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Thales to Lead British Watchkeeper Program
The Watchkeeper program, announced Tuesday, provides a near-term Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) solution for UK land forces, which to date had lacked such capabilities. The £800 million program, planned to enter service in two years, will support UK joint force operations as an integrated tactical net-enabled asset providing continuous services in day, night and under all weather conditions. Imagery collected by electro-optical, infrared, synthetic radar and electronic surveillance sensors will be processed and interpreted by the ground element, and rapidly processed through existing intelligence and communications to the users. Watchkeeper will support UK and coalition forces, including special forces, battlegroup command posts, attack helicopter formations, attack aircraft and battleships throughout the battlespace. The system is designed to be integrated with existing and future ISTAR capabilities, and future command and effects systems over NATO common protocols.
When deployed by late 2006, the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) Watchkeeper regiment will deploy 12 UAVs (regular regiment will have 16), comprising the WK450 long-endurance (17 hours) and WK180 close-range (10 hours) UAVs. The regiment will operate four batteries, each supporting a Brigade and two BattleGroup HQ. The regiment will also operate the launch sites, ground control and recovery teams while tactical command parties will dispatch to supported elements, equipped to maintain different levels of payload control. All units will be able to receive raw images directly from the sensors. An entire system, ready for an initial 24 hours operation, will be deployable on a single C-130 aircraft.
Ninety-nine UAVs are planned for construction at Leicester UK by a joint venture formed by Thales UK and Elbit Systems, the original designer of both platforms. The WK450 follows the lines of Elbit's Hermes 450, in service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Hermes 450 has already accumulated over 20,000 operational flight hours, mostly in combat service with the IDF, where it is used as the primary battlefield reconnaissance platform. The WK450 was designed for the "upper range" of tactical missions. Built of a spacious composite structure, it is optimized for long-range, long-endurance, multi-payload missions. Payloads include a combination of electro-optical, Infra-Red (IR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI), radio relay, COMINT, etc. The WK450 has an endurance of 17 hours. Satellite communication support and external stores carrying capability, including extra fuel or weapons, have not been required. However, such capabilities are inherent in the Hermes 450 design and are being evaluated in the UK under the JUEP program. The WK180 close-range UAV has 80% commonality with the WK450. Both the WK180 and WK450 are designed for fully autonomous missions. They can be automatically deployed from short airstrips or catapult, and are retrieved by parachute (WK180) or automatic landing. Payloads have not yet been selected—among the candidates are L-3 WESCAM, Thales Optronic/ELOP and IAI/TAMAM.
The Ground Control Station (GCS), shown here publicly for the first time, is mounted on a SUPACAT HMT600 6-by-6 high-mobility transporter, packed into a compact shelter built by Marshal SV. The GCS performs image processing, storage and intelligence dissemination, as well as ad-hoc mission planning. The GCS also handles interoperability and communications with all supported forces and other ISTAR assets. It is equipped to control three UAVs. The IOC systems will use the C-band datalinks already used in the Hermes, produced by Spectralink. For the full operational capability phase, Thales will use Qubic Common Data-Link (CDL) for the system, compatible with datalinks used by U.S. forces. Current requirements do not provide for direct feed of image to helicopters, but such capability could evolve after the initial deployment and will be provided by adaptations to hardware used by its "clients."
The airborne segment of the datalink has built-in relay capability to enable all airborne UAVs to support each other to overcome topographical limitations. This feature is also supported by the mission-planning system, providing significant advantage over current systems. LogicaCMG will provide the digital battlespace integration and QinetiQ will contribute image processing capability. Boeing is also involved, to ensure integration with U.S. systems. The majority of the system will be produced in the UK. Airframes will be produced at Leicester (airframes); the ground segment relies entirely on British technology. Hardware will be produced in Cambridge (shelters). other companies involved include Vega, Praxis and Cobham. Flight-testing will be performed at Cardigan Bay. Thales has also established a system integration site at its Crawley site, where a synthetic Watchkeeper environment will support the modeling and integration of the system's elements in order to reduce development risks and complete the program within the ambitious schedule set by the MOD.
—Tamir Eshel
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