9.4 - Blog: The Future of the UAS

How to I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb dropping UAS

I know, a Dr. Strangelove reference, and Slim Pickens won't be riding on a UAS anytime soon, but it couldn’t be helped because the days are here when terror organizations weaponize commercial UAVs and use them to drop explosives. There is a crude video online with a commercial quad copter releasing a small blue explosive on an unsuspecting position (Josh, 2016). Then in October, a booby-trapped UAV reportedly exploded and two Kurdish fighters were killed and two French soldiers were wounded (Benoit, 2016). The UAV landed and after the forces approached to investigate, it detonated. Word will spread quickly and this technique will not be as effective because soldiers will destroy the UAV, rather than approach it. Other techniques will be harder to deter. First person viewing (FPV), combined with a small payload, accurately placed could be a formidable weapon. Currently available small UAS don’t carry heavy payloads, but small explosives dropped precisely can damage critical components, and the threat is likely here.

Future terror applications

It’s not hard to envision a commercial UAS, flying directly over a target, releasing an explosive, and retreating. It would be very difficult for law enforcement to track the small craft, and find the perpetrator. In fact, if the quad copter releases the explosive from high enough, no one on the ground may be aware of it at all, and would not know where bomb came from.

What about other payloads? Are releases of chemical agents much farther behind? It’s not a stretch from agricultural applications, to releasing nerve or blister agents to a small area. Again, probably not a large scale weapon, but there are many soft targets to harass.

Relatively small commercial UAVs can carry several pounds of payload, including a camera for targeting.  Even if the range is limited to a mile or less, a weapon from above is very dangerous. Consider all the outdoor events by political leaders, or sporting events, etc. The targets are almost unlimited if terror is the goal. Will a UAS deliver an IED in to a crowd (Bunker, 2015). If one UAS is effective, how about flying 50 of them to a target? How long until a small UAS, flies directly in to the path of a commercial airplane? Unfortunately, the threat options are only limited by the terrorist creativity.

Countering the threat

Anti UAS weapons are going to be needed, and sooner rather than later. A dedicated adversary will change attack strategies and no doubt adapt to counter threats, so technology and methods must be developed to target and disrupt incoming UAS attacks quickly and effectively. The Battelle systems DroneDefender claims this ability (Battelle, 2016). It reportedly interrupts the GPS and control signals, diverting or downing the attacker. The devices can be disrupted kinetically, but countering a small, relatively silent UAS will likely remain difficult for those charged with protecting civilians.

Battelle. (2016). Our Work | National Security | Tactical Systems | Battelle DroneDefender™ | Battelle. Retrieved from http://www.battelle.org/our-work/national-security/tactical-systems/battelle-dronedefender

Benoit, D. (2016, November 29). Growing fears of IS use of weaponised drones [Video file]. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news/2016-11-weaponised-drones.html

Bunker, R. J. (2015, August). TERRORIST AND INSURGENT UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES: USE, POTENTIALS, AND MILITARY IMPLICATIONS. Retrieved from https://www.oodaloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pub1287.pdf

Josh. (2016, September 3). Weaponized Quad-copter Drone Drops Warheads On Foreheads [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.funker530.com/weaponized-quad-drops/

McCuley, R. (2016, October 11). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Reaching the Tipping Point of a New Revolution in Aviation. Retrieved from http://www.govtech.com/fs/Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicles-Reaching-the-Tipping-Point-of-a-New-Revolution-in-Aviation.html

5.3 - Blog: UAS Use in Home Monitoring

The future applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is just beginning to be glimpsed. They will complement existing technology and replace some current applications altogether. For example, home monitoring systems have been around for many years. They can include fixed video monitoring, motion sensors, audio alerts and remote monitoring. It is easy to see how sUAS will likely be included as a vital sensor, complimenting current systems and providing a mobile observation point, especially for hard to see property areas. A company called Sunflower Labs (Sunflower Labs, 2016) may be marketing precisely this application.

A popular current example of a fixed home monitoring system is the Ring Doorbell it alerts homeowners with audio and video feeds and sells for about 200$ (Ring, 2016). It is apparently effective, according to the thousands of reviews on Amazon.com (Amazon.com, 2016), but the video monitor is fixed to the doorbell and records from a single point of view. It is a clever idea and will augment other fixed cameras located around the home. Homeowners who have larger properties, or areas that are hidden from fixed video monitoring locations may want the ability to have a mobile video monitoring system. This is where a sUAS mounted camera would augment an existing system. Sunflower Labs has proposed adding this mobility using a sUAS mounted video camera to fixed based motion detectors. According to their website, the Sunflower Home Awareness System (Sunflower Labs, 2016) will use fixed motion sensors to identify unusual activity on the property, then automatically launch the sUAS mounted camera and send a picture of the area of interest directly to a smart phone.

Sunflower Labs is taking reservations for the system now and anticipates shipping to homeowners in 2017 (Sunflower Labs, 2016). It is a great idea and adds to existing home monitoring technology. I am confident UAVs will continue to proliferate and join other applications in the homeowner security business.

Amazon.com. (2016). Ring WI-Fi Enabled Video Doorbell - - Amazon.com. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Wi-Fi-Enabled-Video-Doorbell/dp/B00N2ZDXW2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479150802&sr=8-2&keywords=ring+doorbellRing. (2016). Ring video doorbell for your smartphone |

Ring. Retrieved from https://ring.com/

Sunflower Labs. (2016, November 3). Sunflower labs modernizes home security with introduction of home awareness system. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sunflower-labs-modernizes-home-security-with-introduction-of-home-awareness-system-300356706.html

2.3 - Blog: Unmanned Aerial Systems

Category: “Regulations and Commercial sUAS”

Prior to June of this year, businesses wishing to use their small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAS) for commercial purposes, were governed the same way hobby flyers were administered, under section 336 of Public Law 112-9 (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). This section prohibited commercial use of the unmanned aircraft (UA), and required the businesses to submit and receive a waiver prior to any commercial activity. For example, a videographer in the real estate business wishing to take aerial pictures of their property listings using an off the shelf quad rotor UAV, were violating the law unless a waiver was granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These waivers were issued under Section 333 of Public Law (Federal Aviation Administration, 2015). It could be a cumbersome process and the FAA heard from users that a more streamlined process was required.

Federal Regulation Part 107

After much public comment, the FAA issued Federal Regulation Part 107. This regulation governs the integration and operation of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) and was published this year (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAV), as defined in this regulation, are UAVs up to 55lbs maximum takeoff weight. These can now be used for commercial operations according to the new rule published in June (U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2016). The new law describes operating limitations and remote pilot in command (rPIC) responsibilities.

Part 107 limitations

There are limits to the new regulation, for example, maneuvering beyond line of sight (BLOS), night operations or UAVs that exceed the 55lb weight limit are not permitted. A Part 107 waiver is still necessary under these circumstances (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Individuals and businesses can apply for these waivers and the FAA has already approved over 100 operators (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016) who wish to exceed the limitations in regulation. An important restriction of Part 107 is the specific prohibition of the BLOS package delivery business model. The language says “No waiver of this provision will be issued to allow the carriage of property of another by aircraft for compensation or hire” (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Looking ahead, regulations governing sUAS commercial activity will need to evolve just as the technology and UAV capability increases.

 

Fahlstrom, P. G., & Gleason, T. J. (2012). Introduction to UAV Systems. Hoboken, United Kingdom: Wiley.

Federal Aviation Administration. (2015, January 29). UAS Section 333 FAQs (latest version 01/29/2015). Retrieved from https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/uas/content/UASSection333FAQs.jsp

Federal Aviation Administration. (2016, June 21). Summary of small unmanned aircraft rule. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf

Federal Aviation Administration. (2016, August 29). Waivers to certain small UAS operating rules. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/uas/beyond_the_basics/#waiver

 

1.5 - Blog: UAS Strengths and Weaknesses

Observation is one of the many missions the military has employed with various Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles (UAV). One of these is the Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III. This UAV gives operators such as the British Army (Ripley, 2016) a backpack portable UAV with up to two hours observation capability with a two pound payload capacity (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015).

The Desert Hawk III is a fixed wing, waterproof, propeller driven UAV that weighs approximately 8 pounds (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). It is very robust, quick to deploy and has been in military use, including combat operations, since 2005 (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). It has a very quiet acoustic signature and can provide warfighters a day/night observation platform that can be assembled and launched within 10 minutes (Barrie, 2015). Emitting low noise is a clear military advantage when you do not want the target of observation to be aware of the monitoring. Since this UAV is a fixed wing platform, hovering is not an option, even though it can fly as slowly as 25 kts (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). If the operator wishes to observe over a fixed point, they can circle the target. Its navigation function is also programmable and can be loaded with a pre-planned Global Positioning System (GPS) route of flight.

Civilian use of the Desert Hawk III could provide search and rescue or law enforcement, the same observation capabilities the British Military employs. It has a “360-degree color electro-optic and infrared Full Motion Video (FMV) integrated camera systems” (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015), and is hand launched. The manufacturer has also developed a “plug and play” capability to quickly change out the sensor payload for this UAV (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). The infrared sensor would aid civilian operators detect and monitor individuals in low light environments, just as it would for the military. The low acoustic signature could be used by civilian operators anytime they would like the UAV to remain undetected, such as observation of noise sensitive wildlife.

A competing platform to the Desert Hawk III might be one of the many multi-rotor UAVs in the marketplace, such as DJI Phantom 4 configured with an Exo1 skeleton (Burns, 2016). This is a standard DJI Phantom 4, but with an added undercarriage that can be configurable to carry a payload that is retrievable from the UAV. It’s easy to envision the Phantom carrying a small lifesaving payload to a stranded or trapped survivor. The Desert Hawk III is hand launched and has much more loiter capability than the Phantom, up to two hours versus 28 minutes for the Phantom 4 (DJI, 2016). This extra observation time is beneficial for detection and monitoring, but a fixed wing UAV would most likely not be able to deliver a small package precisely to a stranded person, a clear advantage for a UAV that can hover.

If I looked ahead and tried to see the development path small observation platforms will take, I would expect range, loiter time and payload improvements to continue. Military applications will probably drive these improvements because of the greater resources nation states can bring to the equation. The civilian operators will surely find uses for the improved UAVs.

Barrie, A. (2015, September 21). DSEI: Desert Hawk drone soars in London | Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/09/21/dsei-desert-hawk-drone-soars-in-london.html

Burns, M. (2016, October 12). Turn a DJI Phantom 4 into a search & rescue drone with the EXO 1 exoskeleton | TechCrunch. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/12/turn-a-dji-phantom-4-into-a-search-rescue-drone-with-the-exo-1-exoskeleton/

DJI. (2016). Phantom 4 - DJI’s smartest flying camera ever. Retrieved from http://www.dji.com/phantom-4

Lockheed Martin Corporation. (2015). Desert Hawk enhancing warfighter capabilities. Retrieved from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/ms2/documents/Desert_Hawk_Brochure.pdf

 Ripley, T. (2016, June 20). UK transfers Watchkeeper UAVs to helicopter command | IHS Jane's 360. Retrieved from http://www.janes.com/article/61615/uk-transfers-watchkeeper-uavs-to-helicopter-command