More Sea Hippies and DIY UAVs

Bit of an update on the Sea Shepherds post. First, nix one high speed vessel from the fleet. Having a high speed intercept ship such as Brigitte Bardot or the former Ady Gil in the fleet makes a lot of operational sense, but running a 35 meter trimaran at speed in 6 meter seas, probably doesn’t so much.

Second, the post responses on this topic always amaze me. It is interesting how one non-governmental organization can be characterized in the comments by terms varying as widely as maritime eco-terrorist organization, vigilante group, hippies, and fishery enforcers.

Additionally, I’ve been corresponding with Jimmy Prouty, the creator of the Osprey UAS, who provided some corrections on my posted assumptions and additional information on his equipment. Some of the Osprey’s specs are competition sensitive and not readily available except to clients, but there are some interesting tidbits shown in the email excerpts below:

First, the Osprey is not at all modeled after the Scan Eagle. It is an optimized airframe with a high aspect ratio wing designed for maximum efficiency and range and it's similarity with the Scan Eagle is only that it has a long wing and round fuselage.

For the most part, all of our aircraft are designed as airframes that can be adapted to any number of uses. While videography and vertical photography are the most popular uses we also have them being employed in nuclear/biological/chemical detection system test that would detect those agent in the event of a spill/disaster.

We also do custom airframe development and are currently working on three new designs of various sizes and capabilities. The Osprey has proven to be a very capable airframe and has seen a great deal of use in various areas including the development of cooperative soaring where two aircraft search for thermal lift and communicate the conditions with each other. The Osprey’s design lets it turn off the motor and circle autonomously in lift, conserving the main battery and greatly extending its range. A good example of this in nature is the sand hill crane - it thermals up to high altitude and then glides off looking for its next thermal during its migration. [Ed note: I’m not sure if there are many thermals in the Southern Ocean, but this is certainly a useful capability for a STUAS]

We work with clients to get them the range that they desire as we did with the Sea Shepherd. Advancing technology in Power systems (batteries, motors, etc) is really letting is stretch our legs. Low cost, reliable autopilots such as the AttoPilot have matured and become extremely reliable to the point that we can duplicate flight paths within 1 square meter accuracy while still being able to reroute ourflightpath or call the plane home with the click of a mouse. EO payloads are also evolving rapidly and have a lot of great use.

Third, your assumption on the range of the video system are also off base. There are commercially available units that will provide excellent video reception well beyond the the 10km are reported in your article. There are several hobbyists that fly 25+ miles via video goggles and they don't have access to the higher end video equipment that can be deployed our airframes. The system can also provide geo referencing to give GPS location for any picture or video that is shot during the flight for later review which doesn't require a video downlink.

One of the biggest benefits of companies such as ours is that we can produce a high quality product for general use at a very affordable price with absolutely no cost to the taxpayer. The majority of the major UAS manufacturers rely on government funding (DARPA etc.) to develop their products and then turn around and sell them to the taxpayer at greatly inflated prices. We’ve proven that we (small business) can do it for a minimal investment, provide a high quality, safe product, and get the consumer exactly what they want.

Hangar 18 has an interesting concept and I wish them well in their effort to commercialize affordable, yet tactically useful UAVs. STUAS of all types, including rotary wing platforms capable of launching from a vessel as small as a CB-90, are rapidly improving in performance and capability and will soon proliferate throughout the world's navies (and non-state navies).

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.

2012 Prediction Sure to Go Wrong, or Not

The only sure prediction for 2012 is that it will be an interesting year for surface warfare discussions. The DDG-1000 is going to be an amazing ship, assuming the software side works out. Will it be a better investment than the DDG-51 restart? The answer is starting to look more and more like YES everyday, primarily because the DDG-51 restart isn't restarting the DDG-51 you think it is. AVIATION WEEK has been discussing this topic all year, specifically Michael Fabey in his many DDG-1000 vs DDG-51 articles, which in hindsight will be the background material for events soon to unfold in the coming year.

Here is his latest, an important read. I'll predict it here and now (again) - the GAO is going to look very favorably on the DDG-1000 over the DDG-51 restart. I'm looking forward to observing the SWO community reaction, because I expect to observe a great deal of denial and irrational reactions resulting from the GAOs analysis. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think so. The ugly side of AEGIS is soon to go public, and AEGIS is not simply a technology in the Navy - it's something similar to a religion.

Interesting times.

Happy New Year

I'm usually not a fan of polls and popularity contests on the internet, that just isn't my thing, but in this case I am making an exception. The US Coast Guard is posting their top 10 videos from 2011, and is asking the community to vote on their favorite video. All of the videos are expected to be released by the end of the year, and voting on the videos will continue until mid-January. So far, the video of the airplane landing in the water is my favorite, but all of the videos are impressive.

The Navy can't do a top 10 video, but we all know if there was such a thing, a US Navy SEAL shooting Osama bin Laden in the face would almost certainly be number ONE. US Navy videos of live action represent - for the most part - documentation of political statements by other means. US Coast Guard videos on the other hand are acts of valor in the line of duty with no tie to politics, and watching the videos is a reminder why Coast Guard Alaska on the Weather Channel has been one of the most interesting television shows this year. The people in the US Coast Guard are INCREDIBLE.

You can follow the countdown of videos on the Coast Guard Compass blog.

I continue to be out of pocket, with my wife due to deliver our third child, our first boy... today, and likely to bust open any second. My tax return is screaming delivery before midnight Saturday night, but my karma is likely shouting otherwise. Either way, I intend to get a better feel for the new schedule before picking back up here, as time organization is very much a big part of the process for content on the blog. It isn't so much the writing that consumes time... it's all the reading!

I want to thank the authors of the blog for picking up the slack in my absence, and I send my best wishes to all the folks who have made Information Dissemination a part of their daily routine. It is our hope ID is an interesting way to follow maritime issues that impact our nation and the world at large.

To all the members of the maritime services, thank you for your service to our nation. I wish you and your families a happy, safe New Year.

Ekaterinburg

Alarming:

After battling for hours to extinguish a blaze aboard a nuclear submarine, Russian firefighters finally gained control of it early Friday by submerging the stricken vessel at a navy shipyard. There was no radiation leak, the authorities said. Television showed a giant plume of smoke above the yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia as more than 100 firefighters struggled to douse flames that witnesses said rose 30 feet above the submarine. The firefighters tried for hours to douse the flames with water from helicopters and tugboats before trying another approach: partly sinking the submarine. The fire continued to burn, but the intensity was reduced. “The fire has been localized,” Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said from a control room in Moscow more than nine hours after the blaze began on Thursday.

This probably doesn't speak well of Russia's ability to maintain its nuclear deterrent...

Russia-India Cooperation

Finishing a book manuscript, and so haven't had much time for serious blogging recently.  Nevertheless, would like to drag everyone's attention to Dmitry Gorenburg's excellent series on Russia's military relationship with India.  First part examines naval, second part ground and air, third part joint projects.

There's a lot of interest here.  From a strategic point of view, the Indo-Russian relationship suggests that there's something wrong with geopolitical scenarios that don't take balance-of-power considerations between the three Eurasian giants seriously; I'm not looking at any one in particular, of course, but... From a technical point of view, I think it's interesting how dependent both China and India continue to be on updated Soviet technology. I think that Feng might have more to say on this, but there's a fascinating contrast between India and China as customers of Russian military tech.  India is a better international intellectual property citizen than China, and also lacks any serious security flashpoints with Russia.  On the other hand, China seems to be interested in pushing beyond what Russian technology can offer, even if major questions about the quality of the product of the Chinese military-industrial complex remain.

Cross-posted at LGM.