Today, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a rapidly growing part of military operations, and forces that aren’t prepared to deal with them are vulnerable. To protect its ground forces, the United States military must be prepared to counter the surveillance technologies aboard hostile unmanned aircraft.
作为其电子战技术广泛工作的一部分，是格鲁吉亚科技研究所（GTRI）正在开发集成的硬件设备，这些设备模拟可能存在于敌人的无人机上的传感器。该技术 - 由GTRI制作的作为其威胁无人设备计划的一部分 - 预计将用于衡量美国对抗敌人无人机的对策。该研究由美国武力威胁系统管理办公室赞助。
“我们建造的资产可以模拟您希望在外国无人驾驶飞行器上期望的威胁能力，”这是一个项目的主要研究工程师Vince Camp说。“我们正在复制威胁UAV的ISR [智力，监督和侦察]能力。模拟此ISR能力使得可以测试美国的有效性，以防止空中潜在的敌对信号智能能力。“
当高级研究工程师Doug Martin表示，GTRI的集成设备模拟了三个主要的威胁能力。模拟威胁包括电光红外传感器包，包括热成像能力，检测和分析美国通信信号的其他传感器，以及能够干扰美国武器系统的设备。将来可以添加额外的威胁模拟能力。
“The intent here isn’t to shoot down a hostile UAV or even to prevent it from being there,” Martin explained. “We want to know what information that vehicle is trying to gather, and what can be done to minimize the exposure of that information.”
Currently, he noted, GTRI’s threat simulator payload is being used on a Diamond DA-40 manned aircraft rather than a UAV. That’s largely because the presence of a human pilot makes it easier to obtain clearance to fly over U.S. ground forces and ground assets at test ranges. Acquiring clearance for a UAV flyover is more difficult and time-consuming due to safety concerns.
起飞后，测试飞机完全由地面运营商定向。人类的飞行员只执行从地面发送的飞行计划和命令，在发生紧急情况下维护人类的循环。
模拟器设备通过FALCONVIEW界面从地面控制，该界面也提供了试验方向。FalconView是由GTRI创建的广泛使用的映射系统，其显示了对军事代表策划者，航空公司和航空支持人员有用的地图和其他信息。
“From the standpoint of the ground operator, the manned aircraft will look and function like a UAV,” Martin said. “The ground control interface makes it look like it’s an autonomous vehicle up there.”
The GTRI team has finished integration of the threat-simulation devices that are called for under current plans and has passed initial acceptance tests in the air. The completed system was demonstrated successfully at a missile range in fall 2012.
Eventually, Camp said, it’s possible that GTRI’s threat simulator hardware will be placed on true UAVs, which could be either ground-controlled or fully autonomous. Mounting a simulation payload on a UAV could provide a more complete, multi-function test environment.
“Currently, simulating threat UAV payload performance is the priority over simulating the signature of the aircraft,” Camp said. “In the future, a test UAV platform could provide a more realistic radar cross-section, electro-optic/infrared signature and acoustic signature needed to provide a complete threat UAV test capability. What we learn from testing with the UAV threat simulator will help us deploy countermeasures more effectively.”
Filed Under:航空航天+防御
