LM, Lockheed Martin successfully completed a demonstration of manned and unmanned aircraft collaboration as one of the advanced command and control concepts it is developing for its Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program.
The goal of UCAR is to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility, and operational value of an unmanned rotorcraft system capable of autonomous collaboration with manned and unmanned air and ground systems. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing the UCAR system jointly with the U.S. Army.
The demonstration, conducted in late July at Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY, simulated an operational mission involving multiple UCAR vehicles and one Longbow Apache helicopter flown by an Army pilot. The demonstration involved testing of advanced ground- and air-based command and control concepts as well as Lockheed Martin's collaborative autonomy design.
“The simulated vehicles successfully demonstrated all of our command and control concepts and also performed successfully against scenarios provided by U.S. Army personnel,” said Jeff Bantle, vice president, Multi-Mission Solutions for Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego. “Of particular importance, the demonstration showed the manned and unmanned systems' ability to function as a team, and the UCAR systems' capacity to adjust dynamically and autonomously to changes in battlefield conditions.”
The demonstration coincided with the Preliminary Design Review of Phase II of the four-phase UCAR program. Phase III, starting in October 2004 and ending in 2007, involves the production and testing of two UCAR vehicles.
The Lockheed Martin UCAR team includes Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Advanced Development Programs, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories, Lockheed Martin Simulation and Training Systems, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, Raytheon Company, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Whitney, Bradley & Brown, L-3 Communications, DRS Technologies and Harris Corporation.
