Soldiers like the Raven unmanned aircraft — the smallest in the Army’s inventory — because they can lug it around in a rucksack and launch it into the air by hand. Ground commanders now want the flexibility to fly the system higher and for longer periods.
Officials at the Army’s unmanned aircraft systems program are proposing a new concept for the Raven. They are looking to expand it into a set of Ravens of three different sizes, says Col. Gregory Gonzalez, project manager of the UAS program. One would be smaller than the current Raven, the other would be larger to give troops more options.
“They can go into the rucksack and pull out the one that’s more applicable to their mission,” he explains. All three aircraft would operate from the same common controller and would provide data to the Army’s “One System” remote video terminal.
The team has submitted a capabilities production document to Army staff for approval. If approved, program funding could begin as early as the 2012 budget cycle. But the program office is making a push for building proof of concept systems before that and providing a few of those kits to brigade commanders in theater for feedback.
“We are not sitting on our laurels and waiting for this to happen,” says Gonzalez.
In the meantime, the Army is busy digitizing the current analog Raven systems. “This allows us to have more capable and faster processing for better payloads,” says Gonzalez. Upgrading the aircraft to digital data links will also increase the utility of the system in the L-band frequency range.
“By using the frequency spectrum in that band more efficiently, we will be able to [fly] up to 16 Ravens in a specific geographical area, as opposed to just four,” says Gonzalez.
Other system upgrades include higher efficiency propulsion motors and 5-megapixel cameras to help the Raven fly higher and see in more finite detail.