One of the escort fighters spots an aircraft six miles away flying a parallel heading. Upon engaging it with its radar, the opposing plane starts a tight turn and in seconds its engaging him. The pilot is impressed, he estimates that the turn had to be greater than 15Gs, but how is that possible?
After they cross each other, both aircraft begin turns to the left and before finishing the 360 degrees of turn, the opposing plane is at his six o’clock in the shooting position. During the crossing the pilot understood what was happening, he realized that the other aircraft had no cockpit.”
The above may happen in the near or medium future and it would be very desirable if unmanned aircraft technology had the insignia of our Air Force, but what if it were not so.
- How to face an adversary not prone to physical limitations?
- How to reduce a machine’s will to fight?
- How to intimidate an adversary who is risk adverse?
These unknowns make it imperative to have in-depth knowledge of a new method of exploiting existing airspace, such as the technology that has expanded rapidly, as it usually happens in matters related to the evolution of aeronautics.
The following article seeks to propose definitions and indicate those matters in which it is necessary to generate regulations, since they constitute the axes on which to develop a structure that efficiently supports the use of these aerial devices.
The development of unmanned aerial vehicles has been exponential, an example of this is clearly reflected in the extract of an article, which appeared in October 2013:
“This month the fleet of MQ-1” Predator “and MQ-9” Reaper “reached two million flight hours. In April 2011, the fleet completed the first million flight hours after 16 years of operation. Only two and a half years later, with the largest number of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), has reached the figure of two million flight hours”
http://www.ateneadigital.es/RevistaAtenea/REVISTA/articulos/GestionNoticias_15434_ESP.asp)
After such revealing figures and as a way to delve into the subject, it is convenient to know some terms used to define and understand aspects associated with unmanned aircraft currently in operation:
UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle): an aircraft that flies without a crew, and that, as an aerodyne, it uses aerodynamic forces and its own propulsion for its displacement. Normally it can be reusable. When not being manned, you must integrate a terrestrial segment, which is where you plan, drive and exploit your capabilities.
Depending on the type of control of the aircraft, they can be defined as autonomous, remotely piloted or semi-autonomous; that is, if your flight is:
Autonomous: The UAV performs its flight according to a previous schedule and can only be monitored from a ground station. This mode carries out a complete automatic operation, using autonomous functions and cannot be modified from the ground. In this case it would be difficult to include them in a shared space, since, in view of the variations in the planning of traffic control, such as, for example, in the event of an emergency of a manned aircraft, the flight of the UAV could not be modified.
Remote: In this mode, the aircraft is piloted in the same way that a manned aircraft is flown. For its integration, the type of space and the flight rules to be used and designing special abort actions and abandonment of the non-segregated area should be considered in case of loss of communications with the control station.
Semi-autonomous: In this control mode, the pilot on the ground can make changes and conduct the mission through a flight management interface. Without this information, the UAV will perform pre-programmed automatic operations. It may or may not include some completely autonomous functions (takeoff, landing, avoiding obstacles, etc.). In this case its integration will depend on the degree of automation and systems to avoid collisions in an autonomous way; aspect that will be revised later.
UAS (Unmanned Aerial System): Is designated to be a system, it is such due to the integration of the aerila segment with the ground segment. Normally, the air segment includes the aircraft together with its ground connection devices and payloads that allow the carrying out of its mission. The terrestrial segment is composed, usually, of the ground control station, the link systems with the airplane and the modules for making the most of the information received from the aircraft.
Drone: Technically this term is usually used to designate an unmanned aircraft that serves as an aerial target of some weapons system, usually air-to-air or surface-to-air missiles, but it is also what is commonly called the small and popular quadcopters.
RPA: (Remotely Piloted Aircraft): UAV that transmits telemetry to a control station and that can be commanded practically in real time, that is, it is flown very similar to a manned aircraft, only from a distance.
From the above definitions and from the ICAO definition that states that aircraft is: “Any machine that can be sustained in the atmosphere by air reactions other than the reactions of the same against the surface of the earth.” (ICAO Circular Nº 328 “Unmanned Aircraft Systems, first edition, page ix,) that, ballistic vehicles, cruise missiles, artillery shells and hot air balloons, such as meteorological ones, are not considered unmanned aerial vehicles,
since they are not aircraft, they do not comply with the parameters to be considered UAVs.
The classification of the UAV has been developed based on the function it fulfills, however, there are classifications according to parameters such as the takeoff weight or altitude that they reach in flight:
| TYPE | WEIGHT | ALTITUDE | RADIUS | ENDURANCE |
| Micro UAV | Less than 1 kilo | It flies till 200 feet | Less than 5 kilometers | Less than 30 minutes |
| Mini UAV | Between 1 and 20 kilograms | It flies till 3.000 feet | Less than 25 kilometers | Less than 2 hours |
| Small UAV | Between 20 and 200 kilograms | It flies till 9.000 feet | Less than 100 kilometers | Between 2 and 8 hours |
| Tactical UAV | Between 200 and 900 kilograms | It flies till 18.000 feet | Less than 200 kilometers | Between 8 and 16 hours |
| UAV MALE |
Between 900 and 2.000 kilograms |
It flies till 30.000 feet | More than 200 kilometers | More than 20 hours |
| UAV HALE | Over 2 tons | It flies over 30.000 feet | More than 1000 kilometers | More than 30 hours |
MALE: Medium Altitude, Long Endurance.
HALE: High Altitude, Long Endurance.
MILITARY FUNCTIONS
- Deliver intelligence via images, signals and communications.
- Carry out surveillance missions of own or enemy objectives.
- Target acquisition, obtaining coordinates and elevation.
- Reconnaissance of specific areas or objectives.
- Search and support to rescue crews.
- Target painting for laser guided bombs.
- Attack targets, especially high value, high risk and time sensitive.
- They can be used as aerial targets for training or development of air-to-air weapons.
- Battle Damage Assessment.
- Aero maritime exploration, etc.
CIVILIAN FUNCTIONS
- Provide support in the management and mitigation of the effects caused by natural catastrophes.
- Support in the management and mitigation of the effects caused by man-made catastrophes, such as radioactive, chemical or biological spills and/or leaks.
- Forest fire management and prevention.
- Geospatial photography for mapping.
- Border control and road control.
- Delivery of medical goods.
- Support for agriculture, mining, aquaculture and reforestation, etc.
The aforementioned functions or uses of UAVs will surely increase as people learn about them and their capabilitiess are developed. For example, by increasing the weight they can displace, they could be used in cargo transport and possibly in the future, by breaking down fears and natural mistrust, in passenger transport..
This expected development is based on the advantages of unmanned aircraft over the manned ones and that, among others, are the following:
The inherent physiological barrier of a human crew is eliminated, there is no disorientation, loss of consciousness due to “g” forces, hypoxia or vertigo.
- There is no risk to people on high-risk flights, such as overflight of erupting volcanoes, radioactivity or even entering a hurricane to study their internal behavior.
- The crew running the ground station can be replaced as many times as required, without affecting the operation of the aircraft.
- In case of spontaneous incapacity of the crew at the ground station, control can be easily taken over by another pilot.
- In case of loss of communications with the air traffic control station, there are more resources than those available in manned aircraft, such as landlines or cell phones.
- The information captured by their sensors is available immediately and allows decision making in a more agile manner.
- They can remain on surveillance or reconnaissance missions for longer time than a manned aircraft.
- Its low speed and high stay in flight allows it to maintain surveillance on a target or land vehicle better than a manned aircraft.
In order to benefit from the above-mentioned advantages and be able to exploit the jobs that are feasible to develop with UAVs, we must first deploy the bases that adequately sustain their integration into the airspace and allow a harmonious operation with the manned aircraft. These issues will be discussed later.
[1]http://www.ateneadigital.es/RevistaAtenea/REVISTA/articulos/GestionNoticias_15434_ESP.asp
[2]También es factible encontrar la sigla UA(Unmanned Aircraft)
[3]OACI Circular Nº 328 “Sistemas de aeronaves no tripuladas.”, primera edición, página ix.
[4]Medium Altitude, Long Endurance.
[5]High Altitude, Long Endurance.
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