Covert Precision Aerial Delivery System

ABSTRACT: Piasecki Aircraft proposes to use a variant of its Turais Wing and Bomb Bay Launched UAV (WBBL-UAV) in conjunction with a covert trajectory planner and a guided parafoil to meet the challenges presented in the"Covert Precision Aerial Delivery System"SBIR solicitation. The Turais UAS was designed to be carried in the bomb bay or wing station of a P-3 Orion on standard 14- or 30-inch BRU lugs and released at up to 30,000 ft altitude to perform its mission. Turais has performed two successful unpowered air drop demonstrations from a surrogate aircraft. A scaled down version using a similar layout will be used for the 20 lb payload variant with the option of using the existing two airframes without modification to demonstrate a 500 lb payload delivery. To achieve covert delivery, PiAC will employ previous dissertation work by the Principal Investigator for a covert trajectory control algorithm that plans a minimally detectable path to the landing zone based on known observer locations or terrain profiles while accounting for vehicle dynamic limits. In addition, PiAC will team with Atair Aerospace to exploit Atair"s extensive expertise in guided parafoil systems, which enable the proposed CPADS system to achieve 50-yard landing accuracy. BENEFIT: A CPADS UAV as described in this proposal represents significant value to the military for covert resupply. Using a Covert Trajectory Navigation System provides the Turais UAV with a unique ability of enemy avoidance and accurate, soft delivery of supplies/sensors. In addition, the Turais is a modular system allowing for the insertion of combat munitions to be the primary payload. This gives the Turais UAV to ability to strike enemy targets. The advancement of UAV capabilities is one of the most promising areas of investment, which is forecasted to amount to over $20 billion dollars. Furthermore, future UAVs are anticipated to play an expanding role in border patrol, natural disaster relief, and search and rescue services in the future under the direction of other agencies such as DHS, the Coast Guard, and security contractors. The CPADS would enhance the capabilities of these tasks by providing covert resupply of forces behind enemy lines. PiAC has designed the Turais Naval UAV for use aboard the Naval P-3, P-8, F-18, and SH-60 Aircraft. The universal BRU-14 airborne carriage system makes the Turais a unique product in the field of UAVs. Key to the Turais migration into land forces will again be its unique characteristics which differentiate the system from other offerings. A key characteristic which has high military worth is the reaction time or speed capability of the Turais (VD = 279 kts). The Turais has a strong structural center section dictated by the need to react high inertial and dynamic loads aboard the F-18 when launching & recovering to the carrier. This allows the Turais UAV to sustain high acceleration without modification to the base core airframe. That transitions to a wide range of capabilities of the Turais UAV. This strategy allows the Turais UAV to keep the production cost low to allow for expendable/ballistic operations.