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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Outrider Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) system responds to the Warfighter's need for a capability to conduct near real-time Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition for lower echelon tactical units. The Outrider is a dedicated asset for Army Divisions and Brigades, Marine Corps expeditionary brigades and Air-Ground Task Forces, and Navy ships. It is to deliver timely, accurate, and complete information out to 200 kilometers from its launch point in near real-time. The Outrider will provide the commander with information superiority contributing to the full-dimensional protection of the force and precision engagement of the enemy.

The Outrider is intended for use in environments where real-time information feedback is needed, manned aircraft are unavailable or excessive risk or other conditions preclude the use of manned aircraft. The Outrider system consists of four air vehicles with electro-optical/infrared sensors, one Ground Control Station, one Remote Video Terminal, and launch and recovery equipment. The Outrider system is to fit in two High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) (with trailers), including personnel and supplies for 72 hours of operations. An additional HMMWV and trailer contains the mobile maintenance facility. There will be one mobile maintenance facility per three Outrider systems.

The air vehicle has dual wings that act independently to increase lift and allow for short takeoff and landing distances. The objective is for the air vehicle to takeoff from unimproved terrain or from a 100-by-8-meter area of a flight deck. The engine currently uses aviation gasoline but may migrate to the use of regular gas. The modular airframe can be carried and assembled by two people. The modular mission payload contains a color day-TV and infrared camera for day and night imaging.

The ground equipment includes a control station and data terminal, an automated launch and recovery system, and a remote video terminal. The control station is a UNIX-based workstation for mission planning and monitoring. A separate workstation is used for viewing and exploiting mission video. The data terminal provides a C-band data link for transmitting data and imagery between the air vehicle and the ground control station. The remote video terminal receives video and telemetry from the ground station via a cable or directly from the air vehicle if it is within 40 kilometers. The integrated beacon landing system is an automated launch and recovery system that uses Global Positioning System satellite emulators to help guide the UAV autopilot during takeoff and landing.

In October 1995, the JROC recommended termination of the Hunter Short Range Joint Tactical UAV (JTUAV) program. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) proposed using Advanced Concept Technical Demonstrations to find tactical UAV systems to satisfy the JTUAV requirements. Expeditious fielding of a Tactical UAV capability was the JROC's number one UAV priority in 1995. The JROC requirements for the Tactical UAV combined the performance requirements from the previous Short-Range and Close-Range UAV programs and kept the "cost cap" from the 1992 Close-Range UAV technical demonstrations. The Tactical UAV Acquisition Decision Memorandum signed in December 1995, contained two basic requirements: (1) the selected system must come as close as possible to the JROC performance requirements, and (2) the cost must be no more than $350K (33rd air vehicle) and $300K (100th air vehicle). A paper source selection was conducted in May 1996. The Joint Program Office awarded Alliant Techsystems a two-year ACTD contract to deliver six complete Outrider systems (with spares) by March 1998.

The Outrider program has experienced many setbacks and delays. The proposed heavy fuel engine did not mature as expected. A gasoline alternative to the heavy fuel engine did not demonstrate the required performance. Additionally, weight increases resulted in insufficient wing and fuselage length. A rotary gasoline engine was eventually substituted and the wing and fuselage lengths were increased. Due to the prolonged time for required for development, much of the originally planned demonstrations and exercises did not take place. Initial plans were for a year of system demonstrations in the hands of users during major exercises and Combat Training Center rotations. Army III Corps participation at Fort Hood was scheduled to begin in May 1997 but did not begin until April 29, 1998 and concluded on June 30, 1998. The Outrider contractor provided systems to the test facilities at Hondo, TX and the U.S. Army Systems Integration Laboratory at Redstone Arsenal, AL. The systems originally planned for delivery to the Navy and Marine Corps were not part of the ACTD.

Fourteen soldiers from A Company, 15^th Military Intelligence Battalion (Hunter UAV unit) and four Marines from VMU-1 squadron (land-based Pioneer UAV unit) formed the military Outrider demonstration team. The brevity of the demonstration at Fort Hood limited the Services' ability to fully assess the Outrider's military utility. In addition, the military utility assessment was too brief to evaluate integration of Outrider into military operations.

As an ACTD, no Test and Evaluation Master Plan is required; however, each Service planned to conduct a military utility assessment based on observations and data collected by the Army Operational Evaluation Command (OEC), the lead operational testing agency.

Army OEC collected data during contractor technical testing (March 1997-June 1998), initial operator training at Hondo, TX, (November 1997-March 1998), and crew training at Fort Hood (May-June 1998), providing a common data base for analysis. OEC collected data on 157 developmental test and training flights at Hondo, TX, and 57 training days at Ft. Hood, TX. Contractor external pilots performed most takeoffs and landings until the integrated beacon landing system installation and training were completed the final week of the demonstration. Endurance flights took place at Hondo and Ft. Hood, but maximum range flights were only conducted at Hondo.

Plans were to conduct crew training at Ft. Hood in three phases: (1) individual training/flight certification; (2) collective training; and (3) unit training scenarios. The crew training was conducted in accordance with the Aircrew Training Manual for UAVs (TC-34-212). Due to the short time at Ft. Hood, only about half of the first phase of individual training was completed.

Within the significant limitations of the demonstration, the Outrider tactical UAV provided commanders with timely accurate and complete reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition information. The Outrider has some immature capabilities and other capabilities that are not yet demonstrated. However, the system shows promise to meet the need of tactical field commanders for a UAV.

The system demonstrated the ability to launch air vehicles, detect, recognize, and locate targets, and recover air vehicles. An imagery analyst rated 44 of 95 images as allowing vehicle or entity identification. Another 47 images allowed detection and 28 of those allowed distinctions between tracked and wheeled vehicles. The system met the target location requirement of 100 meters at observed slant ranges less than 3,000 meters. The auto-takeoff provided a solid capability. The auto-land is a promising technological advancement for air vehicle recoveries. It is highly dependent on satellite limitations, and the current manning structure does not provide for an external pilot in case of emergency. The system demonstrated a range of at least 200 kilometers in optimal conditions and flight endurance up to 3.6 hours; it should be able to provide three hours on-station at 50 kilometers, but less than one hour at 200 kilometers. Also, the Outrider does not have a heavy fuel engine and cannot meet the short takeoff and landing distances required aboard a large deck ship.

Because of the extensive redesign and thus the late deliveries, the users were only able to accomplish individual and crew certification training. No operations with a maneuver unit were conducted, no tactical movements were conducted, and IBLS operations with military users were minimal. Finally, all weather and night capabilities were not demonstrated sufficiently and future tests must examine full system capabilities in range, endurance, and data link reliability in an operational environment. Since the ACTD did not include participation in exercises, this assessment does not address the responsiveness of the system. Ability to use operational cues, operational reliability, survivability, and interoperability must still be examined. At least 300-400 more flight hours are needed to fully evaluate the system.

Three Outrider systems are residual from the ACTD. There are trained soldiers and Marines who can operate these systems. The Services should operate the residual Outrider systems, at least for tactics and concept development, and as a baseline of current technology for future systems development.