Unmanned Aerial System – New Development Frontiers

Introduction

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones or UAVs are Remotely Piloted or
Autonomous Aircrafts. The UAS have come a long way from being used exclusively for military
applications to being used for myriad different applications like scientific enquiry, surveillance,
agricultural, policing, surveying and even recreational purposes. This has happened through the vast
developments in the technological domain.

If we look at the historical antecedents of how these systems have emerged. The very first unmanned
flying systems were meant to be used as targets for the military personnel, for the new combat pilots,
aerial combat itself was in the nascent stages in the early 1900’s and an acute need was felt for flying
targets for the pilots to train on, the systems acquired the name of ‘Drone’ when these systems were
used for firing practice of the guns on the battleships.

Photograph: de Havilland Queen Bee target drone, 6 June 1941 (By War Office official photographer, Horton (Capt))

From there on, these systems have undergone series of improvements, currently the systems are
categorized in multiple formats as per the application, the most relevant ones are as follows,

1. Based on weight
a. Nano UAV- Weight less than 250 Gms
b. Micro UAV – Weight between 250 Gms and 2 KGs
c. Mini UAV – Weight more than 2 KGs
2. Based on the type of flight
a. Fixed Wing
 i. Runway launch and Recovery
ii. Catapult launch and Assisted recovery
b. Vertical Take-off and landing
3. Based on the endurance and Service Ceiling
a. HALE (High Altitude and Long Endurance) – Over 30,000 Ft and indefinite range
b. MALE (Medium Altitude and Long Endurance) – Up to 30,000 ft and range over 200
KM
c. Tactical – up to 18,000 ft and range of 150 -200 KM
d. Mini – Upto 10,000 Ft and 50 KM range
e. Hand – launched – upto 5000 Ft and 10 KM

In this paper, we explore the various deployment strategies of the UAVs from the perspective of the
agencies involved in providing assistance to the militaries as net resource provider and also explore
the areas of future enquiry and realisation.

Current Global Trends

Internationally, it has been observed that countries that experience security threats – including
territorial disputes and terrorism – are more likely to seek UAVs, as a case in point, Israel had
witnessed some of the early developments and break throughs in UAVs post the 1973 Yom Kippur
War. Also, supply-side factors play a major role in the UAV proliferation process. A state's level of
technological sophistication and its alliance relationships with major suppliers are strong predictors of
unarmed drone proliferation.

Also, it is to be noted that, the application principle internationally has been to get the UAS to perform
the “Dull, Dirty and Dangerous” tasks, which cannot be accomplished by the manned aircraft without
significant risk to the crew.

Some of the best examples for the above statement are as follows,

The unmanned heavy lift intermeshing copter deployed by US forces, it’s a derivative of a manned
helicopter, and is deployed for delivering cargo to remote stations where normal heli-operations
would attract enemy action.
 Photograph: K-Max in operational deployment (Wiki-commons photograph)

Similarly, many nations are developing and some have deployed platforms that can be used for multi-
role applications like surveillance as well as combat roles as per the necessity.

Photograph: Israeli Hermes 900 UCAV (Wiki-commons photograph)

Indian Context

India had started working on developing its own fleet of UAVs in early 1970s itself and ADA had
developed various variants so far as below,

1. Lakshya – the Pilotless high speed target

2. Nishant – the tactical UAV with catapult launch
3. Rustom – the MALE and HALE versions which can be configured for multiple roles including
combat missions

Photographs: (Clockwise from top) Nishant, Rustom-I, Netra, Rutom-II and Lakshya

Also, one of the most deployed product in the India in UAV space is the Netra, developed by R&DE(E).

Of all these platforms, Netra is being offered for civilian applications and paramilitary forces as well,
where as the other platforms are exclusively used for the military application.

Apart from these classes of UAS, there is a need for systems of many other configurations as well to
meet the diverse deployment challenges faced in India, some of the possible applications are
mentioned below.
Security and surveillance: There are many locations which would need continued security and
surveillance and regular manned security might not be sufficient for the same, as there would be blind-
spots and human limitations that come into picture. For such locations, usage of UAS could be an ideal
solution, but the bottleneck here is the endurance and the ability to stay at a single point for continued
periods of time. As most of the UAS, if smaller in size are limited by the battery capacities and if
powered by large engines, have difficulty in maintaining continuous hover.

Fire Fighting: Similar to the above discussed scenario, in case of the fire incidents, there is no
possibility to predict the possible location for occurrence of the same, and here a UAS can provide
great amount of information to the first responders on how to mitigate and contain the fire. However,
the same bottlenecks discussed above are applicable here as well.

Considering the varied terrain that one is exposed to, in a diverse country like India the operational
necessities of our armed forces, which require them to deploy is extreme weather conditions from
tropical climates to harsh high altitudes with severe sub-zero temperatures. In such conditions, it is
not always possible for human operated platforms to be deployed and we would be better served by
UAS which could operate in the inclement conditions and perform the necessary tasks.

The other side of the coin

There is also a problem to be pondered over about the accessibility of the UAS for the commercial
usage, these systems can then be deployed by the non-state actors against the security forces and can
cause significant damage to them as has been witnessed in the recent clashes in the Middle-East,
especially Syrian conflict.

To address such a threat, we need to also explore the possible development and deployment of Anti-
UAS solutions, which can track the air-borne threats and if need arises counter the same either by
jamming the communications or offensive action.

Way forward

One possible solution using the UAS or drone technology for providing some of the problems discussed
above could be a ‘TETHERED DRONE’ for long duration surveillance/ coverage with various payloads.
This has the potential to address many of the problem areas discussed above in government and civil
areas. These systems are being used extensively in foreign countries and are being slowly marked in
India.
Fly-safe: autonomous features and advanced fly-safe controls including automated return-home on
conditions such as low-battery, lost communications, or unsafe winds also reduces operating risk by
minimizing reliance on operator skill to recover from challenging conditions.

Crowd Control

Crowds can get out of control; sometimes quite quickly.

Constant surveillance of a crowd as it moves is critical to
providing public safety officers a visual of the situation
and how it evolves. With the tethered platform,
surveillance/crowd control teams have the ability to
constantly monitor the movement and behavior of the
crowd. The pre-planned flight path capabilities along with
the ability to control multiple flyers simultaneously allow for non-stop monitoring of any situation.

Fire Investigation & Damage Assessment

Investigating fire damage is a dangerous operation.

Evaluating the integrity of building structures and
whether any hot spots remain needs to be done
instantly, before sending in investigators and clean-up
crews. As well, video and photographic evidence, for
ongoing investigations, should be acquired without
touching the damaged site.

With the tethered sUAS, aerial intelligence of a fire damaged site can be acquired immediately and
streamed (in real time) to investigators enabling them to fully assess the situation before going on
site. Hot-swappable payloads allow for video and photographic intelligence to be instantly switched
to thermal imagery or other payload systems.
Fire Management

Controlling and extinguishing a small fire is dangerous

work - managing a large fire where multiple fire stations
need to coordinate their efforts, exponentially
increases the risk and logistical issues facing the
emergency response teams. The tethered UAS enables
you to continually observe and monitor the situation
and the surrounding area, track fire management
personnel and continuously assess structural integrity
of the building.

Forensics

One of the greatest challenges in forensics is how to

capture thorough, accurate evidence without actually
touching the crime scene itself. With the tethered
platform, a complete range of aerial video and
photographic evidence can be captured instantly onsite,
before the crime scene has even been touched by
investigators.

Tactical Operations

Raids, barricades, and hostage situations are among

the most dangerous operations for police officers. An
aerial perspective can help officers see over obstacles
and around corners to gain critical situational
awareness without putting themselves in harms way.

These platform is ideal for gathering advanced

surveillance and can remain on-station to stream live
multicast video to officers and command posts simultaneously - acting as a vital communication link
for everyone involved, regardless of geography.

Emergency & Disaster Response

When responding to an emergency, one of the
priorities is to understand how the most critical areas
are affected and where they are situated - before
putting any more human lives in danger. These
platform puts the power of aerial intelligence directly
into the hands of the first responders. Real-time video
streaming can show not only the extent of the
damage but may also warn responders of additional
hazards. Geo-tagged digital photographs provide an aerial record of the on-ground situation
completely untouched.

HAZMAT/CBRNE Management

Chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear or explosive

situations represent an extreme danger to everyone
involved. Gathering as much information as possible
before sending in the investigation and response teams
significantly reduces the risks. The integrated, hot-
swappable payloads enable you to select the best
solution to meet the requirements and completely
assess the situation.

Illustration: Typical Tethered UAS

Some of the features that can be proposed for such a platform are,

• Power Tethered – unlimited flight times

• Push Button Operation – anyone can fly
• Tablet and Laptop control also available
• From Trunk to Sky – less than 1 minute
• Live Streaming – HD Video
• Multiple payload options – HD cameras, Multispectral, FLIR
• Safe and Stable
• Integrates into video systems for Public Safety, Security, News Media
• Other options, including vehicle mounting with follow mode also available

Conclusion

This is an emerging field in which there is already a lot development that is taking place and for the
strategic community in India, if we wish to dominate the leading edge of the technology and be ready
to face the future threats, there is a significant need for us to speed time and efforts in this area and
develop our capabilities further.

References
Blazakis, J. (2006). Border Security and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Connections: The Quarterly
Journal, 05(2), 154-159.

Dupray, D. J., & LeBlanc, F. W. (2001). UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES. Aircraft Engineering and
Aerospace Technology, 73(4), 401-402.

Horowitz, M., & Fuhrmann, M. (2017). Droning on: Explaining the Proliferation of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles. International Organization, 71(02), 397-418.

Mingzheng, L., Hongjian, L., & Hualei, Z. (2014). Unmanned aerial vehicles for logistics applications.

Ozalp, N., Sahingoz, O. K., & Ayan, U. (2013). Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle route planning.
Studia Informatica Universalis, 1-4.