US UAV and UCAV Technology

Dr.Cohen said:

People on here think WAYYYY too highly of themselves for doing the exact same things TWZ and SB do...

Click to expand...

Honeywell Aerospace is in the mix on both sides, having been selected to develop the Skyshot 1600 as a small engine for CCA use while also pitching its already available 6,000-lb.-thrust F124. Matt Milas, Honeywell Aerospace’s president of defense and space, tells Aviation Week that there have been shifting requirements for the next increment “so we’re adjusting to what the Air Force is looking for.

Click to expand...

“There’s a lot of interest from the airframers to get more thrust than what the Air Force is talking about,” he says. “We’re hearing more on the 6-8,000 lb. of thrust, whereas the Air Force is targeting a bit less, and they’re more focused on fuel consumption.

“Whereas you can get thrust that you need to carry the payloads and go the range and just add a little bit more fuel. You can solve that at the airframe level rather than redesigning an engine to meet a target, you know, thrust-specific fuel consumption,” he said.

Developing a new system will obviously take time, and Milas says the airframers are focused on what is reliable and available now to meet an aggressive schedule.

“That’s where I’m seeing a little bit of that disconnect between what the Air Force is doing for Increment 2 versus what the airframers are looking for,” he says.

Click to expand...

Air Force reviewing 'small thrust' drone engine designs from three vendors this month​

The Air Force is planning to wrap up by the end of September the preliminary design review phase of its small engine competition , which could power the next Collaborative Combat Aircraft or other unmanned platforms, a service spokesperson confirmed to Inside Defense . Just three vendors -- Kratos' Florida Turbine Technologies in partnership with GE Aerospace, Honeywell International and Pratt & Whitney -- are under consideration for the PDR, the Air Force spokesperson said.

Click to expand...

Kratos/GE Team Launches Testing On First F143 Cruise Missile Engine​

The F143-ZZ-100 engine is being developed as a second source to the Williams International F107 turbofan as the U.S. military plans to buy up to 11,200 copies of the Lockheed Martin AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) and AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) over the next five years.

Click to expand...

Serial Number 1 of the engine, also known as the GEK800, was fired up recently inside the X-58 test facility in San Diego. The initial test verified the F143 architecture, the companies said.

Click to expand...

AEVEX to Expand Its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Portfolio with Specter, a Jet‑Powered, Modular Autonomous Platform​

AEVEX Corp. (NYSE: AVEX) today announced Specter, a new jet‑powered autonomous platform under development to meet emerging mission needs through modular design, open interfaces, and a manufacturing approach built for scale. Developed in collaboration with advanced manufacturing company, Divergent, Specter will advance AEVEX’s leading unmanned systems portfolio with a high-speed, turbojet-powered one-way attack platform built for demanding operational environments.

Click to expand...

EmoBirb said:

I'm genuinely surprised that there seems to be little interest, investment and development in the US with regards to more logistics oriented UAVs. Given the importance of logistics and war and even more so in networked warfare, I find it strange that there seems to be little interest in streamlining supply-oriented or cargo-hauling drones, as compared to surveillance and strike.

Click to expand...

EmoBirb said:

I'm genuinely surprised that there seems to be little interest, investment and development in the US with regards to more logistics oriented UAVs. Given the importance of logistics and war and even more so in networked warfare, I find it strange that there seems to be little interest in streamlining supply-oriented or cargo-hauling drones, as compared to surveillance and strike.

Click to expand...

Scott Kenny said:

When you have ~4000 Blackhawks and on the order of 300 Hueys, Logistics is less pressing.

Click to expand...

snne said:

Besides, unmanned platforms require no less of a crew than manned platforms at the moment... They still require maintenance, ground support, and human control/oversight (e.g., piloting), etc...

Click to expand...

Scott Kenny said:

At best, they reduce the human count by a couple for a fully autonomous flight system. The Army uses door gunners as crew chiefs and makes them do a lot of the daily etc maintenance.

Click to expand...

Sferrin said:

Imagine being a door-gunner on a UCAV.

Click to expand...

CCAs and Autonomy Gain Momentum as Focus of Future Force​

But now that promised vision appears imminent, with the Air Force promising at least 1,000 such drones by 2032.

Click to expand...

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink kicked off AFA’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber conference by promising the service will have at least 500 CCAs by then. And going a step further, he also predicted USAF will field an additional 500 Massed Modular Aircraft—a new semi-autonomous aircraft intended to inherit the MQ-9 Reaper’s strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, but at a lower price.

Click to expand...

Massed Modular Aircraft—a new semi-autonomous aircraft intended to inherit the MQ-9 Reaper’s strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, but at a lower price.

Click to expand...

Forest Green said:

Vision For New Autonomous Warfare Command Laid Out By Pentagon​

The new command, slated to stand up late next year, will focus on advancing operational autonomous and robotic capabilities across the services.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/vision-for-new-autonomous-warfare-command-laid-out-by-pentagon

Click to expand...

North Dakota-based Ideal Aerosmith revealed Oct. 7 the one-way attack Troublemaker uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) now in low-rate initial production for the U.S. Navy.

The company specialized for decades in simulation and test instrumentation work but recently stood up a division to develop a new class of low-cost, long-range and mass-manufacturable UAS for strike and reconnaissance roles.

The initial production of Troublemaker for an undisclosed Navy end user currently runs at a rate of two deliveries per week, but Ideal is preparing to ramp up significantly.

“As we hope some of these contracts matriculate, we can scale that up to several thousand a year,” said David Markert, senior vice president of government systems at Ideal.


In addition to the Navy order, Markert named the U.S. Army’s Long-Range Launched Effects program and the U.S. Air Force’s Ground-Based Affordable Mass challenge as opportunities to win more orders.

Ideal’s scale-up strategy includes vertically integrated assembly, including the propulsion system, Markert said.

The 110-lb. Troublemaker comes with a 15.19-ft. wingspan and carries a 30-lb. payload at ranges beyond 750 nm. The UAS is launched by a catapult or from a moving vehicle, and, if necessary, can be recovered using a landing skid.

But Ideal plans to develop a family of larger one-way attack munitions, including a jet-powered version.

“We’re using a small internal combustion engine [now]. Future drones will have bigger internal combustion [engines], and we’re going to a turbine drone at some point in the future as well,” Markert said.

The Troublemaker family features a unique control system that allows one operator to control multiple and potentially dozens of drones at the same time, Markert said.

That one-to-many control philosophy is how Ideal intends to set the Troublemaker UAS family apart in what is becoming a crowded market for one-way attack systems.

“One-to-many is the ethos of the platform and kind of holistically how we treat ourselves differently in the one-way attack marketplace,” said Shane Brady, Ideal’s vice president of Advanced Programs.

Click to expand...

Attempting to build 10 million drones is an enormous undertaking, Jon Strzelec, U.S. Army Materiel Command’s advanced manufacturing lead for small uncrewed air systems, tells Aviation Week. “That’s five circuit cards per drone, so it’s 50 million circuit cards,” Strzelec says. “You’re talking four motors per drone—that’s 40 million motors, 40 million propellers, 10 million frames.”

Faced with those daunting numbers, the Pentagon has ordered a half-dozen army depots that are typically used for maintenance, repair and overhaul of aging military equipment to jump into the fray and start manufacturing drone components.


Depots are being retooled with additional manufacturing equipment to produce brushless DC motors, propellers, frames, circuit cards, battery packs and other drone subcomponents, Strzelec says.

For example, one facility that repaired out-of-production radios has been revamped to support electronics for uncrewed air vehicles (UAV). “If they can make and produce circuit cards for an Army radio or a radar, why couldn’t they do it for a system on a drone?” Strzelec notes.

Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania opened a brushless DC motor assembly line this summer. The depot has the capacity to scale production to upward of 500,000 motors annually, the service says.

Strzelec declines to state production goals for the initiative, citing operational security concerns. The drone effort is part of a larger $18.1 billion modernization plan aimed at transforming the U.S. Army’s Organic Industrial Base, the service-owned complex of 23 depots, arsenals and ammunition plants.

Click to expand...