Sponsored by

Developments, Capabilities
& Maritime Applications

31 January and 1 February 2008
10.00am – 5.00pm Thursday 31 January
10.00am – 1.00pm Friday 1 February

Admission is free to accredited trade delegates to PACIFIC 2008.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand continue to invest in the operational evaluation, trialing and acquisition of the latest autonomous unmanned systems (UAV, UUV, USV) for roles in defence, mine countermeasures, maritime and coastal surveillance, infrastructure security, as well as law enforcement, disaster recovery, fisheries, meteorological/geophysical surveys and remote sensing.

In response, Maritime Australia Limited has organised an Autonomous Unmanned Systems Pavilion and associated Symposium at the PACIFIC 2008 International Maritime Exposition.

PROGRAM & SPEAKERS
THURSDAY 31 JANUARY 2008

10.00 Introductory Remarks from Chair
Dr Arvind Sinha – Director Aerospace & Aviation, Wackett Aerospace Centre

Welcome
RADM David Holthouse AO RAN (Rtd) – Chairman, Maritime Australia Limited

10.15 Contribution of Strategic and Tactical UAVs to Maritime Domain Awareness
David Stafford – Vice President, Maritime & Tactical Systems, Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is one of the world’s leading providers of Autonomous Systems, including the Global Hawk High Altitude UAV, the MQ-8B VTOL Fire Scout.

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is a critical factor in Maritime Security. However the problems associated with achieving assured MDA are considerable. The vast expanses of ocean, the complex littoral environment and the difficulties associated with identifying a target’s intent require a new approach. To achieve persistent awareness in the maritime domain, countries must reorient and integrate legacy systems with current and emerging capabilities, such as Autonomous Unmanned Systems, be they high, medium, low aerial, surface or subsurface vehicles/vessels and their multiple sensors, fused in a national maritime air, sea, and undersea common operating picture netted and distributed to maritime operational commanders.

The presentation will describe the contribution that AUS can provide to MDA using a layered and integrated approach. Strategic UAVs, as envisaged in the US Navy’s BAMS program, combined with lower level tactical UAVs and UUVs have the potential to significantly contribute to enhancing MDA for Military and other government security organisations.

10.45 Tailoring Current UAVs to Meet Navy Expectations
Anthony Brescia - Advanced Technology Program Manager, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is a United States Navy command, which provides unique engineering, development, testing, evaluation and management capabilities to deliver the warfighter with airborne weapons systems that are technologically superior and readily available.

NAVAIR’s involvement in the recent development of several small UAVs has been aimed at providing a UAV capability that can be operated by small contingents of users in hostile environments, and which has benefited the US Warfighter by allowing forward deployed units the ability to directly control flight operations for ISR, and for combat support operations.

The Silver Fox, Manta and Coyote UAVs will be discussed with reference to the present capabilities being developed for US Navy operations and recent operations in Iraq. Current and future payload requirements will be also discussed with respect to capability, size and ease of use. The augmentation of the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovative Research Program to assist in the development of Warfighter requested capabilities will be discussed.

11.15 Sensor Integration, Operation & Collaboration
Dr Mark Patterson - Director of Research & Technology, Advanced Ceramics Research

Advanced Ceramics Research manufactures several small maritime UAVs (Silver Fox, Manta, Coyote) and sensors.

The miniaturisation of sensors for a wide range of application has led to the ability to provide multiple sensor assessments from a single UAS platform. Additionally, multiple UAS platforms can be synchronised to link devices from separate UAS platforms, thus proving itself a capable and powerful platform for data collection, while opening up interesting opportunities in the way data is retrieved and used.

A range of new sensors being investigated will be discussed with reference to selected case studies. As we move into an increasingly growing, data rich environment, data management, quality and pedigree will become of increasing importance for both defence and non-defence applications.

11.45 Sensors, Systems & C4ISR
Steve Mander – Capability Manager UAV Systems, Selex Galileo

Selex Galileo is the UK’s leading provider of sensors and integrated systems to the UK Armed Forces. Products cover all three arms of the UK MoD from self protection systems for helicopters and fast jets; laser and EO enhancement systems for air, sea and ground armaments, weapon systems and land vehicles. Selex provides complete solutions in homeland security sensors and systems, and uses its C4ISR expertise and synthetic environment to evaluate current and future sensors and systems in realistic scenarios.

An overview will be given of various UAV systems and their uses, with particular emphasis on the areas where UAVs are not currently used and could add benefit. The presentation will also explore various scenarios where the inclusion of UAV and appropriate sensor capabilities would enhance force situational awareness, attack options and survivability.

12.15 Vision Based Collision Avoidance
Jason Grzywna, Director Unmanned Systems

Prioria, a small engineering company in Gainesville, FL, has developed a vision-based collision avoidance system known as Merlin, which was designed and integrated into the bendable wing Maveric™ micro UAV.

Merlin’s current design integrates two five-megapixel cameras, one forward-looking and one downward-looking, with a commercial inertial autopilot to provide a clear view of the environment surrounding the UAV. Merlin runs a suite of real-time computer vision algorithms on board the Maveric, including structure for motion, optical flow, and texture complexity analysis to detect objects in the UAV’s flight path.

Employing these algorithms in a small UAV requires Merlin to be small and light (currently about 250g), yet remain powerful enough for all the processing necessary to detect objects at the pixel level and send avoidance maneuvers to the autopilot in a fraction of a second.

Success with sense and avoid has lead Prioria’s engineers to design target tracking, precision collision and potentially target recognition algorithms that can run simultaneously with the sense and avoid capability already resident in the Merlin chipset.

12.45 Exhibition

14.00 Applications of Tier II UAS in support of Naval (Littoral) ISR Requirements
Andrew Duggan - Senior Manager, Unmanned Systems Operations, Boeing Australia

The ISR challenges in the littoral environment facing every Navy and Coast Guard today are becoming increasingly complex. One of the key factors to improve the capability of current forces to meet these challenges is increasing the integral ISR capabilities of these assets. Tier II UAS that can be launched and recovered flexibly from ships or land based sites and flown beyond line of site provide a significant advantage in a range of scenarios from conventional engagements through to EEZ protection in meeting this challenge. They also provide a combination of endurance, stealth and cost effectiveness that makes them significantly more attractive in these roles than manned fixed or rotary wing platforms.

This presentation will discuss examples of the latest capability in terms of ship launched and recovered Tier II UAS and discuss some of the operational concepts regarding their effective employment in concert with existing assets.

14.30 UAS - Airspace Separation & Integration
Phillip Ainsworth – Managing Director, Microair Avionics Microair

Avionics is Australia’s leading avionics designer and manufacturer. Its T2000SFL radar transponder has a significant market position in worldwide General Aviation markets. Microair has developed a derivative of its General Aviation transponder specifically for UAS applications; it is small, lightweight, utilizes minimum power requirements and is relatively low cost.

Microair is currently working closely with Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on the development of small, lightweight ADS-B (Automated Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) technology which will facilitate accurate air-to-ground and air-to-air air traffic surveillance and separation. This technology will have particular application in the operation of UAV’s in civilian airspace.

15.00 Aerosonde Small UAS: Recent Activities & Operational Experiences
Greg Tyrrell - Chief Operating Officer, Aerosonde

Aerosonde is a major Australian designer, manufacturer and operator of innovative small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS). Acquired by AAI Corporation in June 2006, the Aerosonde now have a place of distinction within the AAI family of unmanned aircraft systems, which includes the US Army’s renowned RQ-7B Shadow 200 Tactical UAS.

Aerosonde has Civil Aviation Safety Authority certification for unmanned aircraft operations in Australia and offers tailored solutions, including engineering support, payload integration, mission planning and operations for diverse customers worldwide.

The presentation will focus on recent advances in the Aerosonde SUAS and its recent operation deployments in support of maritime roles in Australia and the US.

15.30 Universal Control System (UCS)
Mark Gilbert – Business Development Manager, Tactical Information Systems, Raytheon

Raytheon has developed a prototype Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Universal Control System (UCS), which provides control of multiple unmanned air vehicles of any type. Unlike current UAS Control Stations, which are designed around the air vehicle, the Universal Cockpit is designed around the human operators.

A key objective of the UCS is to provide the operators with full situational awareness of the air vehicle and its operating environment, through utilising a synthetic environment created from maps and terrain data, as well as information from a multitude of command & control, and intelligence sources.

The synthetic environment effectively places the pilot in an air vehicle cockpit with the comparable field of view. The sensor operator is effectively given the perspective of being a sensor turret with nearly wrap-around field of view.

16.00 Exhibition & Happy Hour

FRIDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2008

10.00 Registration & Introductory Remarks from Chair
Dr Arvind Sinha – Director Aerospace & Aviation, Wackett Aerospace Centre

10.15 Autonomous Surveillance in a Maritime Environment
Martin Rowe-Willcocks - Head of Export Programmes, Military Autonomous Systems, BAE Systems

Following the publication of the UK Defence Industry Strategy in December 2005, BAE Systems revealed the previously classified research & technology demonstration activities conducted at its Advanced Technology Demonstration Centre at Warton, Lancashire, North West England. These activities included the Kestrel, Raven, Corax and HERTI programs which were developed using novel spiral rapid engineering processes enabling concepts to move from paper to flight in months rather than the traditional years.

BAE Systems is currently developing the HERTI fully autonomous Unmanned Aircraft System and is prime contractor for the UK MoD Taranis technology demonstration programme. Key subsystems of the HERTI and Taranis programmes are being developed by BAE Systems’ Integrated Autonomous Systems business in Australia, and many of the flight trials conducted to date have used the Woomera test facility.

The HERTI system, together with its unique imaging payload and key capabilities within its highly integrated ground control environment offers significant performance improvements over traditional UAVs through the introduction of high levels of autonomy, autonomous target detection and coherent change detection. This paper will outline the systems’ Concept of Use, developed in collaboration with key customers and end users, and will illustrate how this is equally applicable to military and civilian users in overland and maritime environment. This will be illustrated by the output of key technology demonstration programmes conducted to date.

10.45 Phoenix Jet UAV
Chris Sievers – General Manager, Air Affairs Australia

Air Affairs Australia is a provider to Defence and Industry aligned organisations that support target training worldwide. Air Affairs Australia is the OEM for several products including the MTR-101 Reeling Machine, Underwing Stores Rack, Ground Support Equipment and Aerial Tow Targets.

Air Affairs’ new Phoenix Jet UAV has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of gun and air defence missile systems. The Phoenix Jet provides a realistic threat simulation and enhancements such as MDI, Smoke, IR and Luneburg lenses can be added to meet the requirements of a wide range of weapon systems.

11.15 Calzoni Solution for Unmanned Surface Vehicle
Marcello Zannini - Innovation Director, Calzoni

Based on extensive experience in Minehunting Control Systems and ROVs, Calzoni with funding from the Italian MoD, has developed a control system for minewarfare operations based on a USV used in influence minesweeping and sonar scanning.

The system, was successfully tested in La Spezia Italian Navy Arsenal in Spring 2007, comprising a multi-vehicle Mission Planning and Control System (MPCS) and a Vehicle Control System (VCS) which allows the USV to be operated in manual-assisted, automatic track keeping and autonomous modes.

The USV also recently participated in the Italian Harbour Protection Trials (HPT) in Taranto. The modified USV hosted a daylight camera, IR camera and HyperLAN communication system, and operated as a “moving arm” fully integrated into Selex SI Talos Harbour Protection system.

Calzoni USV demonstrated its effectiveness as a patrolling and intervention unit, able to host different sensors and countermeasure devices. Its open architecture allows for easy integration and cooperation into the main harbour protection system.

Calzoni USV is a modular platform suitable for installation on various crafts and hull shapes, able to host different sensors and payloads adjusted to customer needs in the main fields of ISR, harbour security, fleet precursor, mine warfare, shallow water ASW, UAV/UUV support, comms relay, and hydrographic surveys.

Calzoni will discuss new USV features which will be demonstrated at part of the NATO HPT program in 2008.

11.45 Proving the Double Eagle SAROV Dual Use AUV/ROV Platform
Jan Siesjo – Chief Engineer ROV Systems, Saab Underwater Systems

Double Eagle Mine Counter Measures vehicles have been in service around the world for more than 15 years, during which time Saab has gained significant experience and knowledge used in the development of new and upgraded vehicles.

In 2006 development work commenced on a major upgrade package for the Double Eagle, which will both enhance the performance of the original system, and provide a completely new autonomous capability. This development is now being finalised and extensive trials have been performed during the last year including autonomous mine hunting operations operation from RAN Huon class Minehunters. There is also an ongoing upgrade and trials program with the Royal Danish Navy.

Saab will discuss the tests and trials conducted with the Double Eagle SAROV system, and how SAROV components in practice has been implemented to deliver new benefits to existing Double Eagle systems’ customers.

12.15 REA operation in MCM using HISAS 1030 on HUGIN 1000MR AUV
Svein Otto Schjerven _ Manager Marketing & Sales AUV, Kongsberg Maritime AS

Kongsberg Maritime AS is a world leading company in the development of marine electronics and hydro acoustic technology. The HUGIN family of AUVs have their history back in the early 1990`s and continue to be one of the preferred AUVs operating both in the commercial and defence markets. The last development vehicle HUGIN 1000MR is designed for MW related operations and equipped with the latest and most advanced sensors available today.

The main sensor is the Synthetic Aperture Sonar, HISAS 1030, which is a wideband interferometric synthetic aperture sonar capable of producing very high resolution acoustic images and co-registered bathymetry. HISAS 1030 is integrated with the inertial navigation and motion sensing platform systems onboard the HUGIN AUV, and makes use of advanced signal processing techniques such as Displaced Phase Centre Antenna (DPCA) and fast beam forming in the wave number domain.

Kongsberg will present these systems used for MCM roles.

12.45 Use of Slocum Glider Technology in Coastal & Marine Applications
Vadim Anokhin - Environmental Engineer, GHD

GHD has developed a long endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (Slocum Glider) for applications in coastal and marine environments. The instrument offers a reliable method to collect high quality spatial and temporal data for ocean environmental monitoring. Utilising variable buoyancy, the glider moves both horizontally and vertically, collecting temperature, conductivity and depth data in addition to measurements from a range of sensors that can be placed in the science bay.

13.15 Arbiter Primary Agile Dissemination (PAD) System
Peter Freed - Managing Director, Cirrus Real Time Processing Systems

Cirrus Real Time Processing Systems is a leading Australian software and systems company specialising in the design, development, integration and support of sophisticated real time information management software. Cirrus has developed and released its Arbiter PAD System (APS) for the management of sensor data from unmanned platforms.

The APS maximises the value of sensor intelligence disseminated from a AUS via communications links that are bandwidth limited and/or unreliable, allowing multiple imagery or other dissemination tasks to occur in parallel, multiplying the surveillance benefits of unmanned systems.

13.45 Closing Remarks from Chair

14.00 Exhibition

(Speakers, topics and the program may be subject to change without notice)

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