{"205601":{"#nid":"205601","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Project Will Help Protect U.S. Forces by Simulating Hostile UAVs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EToday, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a rapidly growing part of military operations, and forces that aren\u0027t 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.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of its broad-based work in electronic-warfare technologies, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) is developing integrated hardware devices that simulate sensors potentially present on enemy UAVs. The technology \u2013 produced by GTRI as part of its Threat Unmanned Devices Program \u2013 is expected to be used to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. countermeasures against enemy drones. The research is sponsored by the U.S. Army Threat Systems Management Office.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The assets that we\u0027re building can simulate the threat capability you would expect on a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle,\u0022 said Vince Camp, a GTRI senior research engineer who is a principal investigator for the project. \u0022We\u0027re reproducing the ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capability that a threat UAV would have. Simulating this ISR capability makes it possible to test the effectiveness of U.S. countermeasures against a potentially hostile signal intelligence capability in the air.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen aloft, GTRI\u0027s integrated devices simulate three principal threat capabilities, said Doug Martin, a senior research engineer who directs the GTRI Threat Unmanned Devices Program. The simulated threats include an electro-optical infrared sensor package that includes thermal-imaging capability, other sensors that detect and analyze U.S. communication signals, and equipment capable of jamming U.S. weapons systems. Additional threat-simulation capabilities could be added in the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The intent here isn\u0027t to shoot down a hostile UAV or even to prevent it from being there,\u0022 Martin explained. \u0022We want to know what information that vehicle is trying to gather, and what can be done to minimize the exposure of that information.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, he noted, GTRI\u0027s threat simulator payload is being used on a Diamond DA-40 manned aircraft rather than a UAV. That\u0027s 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.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter takeoff, the test aircraft is directed entirely by a ground operator. The human pilot simply executes the flight plan and commands sent from the ground, maintaining a human-in-the-loop in the event of an emergency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simulator devices are controlled from the ground via a FalconView interface, which also provides the pilot direction. FalconView is a widely used mapping system created by GTRI that displays maps and other information useful to military mission planners, aviators and aviation support personnel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022From the standpoint of the ground operator, the manned aircraft will look and function like a UAV,\u0022 Martin said. \u0022The ground control interface makes it look like it\u0027s an autonomous vehicle up there.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 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.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEventually, Camp said, it\u0027s possible that GTRI\u0027s 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.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Currently, simulating threat UAV payload performance is the priority over simulating the signature of the aircraft,\u0022 Camp said. \u0022In 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.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lance Wallace (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing integrated hardware devices that simulate sensors potentially present on enemy UAVs. The technology is expected to be used to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. countermeasures against enemy drones.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are simulating hostile UAVS to help the U.S. military address these threats."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-09 20:47:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:59","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"205591":{"id":"205591","type":"image","title":"Simulating sensors on a hostile UAV","body":null,"created":"1449179977","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:37","changed":"1475894861","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:41","alt":"Simulating sensors on a hostile UAV","file":{"fid":"196716","name":"threat-uav100_3480.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/threat-uav100_3480_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/threat-uav100_3480_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1443762,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/threat-uav100_3480_0.jpg?itok=9h2TJ13A"}}},"media_ids":["205591"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"63671","name":"GTRI. Vince Camp"},{"id":"171265","name":"simulator"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"3249","name":"unmanned aerial vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}