Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005-2030 - Federation of ...

UAS ROADMAP 2005
as a team. Many of the efforts within the UA realm have equal interest and application for other
unmanned systems within the Department. To facilitate coordinated future development of technologies
and common operational issues, related unmanned systems Roadmap documents are posted at the
following locations:
� UGVs are addressed in the Joint Robotics Master Plan at
http://www.jointrobotics.com/activities_new/masterplan.shtml
� UMVs are addressed in the Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) Master Plan at NIPRNET
http://www.onr.navy.mil/02/baa/expired/2001/baa01_012/pip/docs/uuvmp.pdf
The requirement for interoperability among UA is equally important for between UA and manned systems
as well as other unmanned system types. The need for an UA to communicate and interact with a UGV is
not far off. The Army’s FCS program is exploring such concepts. In all likelihood, future UUVs may
themselves deploy UA to extend their capabilities and improve overall system performance. Small UA
that become unattended ground sensors will blur the distinction between the classes of unmanned
systems. These simple examples argue that, to the maximum extent possible, the common UA vehicle
interface now in development should be investigated for applicability to other unmanned systems. The
ultimate goal is seamless integration into the battlespace of humans and unmanned, UA or otherwise,
systems.
Broad efforts to establish and expand interoperability and standardization will support overall unmanned
systems interoperability. Global Information Grid initiatives will establish communications standards and
provide infrastructure and components to support net-centric sharing of data among platforms. Joint
Command and Control interfaces will provide standard message sets and procedures for exchange of
situational awareness and taskings among unmanned systems platforms. ISR and other application
specific data and product standards will further support the exchange of relevant information, with
horizontal fusion initiatives in particular providing a major multiplier effect through a coordinated
application of resources across diverse platforms. Unmanned systems developers must engage and build
upon these broader efforts to provide the greatest level of interoperability, as required to support unified
operations.
Several ongoing service and industry activities are specifically focused on unmanned systems
interoperability. For example, the Joint Robotics Program (JRP) is focusing on the technology required to
enable tightly coupled UA and UGV assets to deliver a significant portion of the warfighting capability
envisioned for the Army’s FCS. The JRP has established a working group and produced a draft Joint
Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS). Initially developed to support ground systems, the JAUS
architecture has been expanded to extend across the full spectrum of unmanned systems. Several DARPA
ATDs are focusing on the integration of UGVs and UA. In general, efforts to integrate across the
unmanned systems domain to date have been very limited.
The Department is taking a much broader view of the entire unmanned systems landscape and the
opportunities that exist for military transformation. Clearly this is a technology realm that is difficult to
predict. However, several overarching concepts seem to appear.
� Integration within unmanned systems (and with manned systems) will be high, necessitating a greater
degree of interoperability from the outset, not added later as an afterthought.
� The trade space between capability and cost will become much greater, offering a wider range of
options, but producing much more complex and integrated systems, challenging our current
“platform” focus on weapons acquisition.
� Unmanned systems may be grouped more by technology, and less by traditional classifications; i.e.
small UA may have more in common with UGVs than with larger UA
SECTION 6 - ROADMAP
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