New contract to aid UAV survivability

Date: 28 Apr 2004

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Lockheed Martin has been was awarded a US$ 7.8 million research and development contract from the U.S. Army to develop software to aid the survivability of manned and unmanned rotorcraft in combat situations.

The contract, issued by the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) at Fort Eustis, VA, will support development of the Survivability Planner Associate Re-router (SPAR) system, designed to predict the lethality of battlefield threats and provide manned and unmanned aircraft with real-time response plans that use terrain, aircraft signatures and countermeasures to mitigate the danger.

The US Army envisions SPAR supporting teams of manned and unmanned aircraft flying cooperatively. The SPAR software will receive data from existing aircraft sensors and from off-board communication nodes, evaluate the information in relation to the battlefield terrain and the aircraft signatures, and recommend the most appropriate action to improve survivability. Responses might include engaging the threat with weapons, taking evasive action, or deploying countermeasures, such as jamming technology.

The SPAR technologies are planned for insertion by 2007 ino the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) and existing Army attack helicopters, notably the Apache Longbow. The UCAR programme, being conducted with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is designed to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility, and operational value of a system of unmanned rotorcraft capable of autonomous collaboration with manned and unmanned air and ground systems.

 Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY, will lead the 42-month SPAR development effort, which will end with evaluations in unmanned UCAR and manned attack helicopter simulators at Lockheed Martin's Owego facility and Army laboratories. The project involves Lockheed Martin experts including Advanced Technology Labs and Aeronautics Advanced Development Programs. Intended subcontractors include Dynetics Inc., Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and ISX Corp.