UAV Program Overview
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The most significant programmatic action of FY 1997 was Predator’s transition to production within the formal acquisition process. Thirteen months of Integrated Product Team (IPT)-managed post-ACTD transition activities and program/budget trade-offs culminated in Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) approval on 8 August 1997. Predator is now an ACAT II program under Air Force milestone review authority. Both ACTD-residual assets (like those operating over Bosnia) and new production systems will be progressively block-upgraded to the required operational configuration. | |
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Secondly, the Outrider program made sufficient progress during the second half of FY 1997 to justify continuation of its Tactical UAV (TUAV) ACTD and funding for FY 1998. After four months’ delay of its first flight to accommodate redesign or reintegration of certain commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, as well as resizing the airframe itself to sustain system performance, both the air vehicle and subsystems and the ground control station (GCS) were validated in a succession of flights throughout the summer of 1997. An optimized gasoline engine has been integrated and is in flight test. | |
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Thirdly, while neither HAE UAV flew in FY 1997, both UAVs’ subsystems and sensors were demonstrated successfully. Global Hawk taxied for the first time in October 1997, and DarkStar AV #2, with redesigned nosewheel and flight control subsystems, plans to taxi in December. Both UAVs are poised to fly during 2Q/FY 1998. | |
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Meanwhile, Pioneers operated by both Navy and Marine Corps units demonstrated improved readiness as the result of increased funding for attrition AVs and spares since FY 1995. From beginning to end of FY 1997, Pioneer’s readiness grew from 60% to 70%, and its accident rate dropped dramatically from 19 Class A and B mishaps 6 during FY 1996 to 6 mishaps during FY 1997. Pioneer passed the 15,000 flight hour mark in July 1997. | |
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Finally, the few Hunters flying exercise and training support demonstrated current system reliability and sustainability well beyond requirements, thereby validating system and management improvements undertaken before the program’s production contract was allowed to expire in early 1996. The small Hunter fleet passed 6,600 flight hours in September 1997. Its annual mishap rate has improved from 5.0 per 1,000 flight hours to 0.5 — an order-of-magnitude improvement. | |
Other key activities within the TUAV program included:
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6 Class A: >$1M loss Class B: $200K-$1M