One of the oldest UASs that utilizes a
video camera and had the ability to drop ordinance is the TDR-1. In 1943 the US
Navy worked with both the RCA television company and the Interstate Engineer
Company to produce the TDR-1. This aircraft was made out of plywood and tubular
steel and weight in at over 5,900 pounds (not including munitions). The
aircraft was capable of flying over 495 NM in a single mission and could carry
a 2000 pound bomb or torpedo. The radio control system and RCA television
camera could be broadcasted about 8 miles to either a ground control station or
a flying mothership. Considering TVs and radio controlled systems were just
being invented around this time, it was an extremely cutting edge system that
proved to be a capable system in combat. In 1945 the TDR-1 actually saw real
combat and took out an enemy ship off the cost of the Russel Islands (Newport
News Ship Building Inc., n.d.).
Looking at UASs of today this system can be compared to the MQ-1C Gray Eagle
due to their similarities and methodologies.
The TDR-1 Assault Drone
Similarities
The TDR-1 and the MQ-1C both utilize
video capture as a form of munition guidance and target acquisition. Both
systems utilize a ground control station and portions of the electromagnetic
spectrum to control both the aircraft itself and the munitions they carry. Both
were fixed wing platforms and both had quite a good mission endurance range.
The TDR-1 could carry over 2000 pounds of either bomb or torpedo and the MQ-1C
can carry 400 pounds of precision guided munitions (GA-ASI Inc., 2016). These
major broad stroke concepts are near mirror images, but upon further investigation
one can see that much of the technology equipped on the MQ-1C has truly evolved
dramatically since 1943. Many of the sub systems that have evolved did not only
evolved for the UAS industry, but can attribute their evolution to the computer
evolution, the camera evolution, and aeronautical evolution that has taken
place since 1943.
The MQ-1C Gray Eagle
Differences
Some of the major differences has to
do with the fact that integrated circuits did not exist until 1958 (TI Inc.,
2008). Much of the computing was accomplished by vacuum tubes. This limited
command and control to very simple techniques. Setting the altitude for the TDR-1
was done through dialing a rotary phone dial and have each number represent a
particular altitude above ground level (Newport News Ship Building Inc., n.d.). As global navigation techniques
evolved into GPS and INS sensors, the idea of following a UAS with a mothership
or using just line of sight to figure out where it is became obsolete. The
MQ-1C is equipped with redundant GPSs and INSs in order to ensure the operator
knows exactly where the system is even when operating via satellites beyond
line of sight (GA-ASI., 2016). Another major difference between the TDR-1 and
the MQ-1C is that the MQ-1C utilizes digital communication technology. Along
with an advancements in camera technology, the swap to digital communication
methods allowed for much higher bandwidth communication as well as much further
communication distances to include beyond line of sight.
The Future
Looking even further into the future
and taking notes from what we have seen evolved since 1943, one can see there
is a bright future of UAS technology. Some of the major initiatives in the
department of defense have to deal with simplification and automation of unmanned
systems in general. Taking the need for highly skilled operators, and huge
logistic supply chains out of the equation is one of the most vital aspects of
future success of many of the current UAS programs. Much of these goals will be
accomplished through standardizing future technologies, creating modular
payload and interoperability with both manned and other unmanned systems (Department
of Defense, 2013).
References:
Department
of Defense. (2013). Unmanned Systems Integrated Road Map FY 2013-FY2038.
Retrieved September 13, 2016, from http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/DOD-USRM-2013.pdf
GA-ASI
Inc. (2016). Gray Eagle UAS. Retrieved September 13, 2016, from http://www.ga-asi.com/gray-eagle
Newport
News Ship Building Inc. (n.d.). TDR-1: First Operational US Navy Drone... Successful
in Combat in 1944! Retrieved September 12, 2016, from http://www.nnapprentice.com/alumni/letter/TDR_1.pdf
TI
Inc. (2008). Texas Instruments - 1958 Jack Kilby invents integrated circuit.
Retrieved September 13, 2016, from http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/timeline/semicon/1950/docs/58ic_kilby.htm
US
Army. (2016). MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Retrieved
September 13, 2016, from http://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/aviation_gray-eagle-uas/
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