Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/439940
u unmannEd SYSTEMS www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 37 The persistent ISR capability proved its value almost immedi- ately and now the demand is high for a permanent solution. From developmental evaluation, the capability has evolved to a "project which is going to be part of our ISTAR program," explained Gib- son, who heads up a program to acquire the RCN's next UAS. The Maritime Intelligence Surveillance Tracking Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) initiative is composed of three integrated parts: an ISR network, a tactical common data link (TCDL), and the aircraft itself. Extending the Canadian Forces' ISR network to the navy's ships and establishing the appropriate data links have been underway for several years. But fitting a UAS and its launch and recovery systems, control station and operating personnel onto a 25-year old frigate required a delicate "dance," Gibson said. As a result, the navy would like a solution that is not ship spe- cific. Rather, it could be fitted on the maritime costal defence ves- sels and frigates as well as future fleets such as the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and Canadian Surface Combatant. And because of limited space, Gibson suggested a universal control station able to operate multiple UAS as well as surface and subsurface vehicles, which are part of the navy's roadmap. Though ISR and enhanced situational awareness will be the primary responsibility, improved search and rescue, tactical surveillance and reconnaissance, target identification and designation, and communications relay are all priorities. Further out, attack and electronic warfare "is going to be a big one," Gibson said, along with capabilities like chemical and biological agent detection, force protec- tion and logistics support. With the ISTAR program, "we are looking to...be able to talk with all our assets, archive and fuse and manipulate all this data on board the ship, and share it to the shore and to our allies through different systems and networks we have in place," she said. The navy would like to have UAS back aboard its ships by 2016. So while it will continue to explore its own options, it will once again turn to the army and its operators and deploy the RQ-21A Blackjack in the interim. a maLE or a haLE As the RCAF nears the end of its options analysis phase for a Joint Unmanned Surveillance Target Acquisition System, better known as JUSTAS, it has been weighting the merits of three broad op- tions: a fleet of medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) UAS, a fleet of high altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft, or a com- bination of the two. It is also studying various procurement options, including buy- ing, leasing, or using alternate service delivery, said Major John Whalen, director of Air Requirements 8. JUSTAS will eventually deliver a "strategic operational level UAV that can do a lot of things within hopefully one aircraft to keep things as simple as possible," he said. "We are going to be asked to contribute to the recognized maritime picture, ensure Canadian sovereignty, monitor the environment and become a key contributor to the surveillance system of systems (satellites and other air assets). JUSTAS won't replace anything, we'll just become another component in that system." The UAS will be equipped with precision targeting and multi- sensor capability – radar, EO/IR, electronic support measures, automatic ship identification, signals intelligence – that is interop- erable with the army, navy and special forces, as well as NATO and non-NATO allies. He added that the goal would be to conduct "beyond-line-of-sight remote split operations from a main oper- ating base in Canada via satellite to wherever in the world the aircraft is, which gives us a small deployed footprint." Though he did not indicate a preference for either a HALE or MALE aircraft, he noted the solution would be expected to reach the edges of Canada's search area of responsibility in the High Arctic and eastern Atlantic and then conduct operations, so one of the key con- cepts under consideration is the use of deployed bases across the country to reduce transit times. As one of the first projects under the De- fence Procurement Strategy, the high-level mandatory requirements for JUSTAS will be subject to an independent third-party review before the project goes to Trea- sury Board for funding. Whether that changes the requirements remains to be seen, but Whalen said the program will ul- timately deliver a key part of the future "sys- tems of systems." Boeing Insitu Integrator/Blackjack launch and (opposite) hand-launched Raven. Photos: Boeing Insitu and AeroVironment