KIHOMAC - HR001121S0007-23 - Inexpensive Long Endurance Drone (ILED)

The peer, near-peer military operational scenario, with current enemy long-range and/or heavy fire units shielded by a surface-to-air cover, is driving coalition units outside of an ever-increasing stand-off range. Ground forces need a remote capability to cross enemy fire-covered terrain and provide them time and space to conduct advantageous actions that “place the enemy under the pressures of uncertainty”. However, current remote capabilities are too expensive to be deployed in sufficient quantity for large-scale operations or swarming mission objectives. The objective of the KIHOMAC Heron UAV concept presented as an Inexpensive Long Endurance Drone (ILED) baseline solution is to provide the highest performance and cost-effective long-range UAV that meets the warfighter need. We have decomposed the operational capability gap into key UAV subsystem engineering design problems: (1) propulsion and battery system costs that directly scale with range, speed, and endurance performance, (2) high composite structure manufacturing costs, and (3) overdesigned systems with high reliability and high-performance components. In our ILED Phase I feasibility study and preliminary design efforts, we will strategically address these engineering problems by leveraging Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) solutions; Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) integration and design; and flight performance tailoring of the Heron UAV for ILED payload and launch configuration objectives. KIHOMAC has over 17 years of corporate experience providing professional acquisition, sustainment, and modernization engineering services to the United States Air Force, Army, Navy, State Department, and other government agencies. We are ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified and CMMI Level 3 with a proven performance in software and hardware development as well as complex manufacturing and production. In summary, to support future warfare combat scenarios employing UAV swarms, in ILED Phase I, KIHOMAC will focus our feasibility analysis and preliminary design efforts on structural manufacturing optimization and flight performance tailoring of the KIHOMAC Heron UAV baseline design. These two areas encompass what we believe is a winning design strategy to balance reducing cost while maximizing Heron performance.