QinetiQ North America is aiming to undertake a live demonstration of its Unmanned Platform Common Control System before the end of 2014.
Speaking to IHS Jane’s , John Sutton, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of QinetiQ NA’s Mission Solutions business unit, said that in the first instance the company is largely targeting US Navy requirements. “We have engaged a couple of sponsors to get through JCTD [Joint Capability and Technology Demonstration] and fleet battlefield experiments, but more immediate are a couple of Navy RfPs [requests for proposals] that will be competed in early 2014 and that we are extremely well positioned for with some team mates”. Sutton was unable to disclose the identities of the partners with which QinetiQ NA is collaborating or the RfPs that they are working towards, citing sensitivity reasons.
The Unmanned Platform Common Control System is a software package that is designed to be integrated with control stations for all types of unmanned systems, enabling them to become platform agnostic. It is also intended to support the control of multiple vehicles from a single unit and is a scalable solution, meaning that it is equally capable of supporting the operation of larger systems such as the navy’s Northrop Grumman Fire Scout unmanned aircraft systems as well as manportable platforms like AeroVironment’s Raven.
Sutton said that the system utilises an open architecture and takes advantage of common and web services, as this is a customer requirement for future control systems.
“As the navy looks ahead, what they don’t want to do in a CIC [Combat Information Center] is put in a console for a Fire Scout and another console for a Predator. They want one common console, one common set of hardware and then have common services running all of the different platforms”, Sutton explained.
The Unmanned Platform Common Control System has been involved in a number of casual and formal demonstrations with the navy, Sutton said, noting that so far these have taken the form of real-time battlespace scenarios in simulation. Sutton added that the company is involved in cross-Department of Defense consortia that are working on establishing an open set of standards for unmanned systems.
Sutton highlighted work that QinetiQ NA is undertaking with the US Navy’s Program Executive Office Unmanned and Weapons, and noted the navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike programme as an immediate target for the control system.
For the most part, dealing with the different requirements and policies of the armed forces and the DoD poses more challenges than developing the technology for the system, Sutton said.
With regards to the development of common hardware for control stations, Sutton believes that the emphasis is on software to solve this issue but noted some efforts underway, “If you look at how the DoD is trying to evolve to a more mission-centric approach [with] platform interoperability – especially around the littoral combat ship and the DDG21 – they’re looking at the software to carry the load. I know the navy is looking to have a common unmanned console and right now that is more on the government development and integration side.”
Development of the system began in late 2012 and is being undertaken through internal research and development funding.
Source: Jane’s