KILLERS IN THE SKY: Unmanned Copters As high profile projects such as the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft program have "crashed and burned," other smaller efforts are still being pursued -- proving the U.S. military's dream of having unmanned killer copters is still alive and well.
The dream of unmanned killer copters is still alive ... at least in some corners of the Pentagon.
By Noah Shachtman,
DefenseTech.org
For those of you worried that the Defense Department might have decided to bail on the idea of building an armed, robotic helicopter, don't fret. The dream of unmanned killer copters is still alive, at least in some corners of the Pentagon.
The U.S. military's highest-profile robo-copter project, the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, crashed and burned a few months back, after the Army decided to pass on funding the UCAR's next, $160 million phase. UCAR researchers were working on some pretty cool concepts for the craft, like voice-controlled commands. And computer simulation were showing that, by adding drones to the mix, helicopter teams get a whole lot more vicious - and a whole lot harder to shoot down. With the fear of losing a pilot gone, the unmanned copters could go after pixilated enemies way more aggressively. But ultimately, UCAR was considered too high risk a program for the Army to pursue with two major conflicts still going on.
But some smaller efforts are continuing. The Army recently test-fired a set of rockets from one of its Vigilante unmanned copters. In the December trial, the 1,100 pound, 26-foot long craft -- which can go up to 12,000 feet, fly as fast as 75 knots, and stay in the air for about 5 hours - was under the control of human pilots, flying nearby in a UH-1 "Huey" copter. The test, over the Yuman proving grounds in Arizona, marked the first time a first rotary-wing drone let loose such weapons. In the not-too-far future, the drone is expected to make the step up to launching guided missiles, like the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).
Meanwhile, Boeing is turning one of its copters, the Little Bird, into an unmanned killer, too. The copter, which has been in service for three decades, and is used by police departments and special forces units around the world. In a press release, Boeing said it sees the unmanned Little Bird as being "uniquely suited for precision re-supply; communications relay using large, heavy packages; airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; downed pilot recovery, and weapons delivery."
With a $1.6 million Army grant, the company is expecting to try out a whole bunch of weapons systems on the 26 foot-long, 5,200 pound Little Bird drone, too. Those include the APKWS, the Hellfire missiles which the fixed-wing Predator drones have been using to take out insurgents in Iraq, as well as the GAU-19/A gatling gun, which soldiers on manned helicopters have long used, to deadly effect.
The most dangerous seat on the battlefield could be inside a helicopter. Just last month, 31 U.S. troops were killed when their Super Stallion copter crashed on the border of Jordan and Iraq; a Kiowa scout copter crashed near Baghdad the very next day. So it make sense to take the person out of the vehicle, and build a well-armed, robotic copter instead. These two efforts could be a start.
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