UCAVs Need More Time, Information More Processing, Hancock Argues
The Pentagon is establishing a new joint program office that could
open the door for Lockheed Martin to re-enter the unmanned combat
air vehicle market, but the military really first needs to sort
out what it wants from such systems before they are likely to
take off, believes Dain Hancock, who heads the company's Aeronautics
Company.
The pace at which UAVs and UCAVs will replace manned aircraft
during the next ten years will be much less than many have projected,
Hancock said. The new program office will need to "spend
a lot of years" to develop concepts of operations for UCAVs,
plans to operate them alongside manned aircraft, and other details,
he added. That work has to be done "before we talk specifically
about building more unmanned platforms."
The lack of such studies in the past has led to repeated changes
on the Navy and U.S. Air Force UCAV projects that Northrop Grumman
and Boeing are involved in, Hancock maintains.
He also identified a technology area that the aeronautics business
sees as promising: processing the increasing amount of data provided
to a pilot to allow better strategic and tactical decisions.
Networking sensors and platforms isn't enough, Hancock argues.
Instead, the information has to be processed using algorithms,
such as artificial intelligence, to help prioritize tasks and
avoid task saturation. Other Lockheed Martin units also are working
on the field of "cognition," he said, but for the Aeronautics
Division the key will be implementing such aids in the cockpit.
As to the core programs that provide his business unit with $36
billion in backlog, Hancock noted that F-16 production is guaranteed
into 2009, with work ongoing for Greece, Israel, the United Arab
Emirates and Singapore. The current backlog is 340 aircraft, with
a market for another 200 possible, he said.
On the F/A-22 Raptor, Lockheed Martin now has contracts for 52
production aircraft. The company also has completed reengineering
of the production line to be more efficient. The program, however,
continues to be hobbled by software problems that are increasingly
raising the ire of lawmakers in the U.S.
The company has also been able to record a multi-year contract
for its C-130J transport, covering 60 airlifters for the U.S.
Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps. Hancock is hopeful the production
line boost will help spur international orders, since its "sets
a stable base" for additional production.
A potential future program for Lockheed Martin-replacement of
the Navy's fleet of P-3 maritime patrol aircraft-is in limbo.
The Navy is experiencing a severe funding crunch for the project.
Top service officials met recently to address the budget predicament
and address requirements creep. Lockheed Martin is competing against
Boeing on the project. Lockheed Martin is slated to offer a modernized
P-3, although company officials indicate that if the Navy wanted
a jet it would reconsider teaming with EADS for an Airbus A320-something
that was rejected earlier. Boeing is bidding a B737 solution.
