Marines Plan Pick for Cargo UAS Demo
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By Graham Warwick
Unmanned aircraft have shown their value for persistent surveillance over Baghdad’s suburbs; now Afghanistan’s harsh terrain could prove their worth in another role: resupply.
The U.S. Marine Corps is days away from awarding a contract to demonstrate an unmanned cargo aircraft that within months could become a lifeline for remote units at the ragged end of the logistics pipeline in a country with few real roads.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s immediate cargo unmanned aircraft system (UAS) project has drawn offers of at least three different helicopters and an autogyro. The carefully crafted requirement is being closely watched by the Army and Navy, which have growing interest in unmanned resupply.
The Marine demonstration is relatively modest in its ambitions, but at least one bidder believes unmanned systems could turn the battlefield logistics equation on its head, making cargo delivery by air more cost-effective than by ground.
As is always the case, none of the available rotorcraft quite meet the Marine Corps’ requirements. Known bidders range from an existing cargo UAV converted from air-launched parafoil to self-launched autogyro, to a commercial external-lift workhorse designed for heli-logging and adapted to unmanned operation.
Such a wide range of candidates is possible because of the way in which the Marines have written the requirement. Instead of specifying a payload, speed and range, the service has requested that 10,000 lb. of cargo be delivered over a round-trip distance of 150 naut. mi. within a 24-hr. period, with a minimum lift of 2,500 lb. in 6 hr.
Other requirements are the ability to hover out of ground effect at 12,000-15,000-ft. density altitude, and fly at 18,000-20,000 ft. with full cargo load. The Marines are looking for a vehicle that can operate autonomously beyond line of sight, and be controlled remotely at the cargo delivery location.
Confirmed bidders are Boeing, with the long-endurance A160T Hummingbird; Lockheed Martin and Kaman, with an unmanned version of the K-Max external-lift helicopter; Canada’s MMIST, with a self-launched development of its CQ-10A SnowGoose cargo UAV already used by U.S. special forces; and Northrop Grumman, with the MQ-8B Fire Scout, now in operational testing with the Navy.
Developed for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and Special Operations Command (Socom), and now designated the YMQ-18A, the A160T can lift up to 2,500 lb. if fuel is offloaded and endurance traded for payload, says Program Manager John Groenenboom. A sling-load capability has to be developed for the demonstration, but the A160T also provides the ability to carry smaller loads faster using a cargo pod, he says.
Carrying a cargo pallet slung under the helicopter limits speed to 70-80 kt., but with a pod the helicopter can fly at 140 kt. “It’s not just about moving cargo. It’s also about delivering emergency support to squads,” he says. Flying out with a sling load, but back at higher speed, would also reduce the time between loads. The A160T also can carry an electro-optical/infrared sensor or communications relay payload at the same time.
Boeing is just completing the last of the A160Ts for Darpa and Socom but, if the Marine Corps moves to a procurement following the demonstration, new aircraft can be produced at relatively short notice, says Deputy Program Manager Mike Laverando.
Designed single-mindedly for external-lift missions, the K-Max can haul a slung load of up to 6,000 lb. The unmanned version has been under development for several years, accumulating over 600 hr. flying time—but always with a safety pilot on board. The intermeshing-rotor helicopter must be autonomous for the demonstration, so the team is adding a dual autopilot and mission processor, and improving reliability and monitoring, says Lockheed Martin Program Manager Dan Speer.
The plan is to fly the K-Max fully unmanned in the fall, before the demonstration scheduled for December. The K-Max is out of production, but between them Lockheed Martin and Kaman have four aircraft available. Their bid included a timetable to put the K-Max back in production for commercial and military customers, says Kaman Program Manager Terry Fogerty.
The Fire Scout is in low-rate initial production for the Navy as a shipboard surveillance and targeting UAS. Northrop Grumman confirms it has bid for the cargo demonstration, but declines to give details. The unmanned helicopter’s quoted lift capacity of 600 lb. is at the low end of the scale.
Also at the low end is MMIST’s “Bravo” version of the CQ-10 SnowGoose, with an onboard payload capability of 600 lb. CEO Sean McCann describes the autogyro rotor as a “third wing kit” for the cargo UAS, which uses a parafoil wing in its existing air-launched and truck-launched versions. A manned surrogate is flying and development is to be completed “in the new year,” McCann says, adding that the Office of Naval Research has purchased two vehicles for work on a ship-launched cargo UAS.
The existing engine, which normally powers the pusher propeller, is connected to the rotor to give a “jump” takeoff capability. Self-launch does not require trained ground personnel, McCann says, and while performance is similar to parafoil-equipped versions, cruise speed is higher. The initial version will be suitable for ship launch, he says. A so-far unfunded second spiral would add fully autonomous ship recovery.
MMIST also produces the Sherpa autonomous GPS-guided precision air drop system, and McCann believes that cargo can be delivered more cheaply using a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft than by convoy. “Aircraft are very effective versus armored ground vehicles,” he says.
McCann sees C-130s dropping cargo loads up to 10,000 lb. using Sherpa guided parachutes, with self-launched CQ-10s then moving smaller cargo packages beyond forward bases, delivering 100-lb. loads to multiple locations before picking up the Sherpas and bringing them back to base for reuse. “That way you can optimize the cost so air delivery is cheaper than ground transport,” he says.
Photo: MMIST
