CASR

- Canadian Defence Policy, Foreign Policy, & Canada-US Relations -

In Detail —— CF UAVs in Afghanistan — Plans for Predators ——

Index  to Afghan UAVs

Background CF   UAVs

In Detail Home

CASR Home

Contact CASR

Afghan Mission  –  Aerial Surveillance  –  Tactical UAVs  –  February  2008 Unattainable Aerial Vehicles?   Sperwer, Predator, and Afghanistan Predator Overview  and  TUAV Replacements  (or a CF Alternative) The Manley report has drawn attention back to problems surrounding Canadian Forces use of  UAVs in Afghanistan. The shortcomings of  the Sperwer Tactical UAV were addressed only with the recommendation that "high performance" UAVs be introduced into Canadian Forces service. But is the preferred Predator UAV a tactical or a strategic system? Does the Sperwer require a direct replacement? And what alternatives do the Canadian Forces have? " Yeah  ...  things change,  plans shift."  –  the Revived Fortunes of a Canadian Predator B General Atomics' Predator  UAV will be familiar to most readers. This MALE ( Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance ) UAV was tested  by the CF in 2004 (as the CU-163 Altair). Those tests were for maritime surveillance and employed a  long-span version of the Predator UAV. That single Altair was on loan to the CF from the manufacturer – a fact relevant to responses to the Manley Report. The pedigree of the Predator is complicated and further confused by rebrandings. In simple terms,  the UAV in question  is the turboprop-powered  Predator B. [1]  The USAF renamed this drone the Reaper in 2006 but the Predator name stuck in Canada. In effect,  Predator B is the short-winged version of  that  tested Altair and the dedicated maritime Mariner UAV. The Predator B family can all have 'hard points' for fitting wing pylons. Altair uses its pylons to mount additional sensor pods. Predator B pylons are used to carry weapons ( hence the Reaper rebranding by the USAF). It was this weapons-carrying capability that  prompted a sudden expansion of  the JUSTAS (Joint Unmanned Surveillance & Target Acquisition System) project.  DND's recommended purchase of CF Predators was rejected by the Harper cabinet – as much in reaction to another 'single-source' procurement as to monetary or political cost. Proposed Canadian Forces Predator B UAV – Eye in the Sky or Big Bang on the Ground? The Manley Report has given Stephen Harper a green light for the rapid purchase of a high performance UAV. While Predator isn't specifically mentioned  in the terse Manley Report, it has been widely interpreted as an endorsement of a 'single-source' procurement (or even of an Urgent / Immediate Operational Request purchase). And Mr. Harper is clearly on-side. Of course "high performance", in its Manley Report context,  refers to  flight characteristics (in contrast with the Sperwer TUAV) and sensor capabilities. Armaments aren't mentioned. From a military viewpoint, the advantage of  arming  surveillance/ reconnaissanance UAVs is obvious – if a threat is spotted, it can be attacked. The political take on this is rather different, however. The original attempt to get  the Predator past  the Harper cabinet failed, in part, because of  a feared backlash once the public made the connection between this armed UAV and its Hellfire missiles. The irony is that it is the very effectiveness of an armed Predator that unnerves politicians. Tests have been run with USAF Reapers festooned with 14  Hellfires in multiple rows. The standard load (seen in the images above) is 4 x Hellfire missiles  (mounted in pairs on either outboard wing pylons) plus 500 lb  GBU-12 laser-guided bombs  (one on each inboard wing pylon). The latter is already in CF service (as guidance kits attached to 500 lb Mk82 bombs). Senses and Staying Power – Predator B's Endurance, Scanning, Tracking and Acquiring For the reconnaissance mission envisioned  by the Manley Report, Predator B  is no slouch.  Endurance is  given as 24 hours cruising slowly at 13,700 m  (General Atomics claims this can be extended to 30 hours and  beyond ). Predator B's bulged upper nose covers its satellite uplink antenna. The lower nose is lined with sensors which includes the APY-8 Lynx synthetic aperture radar for mapping (with 4-inch imagery resolution) and a 55 cm MTS-B electro-optical  turret which combines surveillance tasks with  target acquisition, tracking, range-finding and laser-designation of  targets for onboard missiles. High-resolution video and infra-red imaging allow Predator Bs to function in poor visibility. So, in a nutshell, a large Predator can do everything that the small Sperwer could  not. But is a 20 m span Predator B cruising above 10,000 m really a tactical system?  Certainly it has a powerful sensor suite but there would seem to be a role for a more direct  replacement for Sperwer as well.  One candidate that springs to mind is the Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle. This TUAV is even smaller than Sperwer  but carries a reasonable sensor  payload and  cleverly avoids the pitfalls of Sperwer landings.  And ScanEagle has another, more important draw. Drone for Rent – Press Reaction to the Manley Report and the Realities of Leasing UAVs DND's original attempt to acquire MALE UAVs for use in Afghanistan involved proposed lease arrangements for either the Predator or the rival IAI Eagle-1. Both the Israeli firm and General Atomics had  leased UAVs to DND before (the latter had also leased  and operated an  I-GNAT  MALE UAV for 2002 CF trials).  The proposed  lease arrangement for Afghani- stan seemed sound  but, with a budget of $17M, neither of  the manufacturers was tempted. The press interpreted  DND's inability to secure a UAV lease as an unwillingness to risk  private assets in a war zone.  Not so. In 2007, the Australian Defence Force was able to arrange the lease of ScanEagle tactical  UAVs for use in Iraq. Boeing Australia provide contractor personnel to support the UAVs, backing up gunners of  the Royal Australian Artillery  (right). This arrangement has been extended in Iraq and expanded to the ADF's deployment to Afghanistan. [2]  So, UAVs can be successfully leased from (and even operated by) manufacturers for use in active war zones. [ Update: After a rocky start with several potential suppliers withdrawing and a relaunching of the project, MacDonald Dettwiler and  the IAI Heron were announced as Project Noctua winners. At the beginning of August 2008, DND quietly announced that Insitu ScanEagles had been operating from Kandahar since  June 2008 in a  $14M  lease contract with Boeing.] The Manley Report also mentioned helicopters for Afghanistan. The reference was specific to medium-lift helicopters but it is worth mentioning  that a small number of  CH-146 Griffon utility helicopters will deploy to Kandahar in the summer of 2008 to perform convoy escorts and reconnaissance tasks. Equipped with appropriate sensors –  which must be lightweight to allow for the Griffon's very limited hot-and-high performance – the Griffons can also take over some of the surveillance jobs currently done by an overtaxed and aging Sperwer fleet. Also see  Unattainable Aerial Vehicles: Overview - CU-161 Sperwer UAV in Afghanistan [1] The original Predator was the smaller RQ-1 which, like its predecessor the I-GNAT, was powered by a piston engine. The newer MQ-9 has a much more powerful turboprop engine (the Honeywell TP 331, the rival Heron TP has a Canadian PT6 turboprop). Changes in size and powerplant are other reasons for the USAF MQ-9 name change to Reaper. This avoids confusion with the earlier model but,  for now, the Predator B moniker has stuck in Canada. [2] Boeing Australia handles this contract through an arrangement with its parent company in Seattle which, in turn, has a marketing arrangement with Insitu Inc. based in Bingen, WA.