Raytheon in a new game for military drones

Tag : Marine Hardware

While older systems used only a keyboard, single screen andjoystick, a key factor for Raytheon was making the system moreintuitive - replacing key strokes with a game console - afterconsulting with experts and discovering that thumbs are the mostenergy efficient and accurate way to control an aircraft.
The leather chair is adaptable to individual users, who can alsocontrol a heating and cooling duct above their head at the touch ofa switch.
In a move away from what Bigham calls the "soda straw" view of mostUAV pilots, the screens are augmented with digital images thatprovide a near 180-degree view.
Other data, such as the status of the craft and troop locations, isprovided on a fourth screen, in much the same way that video gamesprovide extra on-screen information on characters and ammunitionlevels.
Raytheon, headquartered in Waltham, Mass., wants to capitalize onthe rapidly growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in bothmilitary operations and civilian projects around the world. Theoverall global market is expected to rise from $3.5 billion to some$55 billion in 10 years, according to the Teal Group.
The war on terror has spurred the use of drones in combat areas,with unmanned aircraft currently flown by the U.S. Air Force andthe Royal Air Force in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
BAE Systems PLC announced plans at Farnborough to work withBritain's Ministry of Defense to develop an unmanned aircraft,known as Mantis, that can drop laser-guided bombs and firemissiles.
But the increased use of the drones has highlighted problems withcontrol systems. A Predator drone crash in Iraq in 2006 wasattributed to error by its pilot back in Nevada. Two more recentcrashes involving RAF and U.S. Air Force Predators earlier thisyear were initially blamed on mechanical problems, but full reportson the incidents have not yet been published.
The Predators, built by General Atomics, are flown by pilots at amilitary base near Las Vegas. Primarily used for surveillance andreconnaissance, they can also be armed with missiles forhunter-killer missions.
The Federal Aviation Administration says that over two-thirds ofPredator UAV crashes are due to human error with the flightcontrols. With Predators worth more than $20 million each, thatmakes for a costly mistake.
"A lot of things are being attributed to pilot error that should beattributed to poor design," said Bigham, adding that Raytheonbelieves its system could reduce costs for the Air Force by $500million over a decade.
That estimate is based on a combination of reducing the number ofcrashes and the time spent training pilots to use the system andcutting the number of pilots required to fly the aircraft.
Raytheon hopes at some point to develop the system further so theconsole, and potentially the chair, vibrate to reflect thesensation of actual conditions - including turbulence and landing.
Raytheon, which has been building its system for the past threeyears at a cost of "several million" dollars, has been indiscussions with the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Air Force and hashosted several delegations who have shown an interest atFarnborough, including the Saudi International Guard.
For now, Raytheon is focused on military applications. But thesystem can also be used for marine and civilian applications.
In the U.S., Customs and Border Protection is already operatingfour Predator drones over the Mexican border, watching for drugtraffickers and illegal immigrants.
"People say I'm crazy, but one day we'll see unmanned automobiles,"said Bigham. "That's the next big area."