Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and remotely piloted vehicles (RPA) have grown exponentially over the past two decades since they were introduced in the Balkan conflict. These systems which began as large Department of Defense (DoD) assets have evolved both into advanced DoD systems and consumer level systems. Most consumer UAS from the highly advanced DJI Phantom series to the five inch Micro Drone operate strictly in a line of sight configuration. Line of sight (LOS) operations occur when the transmitter and receiver are in a line such that they can “see” each other, free from obstacles or even the curvature of the earth. Some common examples of line of sight communications are the radio in your car or family radio service “walkie-talkies.” Line of sight operations work well in a consumer product or tactical military operations, however, for greater endurance and range a beyond line of sight (BLOS) capability is required.
The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned high-altitude long endurance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) platform capable of flying in excess of 65,000 feet with a 12,300 nm range (Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, 2011). This clearly exceeds any LOS communications capability. To conquer this challenge the Global Hawk utilizes satellite communication to provide command and control (C2) and voice communications while “broadband communications via commercial satellites serve as the primary data link for transmitting imagery” (Integrated Systems Western Region, 2007). Satellite communication can be deceiving, because it in itself is a LOS communication, however, the footprint of a geosynchronous communication satellite is much larger, approximately one-third of the earth. Each of the transmitter and receiver needs to be within that footprint, unless other crosslinks or networked communications are used.
The Global Hawk system “is operated by the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, California, and the 348th Reconnaissance Squadron at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota” while “aircraft are rotated to operational detachments worldwide” (Air Force, 2014). At the launch and recovery elements (LRE) located around the world LOS communication is used, in the Pacific theater, “the LRE located at Andersen Air Force Base provides line of sight launch and recovery capability and transitions C2 and communications to a remote pilot ground station at Beale AFB for BLOS enroute flight at or above FL500” (International Civil Aviation Organization, 2011). The Global Hawk system flies autonomously given preplanned missions or ad hoc flight profile corrections developed by the pilots.
Communication is the number one concern during LOS to BLOS operations of the Global Hawk. Through voice or data communications or standard operating procedures command of the aircraft must be positively transferred. The autonomous flight of the Global Hawk minimizes the human factors risks during transfer from LOS to BLOS, unless human interaction interferes.
Commercial application of BLOS capabilities can greatly reduce cost and man-hours for inspection or monitoring tasks while also increasing personnel safety. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has partnered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explore UAS operations in rural and isolated areas. Burlington Northern Santa Fe “will explore command-and-control challenges of using UAS to inspect rail system infrastructure” (FAA, 2015). Another use would be by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor arctic ice conditions as they impact commercial fishing and merchant ships. The potential for commercial use of BLOS UAS is nearly limitless; however, regulations currently inhibit the expansion of the capability.
References
Air Force, U. (2014, October 27). U.S. Air Force. Retrieved from RQ-4 Global Hawk: http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104516/rq-4-global-hawk.aspx
FAA. (2015, May 6). Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from Press Release – FAA-Industry Initiative Will Expand Small UAS Horizons: https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=18756
Integrated Systems Western Region, N. (2007, March 1). Northrop Grumman. Retrieved from Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration System: http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/RQ4Block10GlobalHawk/Documents/GHMD-New-Brochure.pdf
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2011). The Twenty-First Meeting of the APANPIRG ATM/AIS/SAR Sub-Group (ATM/AIS/SAR/SG/21). Global Hawk Pacific Operartions, (pp. 1-2). Bangkok, Thailand.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation. (2011, October 17). Northrop Grumman. Retrieved from Q4-HALE Enterprise: http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/GlobalHawk/Documents/Brochure_Q4_HALE_Enterprise.pdf
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