BALTIMORE, Md. - To fit seamlessly into the U.S. Army's future command and control architecture, the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) will accept verbal commands from operators and report back to them verbally as well, according to Program Manager Don Woodbury of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

"All the interaction is verbal," Woodbury said during a presentation at the American Helicopter Society's (AHS) Vertical Flight Transformation Forum here June 10. "We talk to it, it talks to us."

Although the idea might seem far-fetched, "that's today's technology," Woodbury said. "The U.S. is behind the rest of the world in this area. There are at least three aircraft fielded today that have [voice command] capability in the cockpit." Outside of UCAR, very little work on voice command of aircraft is taking place in the U.S., according to Woodbury.

DARPA hopes to develop UCAR's voice command system mostly with off-the-shelf technology, Woodbury said. Such technology could have application to manned aircraft such as the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter as well, he said. "Even without UCAR, it might be useful for ... Apache pilots to be able to interact with their machines verbally," he said. "They ought to be looking outside the cockpit where the targets are."

Jointly managed by DARPA and the Army, the $500 million UCAR program is attempting to develop a highly autonomous unmanned combat helicopter that can work in groups, engage in close combat at the nap of the Earth, and operate seamlessly with other manned and unmanned Army systems. The helicopter is being designed to accommodate a number of possible weapons, including the Joint Common Missile (JCM) and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), although it always will require human consent before firing.

'Much longer leash'

The UCAR will be tasked through the Army's existing command and control architecture rather than through a dedicated ground station, accepting commands from personnel in ground vehicles, other aircraft, or even dismounted. With its enhanced autonomy and onboard artificial intelligence, UCAR would be able to operate on a "much longer leash" than traditional unmanned aerial vehicles, according to Woodbury.

Teams led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are competing in Phase II of the UCAR effort, working on preliminary designs for their respective systems (DAILY, July 25, 2003). Northrop Grumman's UCAR is a tailless concept featuring twin intermeshing rotors to overcome torque, while Lockheed Martin is offering a compound helicopter featuring small wings and an auxiliary propulsion system.

In September, DARPA is scheduled to choose a single team to move into Phase III and build two flying demonstrator aircraft. "My vision is ... we can field UCAR within the 2012 time frame," Woodbury said.