The U.S. Air Force's next-generation replacement for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned combat aircraft will be modular, easily upgradable, stealthy, feature jam-resistant communications and will be highly common with the Navy's forthcoming Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft, said a senior service official.
While the current fleet of Reaper drones serves the Air Force well over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan, the aircraft is not without its flaws.
The Reaper does not fare well in icing conditions, and thus, a next generation MQ-9 replacement must be "weather tolerant", said Col. James Gear, the service's director for its Remotely Piloted Aircraft Task Force during AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Program Review 2011 on Feb. 2. Nor will the Reaper be able survive inside contested airspace where there is a surface-to-air threat, he said.
"In tomorrow's conflict, or going even further to the right to an anti-access environment, the MQ-9 and MQ-1 [Predator unmanned aircraft] are not well suited for that. So there is certainly a requirement and need for an aircraft [that] operates in these three different threats," Gear said.
The threats the next-generation plane might face emanate not only from surface-to-air missiles and enemy aircraft, but also from the emerging realm of cyber-warfare.
The MQ-X must, therefore, have secure jam-proof data-links that are fully encrypted and must be able to verify who is trying to signal it, he said.
Additionally, the aircraft must be modular and upgradable, Gear said. Capabilities would be added incrementally and the design should be flexible enough to be upgraded to handle new "requirements [that are not] fully defined or funded," he said.
Additionally, the future MQ-X will be highly common with the Navy's UCLASS program. While the carrier-based Navy aircraft has different requirements, the Air Force and the sea service have been cooperating closely, Gear said.
"It's very similar to the MQ-X," he said.
The next generation of the MQ-9 Reaper must be able to face emerging threats such as cyberwarfare, said Col. James Gear, director of the Air Force's Remotely Piloted Aircraft Task Force. (U.S. Air Force)
The Reaper does not fare well in icing conditions, and thus, a next generation MQ-9 replacement must be "weather tolerant", said Col. James Gear, the service's director for its Remotely Piloted Aircraft Task Force during AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Program Review 2011 on Feb. 2. Nor will the Reaper be able survive inside contested airspace where there is a surface-to-air threat, he said.
"In tomorrow's conflict, or going even further to the right to an anti-access environment, the MQ-9 and MQ-1 [Predator unmanned aircraft] are not well suited for that. So there is certainly a requirement and need for an aircraft [that] operates in these three different threats," Gear said.
The threats the next-generation plane might face emanate not only from surface-to-air missiles and enemy aircraft, but also from the emerging realm of cyber-warfare.
The MQ-X must, therefore, have secure jam-proof data-links that are fully encrypted and must be able to verify who is trying to signal it, he said.
Additionally, the aircraft must be modular and upgradable, Gear said. Capabilities would be added incrementally and the design should be flexible enough to be upgraded to handle new "requirements [that are not] fully defined or funded," he said.
Additionally, the future MQ-X will be highly common with the Navy's UCLASS program. While the carrier-based Navy aircraft has different requirements, the Air Force and the sea service have been cooperating closely, Gear said.
"It's very similar to the MQ-X," he said.
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