 27-foot-long Predator is cheaper and smaller. As a result, it is
worth the risk (of being sighted and shot-down) to fly a Predator at relatively
low altitudes (25,000 feet and below). A Predator's cameras "can read a 3 to
6-inch letter from 10,000 feet."
. Predator UAVs have been operational in Bosnia since 1995, where they

have flown over 600 missions in support of NATO, UN and US operations.

Predators have also been deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In November 2002 in Yemen, a Predator UAV was used to drop a Hellfire
missile which destroyed a civilian vehicle carrying suspected terrorists

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

A typical Predator system configuration would include four aircraft,

one ground control system and one Trojan Spirit II data distribution
terminal. The system operates at an altitude of 25,000ft and at a range of 400
nautical miles. The endurance of the air vehicle is more than 40 hours and
the cruise speed is over 70 knots. The air vehicle is equipped with UHF and
VHF radio relay links, a C-band line-of-sight data link which has a range of
150 nautical miles and UHF and Ku-band satellite data links
A Look inside the Predator
As an aircraft, the Predator UAV is little more than a super-fancy
remote-controlled plane. But this simple design lends itself well to the
Predator's intended functions. Below you can see the placement of
components:

1. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) 7. Ku-Band Satellite

Antenna Communications Sensor
2. Inertial Navigation System/GPS Processor Modem Assembly
3. Ku-Band Satellite 8. C-Band Upper Omnidirectional
Communications Antenna Antenna Bracket
4. Video Cassette Recorder 9. Forward Fuel Cell Assembly
5. GPS Antennas (Left and Right) 10. Aft Fuel Cell Assembly
6. APX-100 Identification Friend 11. Accessory Bay
or Foe Transponder 12. Engine Cooling Fan
13. Oil Cooler/Radiator
 14. 914F Engine 24. ARC-210 Receiver/Transmitter
15. Tail Servo (Left and Right) 25. Flight Sensor Unit
16. Battery Assembly #2 26. Video Encoder
17. Power Supply 27. De-ice Controller
18. Battery Assembly #1 28. Electro-Optical/Infrared
19. Aft Equipment Bay Tray Sensor/AN/AAS-52(V)1
20. Secondary Control Module Electronics Assembly
21. Synthetic Aperture Radar 29. Front Bay Payload Tray
Processor/AGM-114 Electronics 30. Ice Detector
Assembly 31. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
22. Primary Control Module Receiver/Transmitter
23. Front Bay Avionics Tray 32. Nose Camera Assembly

Full-color nose camera that the pilot uses primarily to navigate the
craft ,Variable aperture camera (similar to a traditional TV camera) that
functions as the Predator's main set of "eyes" Variable aperture infrared
camera for low-light and night viewing, Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for
seeing through haze, clouds or smoke. Every camera in the plane's forward
bank can produce full-motion video and still-frame radar images. Besides
simple photography, they can now use radar to track individual vehicles or
even people -- day or night, cloudy or not. It can give real-time imagery of
the enemy position to a command post well before the first troops or
vehicles arrive. This kind of information allows field commanders to make
quick and informed decisions about troop deployment, movements and
enemy capabilities.
 One of the greatest things about the Predator system is that the whole
thing is fully transportable. The aircraft brakes down into six pieces that are
transported in a huge crate called the coffin. The coffin contains:
 The fuselage
 Wings
 Tail surfaces
 Landing gear
 The propulsion system
 Two payload/avionics bays

PAYLOAD

The surveillance and reconnaissance payload capacity is 450lb and the

vehicle carries electro-optical and infrared cameras and a synthetic aperture
radar. TESAR synthetic aperture radar which provides all-weather
surveillance capability, has a resolution of 1ft. Other payload options, which
can be selected to meet mission requirements, include a laser designator and
rangefinder, electronic support and countermeasures and a moving target
indicator (MTI).
. Replacing the camera array with the Multispectral Targeting
System (MTS) and loading the Predator with two Hellfire missiles
transforms this battlefield spotter into a deadly automated combatant.
The 'M' in MQ-1 is the Defense Department designation for
multipurpose aircraft; by adding the MTS and Hellfire missiles to
the Predator, it truly becomes a multifunctional battle aircraft .
 The MQ-1 Hunter/Killer

The MTS includes the AGM-114 Hellfire missile targeting system, electro-
optical infrared system, laser designator, and laser illuminator. All of these
components give the Predator and its operators multiple ways to acquire a
target in any combat environment. The Predator fires a laser or infrared
beam from the MTS ball located near the nose of the plane. This laser can be
used in two ways:

 The beam lands on the target and pulses to attract the laser seekers at
the end of each Hellfire missile.
 The on-board computer uses the beam to makes calculations about
trajectory and distance.

Sensors bundled in the MTS also calculate wind speed, direction, and other
battlefield variables to gather all of this data into a firing solution. This
process is known as "painting the target." Once a target is painted, the MQ-1
can unleash its own missiles to destroy the target or send the firing solution
to other aircraft or ground forces so they can destroy it.

Nishant

The DRDO Nishant is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed

by India's ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) a
branch of DRDO for the Indian Armed Forces. The Nishant UAV
is primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory
and also for surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction,
damage assessment, ELINT and SIGINT. The UAV has an
Endurance of 4 hrs & 30min. Nishant has completed development
Phase and User trials.

Features

Nishant UAV on its launcher has:

 Battlefield reconnaissance & surveillance

 Target tracking and localization
 Artillery fire correction
 All terrain mobility
 Target Designation (using integral Laser Target Designator)