The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) branch last October successfully demonstrated the high-altitude detection and tracking of man- portable missile systems that were fired skyward as part of a separate test to validate anti-missile defenses deployed on commercial wide-body planes.
The high-altitude missile detection test was part of Project Chloe, a high-risk technology effort aimed at determining the feasibility of using unmanned aircraft flying at 50,000 to 60,000 feet to detect and defeat heat-seeking missiles attempting to take down passenger planes taking off and landing at the nation’s airports.
For the tests last fall, S&T equipped a NASA ER-2 manned test aircraft, which is a variant of the Air Force’s venerable U-2 spy plane, with a two-color missile warning system owned by the Naval Research Laboratory and developed by DRS Technologies [DRS]. DHS modified six of the missile warning systems to narrow their field of view so as to enhance coverage in a smaller area, Kerry Wilson, the program manager for Chloe at S&T, tells TR2.
During the live-fire tests under the original Counter-Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) program, which is attempting to validate the feasibility of equipping commercial aircraft with missile warning sensors and directed infrared counter measures to detect and defeat shoulder-fired missiles, S&T had the ER-2 aircraft hovering at around 50,000 feet over the test site to see if it could detect and track the missiles. The system was used for four or five test shots and it worked, Wilson says.
Now S&T plans to advance the Chloe tests by seeing if an anti-missile system flown at high altitudes can possibly defeat a heat seeking missile system. For this aspect of the program S&T last November awarded Northrop Grumman [NOC] a $6.5 million contract to carry out the next set of testing this fall.
For the fall 2008 tests, which will take place at Holloman AFB, N.M., a missile system equipped with a radiometer rather than a warhead will be rocketed down a test sled. Then a test aircraft, in this case a White Knight made by Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites business unit flying at around 50,000 feet and fitted with the missile warning pod and tracker as well as a laser-based defeat system, will attempt to detect, track and lase the missile as it races down the sled. The radiometer onboard the missile will measure the amount of energy that is hitting the missile, Wilson says.
“And then the key for the next demonstration in September is to see exactly how much energy we can get on the dome of the missile from a high altitude,” he says.
For the testing this fall Northrop Grumman plans to strap-on a missile warning system it already supplies to the U.S. Marine Corps for used on CH-53 and CH-46 helicopters. The laser system is one it has developed for military use and is flown on over 400 aircraft, Dave Denton, Northrop Grumman’s program manager for its Guardian Counter-MANPADS and Chloe projects, tells TR2.
“We want to prove and end to end solution,” Denton says of Northrop Grumman’s Chloe effort.
While the ultimate goal of Chloe is hopefully to demonstrate the anti-missile detect and defeat capability aboard an unmanned aircraft, to get there is all about reducing risk along the way.
“Right now we’re interested in the payload,” Wilson says. “We’re trying to reduce risk. There would be more risk to try and fly an unmanned aircraft [at this time].”
In addition to the upcoming test, which could occur in either September or October depending on range availability, Northrop Grumman will refine the concept of operations, present DHS with a systems architecture for implementing the high-altitude Counter-MANPADS mission, conduct a survey to see what other detect and defeat capabilities exist for the high-altitude mission and identify any capability gaps.
“And from that we can determine where we need to go with this particular concept,” Wilson says.
The payoff is potentially huge if S&T and industry are able to demonstrate that an unmanned aerial vehicle flying well above the national airspace can perform the Counter- MANPADS mission. In part that’s because there has been a lot of resistance from the struggling U.S. airline industry to the original proposal from Congress to modify the missile defense systems used on military aircraft for use on commercial wide-body jets due to operation and maintenance costs, if not upfront acquisition costs.
Beyond the anti-missile protection for commercial planes, S&T Chief Jay Cohen believes a high-altitude UAV flying over an urban area could also be equipped with communications gear, providing a back-up networking channel in times of emergencies. Moreover, the aircraft could also be equipped with camera systems to assist local police during car chases or for other needs, Cohen says.
Cohen also says there is the possibility that in certain areas such as the National Capital Region, a single UAV could provide Counter-MANPADS coverage to multiple airports, in this case Reagan National, Dulles International and Baltimore/Washington International. However, that’s still just theoretical for now, Wilson says.
DHS is exploring several alternative Counter-MANPADS solutions. Its first effort began in 2003 at the behest of Congress and involves modifying military systems for use on commercial aircraft and then demonstrating their feasibility in the commercial environment. Northrop Grumman and Britain’s BAE Systems are both demonstrating their respective systems. S&T has completed its service evaluation of Northrop Grumman’s Guardian system and will soon begin its evaluation of BAE’s JETEYE system, with testing expected to wrap up early next year. Then DHS will present its final report on that part of the program to Congress.
Ground-based Solution
Given the pushback from the airline industry, Congress followed in 2005 with additional funds for S&T to explore the possibility of using ground-based systems for the Counter-MANPADS effort. These systems would be based near airports, eliminating the need for separate systems to be placed on aircraft, thereby not shackling the airlines with added costs.
For the ground-based effort S&T selected proposals from both Northrop Grumman–which proposed the Skyguard laser-based air defense system derived from its Military Tactical High Energy Laser program–and Raytheon [RTN], which proposed a high power microwave solution called Vigilant Eagle.
“The scope of that effort was basically a suitability assessment in the civil environment as opposed to doing a service evaluation or a field test,” says Wilson, who was the original project manager for the ground-based effort.
The contractual obligations of the contractors have been completed for the ground-based effort and now DHS is leading a multi-federal agency assessment, Don Roberts, S&T’s program manager for the Emerging Counter-MANPADS Technology (ECMT) project, tells TR2.
While the government’s ECMT assessment is ongoing, Roberts offers that the efforts have only “scratched the surface of [determining] suitability.” That’s because these programs have no standards and represent new concepts to the regulating authorities. So one of the goals was for the contractors “identify the data gaps and recommend a testing program to close these gaps,” he says.
Roberts says that working with other members of the government assessment team, which included agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Food and Drug Administration and the military departments. He says that while the companies have technology that may work in the military environment, it’s a “different world for the civil side.”
For example, Roberts says, the different system Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are proposing would still require a sizeable footprint. It’s not just a matter of putting a single system near an airport because they don’t have the range to cover aircraft downrange when they are landing or taking off, he says. That range could extend out to 65 nautical miles from an airport, he says.
That means the possibility of systems having to be deployed around civilian areas such as elementary schools, hospitals, and like locations, Roberts says. In the case of the Raytheon’s microwave energy solution, the FDA is concerned about the electromagnetic affects on people. Another concern is how either the microwave or laser-based systems may impact some of the technology infrastructure in an area or airport, he adds.
Roberts also says that contractors have provided the government with life-cycle cost estimates as well. DHS hopes to deliver its report to Congress by August, he says.
Getting a good Counter-MANPADS for the civil side “is a tough nut to crack,” Roberts says.