J-Ucav cave in.

From time immemorial, the aviation world has, as on other scenes, had its little contradictions but in recent weeks it has seen the still unofficially announced (at least at time of writing) cancellation of the J-Ucas and the simultaneous emergence of two new European demonstrators, the Barrakuda and the Raven.

The future for Ucavs has been thrown into confusion by the US Air Force and US Navy zeroing the J-Ucas programme in their FY2007 budget requests. As we go to press, Armada International understands that Boeing and Northrop Grumman have both stopped work on the J-Ucas. It may be noteworthy that the air force estimated a $ 60 million unit cost for the J-Ucas production item and allegedly saw it as a threat to the F-35.

At the heart of this effective cancellation is a marked divergence in general requirements between the two services. By 2018 the US Air Force wants to have a very heavy long-range strike drone to complement a new manned bomber (which may or may not be supersonic), and possibly ICBMs with conventional warheads.

On the other hand, the Navy continues to need a shorter-range, carrier-based Ucav with design emphasis on stealth and long endurance, a drone that will be much lighter than the Air Force design due to catapult and arrester gear restrictions. The service has requested $239 million in FY2007 for a Ucav carrier-suitability demonstration, presumably using an X-47B.

So far, one can only speculate on the fact that before they are being driven into a deeper dead end, the two manufacturers involved wish a reassessment of the two service's final requirements.

Raven and Barrakuda

Meanwhile, Europe has staged the unveiling of two well-kept secrets, the British BAE Systems Raven and the German Eads Barrakuda. While the J-Ucas programme is, or was, aimed at providing a definitive aircraft approved for service, its European counterparts are all still demonstrators from which, hopefully, an aircraft (and possibly a derivation for specific missions) will emerge.

With the European Neuron now on track (see below) one can question the need for two new single-handed developments.

Here again, one can only speculate, but some combined answers can be deemed to make sense. The Neuron, like all multinational projects (and as we see here a single-nation but joint-service project), has had a difficult gestation period, and certain manufacturers were adamant to prove that they could paddle their own boats. One may add to this that both justifiably needed to demonstrate that they were still trustworthy aircraft manufacturers after the image credibility problems encountered with the JSF and the J-Ucav on the one hand and the Mako on the other.

Just as the likelihood of a new single-nation European fighter aircraft development is now nil, there is very little hope that a sophisticated apparatus like a unmanned fighter/bomber aircraft developed by one European nation will ever slice through any sky. in fact, both the Barrakuda and the Raven now appear like splendid political 'Plan Bs'.

As mentioned above, the Neuron has finally managed to shake off all the administrative hurdles that have delayed its inception, and although the maiden flight of the demonstrator has slipped by one year to 2011, the programme is now firmly back on track. The first main delaying politico-administrative hitch had originated from Sweden and the second from Spain's DNA. These problems (as well as a number of minor ones) were ironed out by the beginning of 2006 and contracts issued shortly thereafter--on 9 February to be precise.

Before they had fully committed themselves to the Neuron programme, however, a number of the involved aircraft manufacturers had conducted their own demonstrator programmes to prove their worth, like the Filur, Duc and Sky-X to name but three. There are also very few reasons to believe that they want to remain part of an exclusive club and no doubt the Barrakuda and the Raven will be accepted as reasonable membership cards.

S-100 into Overdrive

According to Hans Schiebel, the S-100 rotary-wing drone is selling faster than anticipated. In addition to the 80 sold to the United Arab Emirates (which also holds an option on a further 40 units), another three customers (wishing to remain anonymous) have joined the queue, bringing the order backlog for the type close to the 200 mark.

The first production aircraft is due for delivery on 1 June 2006 and is expected to be followed by other birds at a rate of one per week, although the aim is to gear up to a rate of two per week before the end of the year. To achieve this goal, and by the time these lines are read, Schiebel will have moved its production line in a brand-new factory adjacent to the Wiener Neustadt airfield, where it will be able to enjoy the use of its own helipad. Headquarters and design offices will, however remain in the centre of Vienna.

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman has other cards than the J-Ucas up its sleeves, particularly the winning suit that the Global Hawk, the Fire Scout and the KillerBee constitute. The Fire Scout, in the form of the four-bladed RQ-8B, is now in production, as signalled by the delivery of the first airframe from Schweizer aircraft. Assembled at Moss Point close to the Trent Lott airport, the first twelve aircraft will be delivered to the US Navy and to the Air Force which respectively have four and eight on order so far.

The mini B2-like Killer-Bee, on the other hand is intended as a low-altitude long-endurance observation unmanned aircraft particularly aimed at the surveillance of military bases and convoys, but can also be used to patrol shipping lanes, hence its potential suitability as a joint service system. The example illustrated here is one of a family termed as 'scaleable' which demonstrated its suitability to the Air Force in providing real-time video streaming last March at the UAV Battlelab in Nevada. According to Northrop Grumman, its developer, it << will ultimately offer users the option of operating numerous aircraft to relay voice and data across great distances, in addition to the intelligence gathering mission. >> More detailed information on the KillerBee will appear in Armada's next supplement on unmanned aerial vehicles.

On the Hawk front, both the Global and Euro versions, things are going apace with a serious build up for operations at Beale. The US Air Force has a requirement for 51 Global Hawks and the US Navy 2, and even though in the latter case budgeting is still delayed the situation could be unlocked in early 2007 and even possibly in late 2006. Turning to the Eurohawk, the programme for the systems integration and the required airframe modifications are on track, according to Northrop Grumman which is an Eads partner in the joint Eurohawk company. The airframe used in this instance is the larger and more powerful B version.

Launchers

While certain manufacturers produce their own catapult launchers, like Sagem or ATA, others rely on specialists like Robonic. The Finnish firm has recently been contracted to deliver the fourth of a new series to Eads Deutschland by April for use with its DO-DT series of jet-powered target drones. Robonic offers a range of launchers for drones of 20 kilos or less up to the top model that reaches up to 18 metres in length to launch aircraft of the Elbit Hermes 450 calibre or weighing up to one tonne. Robonic's launchers are self contained as they have their own power generators and compressor and can be deployed within 15 minutes by one operator and packed within five minutes.

Eric H. Biass, inputs from Roy Braybrook