Peter Smith - Bartonvale Technologies - Technology transfer of military UAV’s to practical uses in the resources industry

“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Resources Industry”

Peter Smith

Perth

26 June 2014

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF MILITARY UAS TECHNOLOGY

TO PRACTICAL USES IN THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY

WORLDWIDE UAS INDUSTRY PROLIFERATION

• 2013 UAS Manufacturing Statistics

• Countries manufacturing UAS 57 30% increase since 2012

• Companies manufacturing UAS 270 20% increase since 2012

• Types of UAS produced 960 40% increase since 2012

• Australian Situation

• Manufacturers 3 1%

• Types of UAS produced 7 1%

• Operators >100 with CASA approvals

QUESTIONS

• Military to Civil UAS transition is already happening, slowly.

• What is the potential for acceleration?

• Key questions are:

• What roles?

• What UAS?

• What payloads?

• What analytical tools?

• When

• How?

• Answering these questions involves you (Resource Industry) and us (UAS Industry)

collaboratively.

PERENNIAL UAS ISSUES

• Why use a UAS?

• Unique capability?

• Better results?

• Faster results?

• More cost-effective?

• Easier?

• Safer?

• Please, please save us from enthusiasts and optimists

BIG PICTURE INITIATIVE MILITARY AND CIVIL PROTECTION

A BIG PICTURE OVERVIEW OIL AND GAS

• BP has received (June 10) the first FAA approval (by waiver) for commercial UAS use in Alaska

• FAA said the U.S. military's experience with the AeroVironment Puma helped smooth their approval for commercial use

• BP ground crews spend up to a week checking a two mile section of pipeline, “The Puma can do a two-mile section in 30 minutes and it’s much, much cheaper.”

• The drones also can create 3-D models of gravel pits, calculate how much gravel remains and identify areas that are vulnerable to flooding., "That's more data in 45 minutes than we've gotten in the last 30 years,…it's revolutionary.“

• Cheaper, safer, faster – win/win application

AN EARLY TESTIMONIAL

• The FAA prohibits the commercial use of drones in the U.S. without its approval. So does CASA in Australia.

• UAS makers and users must complete a lengthy certification process, similar to that of manned aircraft, if they want approval for commercial uses.

• AeroVironment spokesman Steve Gitlin said it took about a year and considerable monetary investment to get FAA approval.

• "If that's what it takes to prove the commercial viability, then it's something we're committed to doing."

• But we’re working the issue!

AN EARLY CAVEAT APPROVALS!

Military Roles

Resource Potential

UAS CATEGORIES

TYPICAL MILITARY UAS CATEGORIES

HALE – high altitude, long endurance, size of a small airliner, 48 hours endurance

MALE – medium altitude, long endurance, 1,000 kg, 24 hours endurance

TUAS – lower altitude, medium endurance, 200 kg, 8-10 hours endurance

STUAS – low altitude, long endurance, 25-40 kg, 12-20 hours endurance

SUAS – low altitude, short endurance, 2-6 kg, 1-3 hours endurance

HIGH ALTITUDE LONG ENDURANCE UAS (HALE) AUSTRALIA COMMITTED IN PRINCIPLE TO TRITON FOR RAAF

HALE CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• Ultimate military ISR UAS – fast, persistent, high altitude, wide area, multi-sensor operations

• Fast – Global Hawk/Triton 330 knots

• Persistent – Global Hawk 48 hours, Triton 24 hours, > double manned aircraft

• High Altitude - Global Hawk 65,000ft, Triton 56,000 ft, above airline traffic

• Wide Area 40,000 sq nm in 24 hours

• Multi sensor - electro-optical, infrared sensors, synthetic aperture radar, ground moving target

indicator – all weather, see through clouds

• Acquisition Cost - $190 million per aircraft (Australia $3 B for fleet of 7 UAS)

• Operating Cost - $US 23,000 per hour

• Manpower – 500+ personnel

• Not available until about 2019

• RAAF will be operating on Northern and Indian Ocean surveillance incl offshore resources.

MEDIUM ALTITUDE LONG ENDURANCE UAS (MALE) US PREDATOR/REAPER

MEDIUM ALTITUDE LONG ENDURANCE UAS (MALE) RAAF HERON

MALE CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• Intermediate military UAS – widely used for ISR and for some armed roles

• Speed: 60-100 knots

• Endurance: 24 hours

• Sensors: EO, IR, laser illuminator

• Launch/Retrieve: Airfield

• System Cost: Predator $US 30 M per system (3 UAS plus GCS etc)

• Aircraft Cost: Heron $A 10 m per aircraft

• Crews: Military ops approx 40 personnel

• Australia has leased Heron for ISR operations in Afghanistan, likely to be considered for

in-country Australian military and border protection operations

TACTICAL UAS AUSTRALIAN ARMY SHADOW 200

TUAS CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• Mid-sized military UAS – widely used for ISR

• Max Speed: 110 knots (max)

• Cruise Speed: 70 knots

• Endurance: 9 hours

• Sensors: EO, IR, laser illuminator

• Launch/Retrieve: Airfield

• System Cost: $US 15 m per system(3 UAS plus GCS, GSE etc)

• Australia has two Shadow 200 systems used for ISR operations in Afghanistan

TUAS FUTURE POTENTIAL SHADOW M2

SMALL TACTICAL UAS (STUAS) AEROSONDE MK 4.7

Aerosonde Mk 4.7 Military Aerosonde Mk 4.7 Civil

EXPEDITIONARY CAPABILITY RUNWAY INDEPENDENT

Catapult launch Net retrieval

AEROSONDE CIVIL EXPEDITIONARY SYSTEM TOTAL SYSTEM IN MERCEDES VAN

SMALL TACTICAL UAS (STUAS) SCAN EAGLE

STUAS CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• Small-medium military UAS – widely used for ISR

• Expeditionary – runway independent, capable of rapid transfer

• Max Speed: 60 -70 knots (max)

• Cruise Speed: 50-60 knots

• Endurance: 12-20 hours

• Sensors: EO, IR, laser illuminator

• Launch/Retrieve: catapult/net/skyhook

• System Cost: $US 3 m per system(3 UAS plus GCS, GSE etc)

• Australia has produced over 100 Military Mk 4.7 UAS for US defence forces in Afghanistan

• Both Aerosonde and Scan Eagle already transitioning (back) to civil operations including

infrastructure monitoring, environmental monitoring, meteorology

SMALL MILITARY UAS PUMA AE

SUAS CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• Small military UAS – widely used for ISR

• Hand launched, used by small military sections

• Max Speed: 35knots (max)

• Cruise Speed: 20-25 knots

• Endurance: 2 hours

• Range; 15 km

• Sensors: EO, IR,

• Launch/Retrieve: hand launch, deep stall landing

• System Cost: $US 1 m per system(?) Aircraft cost $ 250 k

• First civil application – limited endurance remote area surveillance and monitoring

MICRO MILITARY UAS

WASP III (NOT LIKELY)

QUADROTORS MINIMAL MILITARY USE TO DATE

TYPICAL QUADROTOR CAPABILITIES/COSTS

• Limited applications by military forces (use small fixed wing UAS - quieter, less wind-

affected)

• Weights Typically less than 2 kg (CASA limit)

• Endurance: 20-90 minutes

• Speed: 35 km/hr

• Range: 500 metres

• Cost: $ 1 k to $40 k

• Limitations: weather

• ADF has trialled CyberTech Maxi Quad produced in Perth.

NANO UAS ULTIMATE PERSONAL UAS

NANO UAS CAPABILITIES AND COSTS

• British Army (first user):

“Black Hornet is a game-changing piece of kit. Previously we would have sent

soldiers forward to see if there were any enemy fighters hiding inside a set of

buildings. Now we are deploying Black Hornet to look inside compounds and to

clear a route through enemy-held spaces. It has worked very well and the pictures it

delivers back to the monitor are really clear. And Black Hornet is so small and quiet

that the locals can't see or hear it.”

• Endurance: 25 minutes

• Speed: 35 km/hr

• Cost: $US 31 m for 160 systems ($ 200 k per system)

• Limitations: weather (fragility?)

• Newly fielded military capability – safe

delivery of cargo in dangerous situations

• Greater payload capability than manned

helos

• Hot and high capability

• Max load 3,000 kg

• Cruise speed 100 knots

• Endurance 3 hours (max load)

• Range 250 nm (max load)

• Resource applications - desert and

arctic environments?

VERTICAL CARGO LIFT UAS LOCKHEED MARTIN/KAMAN K-MAX

Sensors

Surveillance

Command and Control

OTHER MILITARY UAS TECHNOLOGIES

EO/IR SENSORS MILITARY HIGHLY DEVELOPED, MIGRATING TO CIVIL USES

• Wide variety of options developed for military applications

• Issue of cost – military want maximum performance, not max cost-effectiveness

• Sensor package $US 250 – 400 K, more than the air vehicle

• SAR widely used on larger UAS

• Latest generation suitable for small

tactical UAS

• Cost for smaller systems dominates

total system cost ($US 300-500 k)

• Expect next generation to be

significantly cheaprr and more capable

(Moore’s Law)

• Obvious civil uses including ground

movement (San Andreas Fault)

SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR NEED VS COST

HYPERSPECTRAL SENSORS MILITARY CLASSIFIED, CIVIL TECHNOLOGY IS ADVANCED

SENTIENT KESTREL MTI SOFTWARE IMPROVING DETECTION OF SMALL MOVING TARGETS

• Australian-developed system used by

ADF and international forces.

• System processes imagery in real time

and automatically detects and tracks

small, moving targets such as humans or

vehicles within the sensors’ field of view.

• Relieves load on observers, particularly if

pre-processing on UAS and transmission

only of targets of interest.

• Military C2 (command & control) systems

real-time data fusion to provide

synchronized C2 across manned and

unmanned systems, creating an

operational picture for decision makers,

analysts and dismounted teams

• Provides a real-time, cross-domain

operational picture, along with touch-

screen speed for contingency planning,

decision making and asset management.

• When released for civil use provides,

with UAS, site and asset monitoring and

control in real time.

INTEGRATED COMMAND & CONTROL SYSTEMS

MILITARY TO CIVIL UAS TRANSITIONS ROM PROJECTION

• HALE

• Wide area surveillance by RAAF of maritime approaches, offshore assets, SAR

• MALE

• Littoral surveillance complementing manned aircraft (Surveillance Australia)

• STUAS

• Likely to be a cost/benefit “sweet spot

• Exploration

• Environmental monitoring

• Infrastructure inspection, safety and protection

• Survey, mapping, quantity assessment

MILITARY TO CIVIL UAS TRANSITIONS ROM PROJECTION (CONT’D)

• SUAS

• Also likely to be a cost/benefit “sweet spot” for shorter endurance operations

• Infrastructure inspection, safety and protection

• Survey, mapping, quantity assessment

• Environmental monitoring

• Quadrotors

• Likely to primarily come from the civil marketplace, used for hovering roles

• Infrastructure inspection, safety and protection

• Survey, mapping, quantity assessment

• Environmental monitoring

MILITARY TO CIVIL UAS TRANSITIONS ROM PROJECTION (CONT’D)

• Vertical Cargo Lift

• A “sleeper” with the military – Afghanistan trial became a deployment; may do the

same in civil applications?

• Sensors

• Moore’s Law will mean that continuing reductions in size, weigh and cost will occur,

accompanied by increased capability, allowing missions to be flown by smaller,

cheaper UAS.

• As the improvements continue, previous generation systems will be released for civil

applications (generations upgrade about every two years).

• Mission Management Software

• Expect similar releases of current generation software for civil applications

Peter Smith

0419 806 474

[email protected]

THANK YOU