9494 June 2018 June 2018 ////^ http://www.combataircraft.netwww.combataircraft.net
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE
OF AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY
BY DAVID AXEThe marines’ most urgent need is for a new
aircraft to conduct early warning, surveillance,
electronic warfare and communications relay,
the information request explains. The corps’
last two squadrons of land-based EA-6Bs are
due to be decommissioned in 2018 and 2019
after four decades of service, leaving the branch
without a dedicated radar-jamming platform
until MUX enters service. The navy’s EA-18Gs,
which replaced the sailing branch’s own EA-6Bs,
are too big to take o from the assault ships’
850ft-long decks.
The marines have long sought a multi-role
aircraft to round out the air components that
embark on assault ships, giving the vessels many
of the same capabilities as the navy’s carrier air
wings with their ghters, jammers and early
warning aircraft. New F-35Bs, UH-1Ys, AH-1Zs,
V-22s and CH-53Ks — all of which take o and
land vertically — can provide marine wings
with robust attack and transport capabilities.
But the wings lack shipboard aircraft similar to
the navy’s E-2 radar platforms, which, like the
EA-18Gs, take o and land conventionally.MUX could become a kind of poor man’s E-2
and EA-18G, but for assault ships instead of
full-size supercarriers. The marines also want the
new drone to be compatible with lightweight
weaponry so that it can conduct ‘all-weather,
persistent, time-sensitive-targeting and strike,
high-value-target attack... and kinetic, lethal,
o ensive air support’, in the words of the RFI.
MUX could haul cargo to aid in the ‘distribution
of ammunition, water, rations, repair parts, fuel,
medical supplies, mail and other commodities’,
but this mission is a lower priority and the
marines ‘may allocate [it] to other systems’, the
RFI states.
The corps’ aviation strategy identi es two
leading candidates for MUX. Northrop Grumman
and the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) are developing Tern, a propeller-
driven, ying wing-style drone that takes o
and lands vertically. DARPA has funded two Tern
prototypes. The agency announced that Tern
would y for the rst time in late 2018.
The other candidate is Ares, a joint e ort by
Lockheed Martin and Piasecki Aircraft ‘to develop
the next generation of compact, high-speed
vertical-take-o -and-landing delivery systems’,
according to Lockheed. Ares features so-called
‘ducted fans’ — in essence, rotating propellers
embedded within the wing. The companies
originally intended Ares to perform a transport
mission, but Lockheed claims the vehicle could
also carry a module containing surveillance gear.
Ares has been in development since 2009 but
was yet to y as of April 2018.
While awaiting information on possible MUX
designs, the marines are experimenting with new
digital radios that could equip the new drones,
according to the aviation strategy. The corps is
ying a pair of K-MAX robotic helicopters in order
to ‘expand the cargo UAS envelope, re ne MUX
experimentation and reduce risk’.MUX could become
a kind of poor
man’s E-2 and EA-18G, but
for assault ships instead of
full-size supercarriers. The
Marines also want the new
drone to be compatible
with lightweight weaponry
MARINES WANT A
JAMMING, SPYING,
CARGO-HAULING
ATTACK DRONE
T
HE US MARINE Corps in early March
2018 asked the defense industry to
provide information on a versatile
new unmanned aerial system (UAS)
that could replace the corps’ aging
EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft and
complement existing surveillance, cargo and
attack aircraft.
‘Recognizing our current recapitalization
toward a more diverse, lethal, amphibious and
middleweight expeditionary force, the Marine
Corps requires a UAS that is network-enabled,
digitally interoperable and built to execute
responsive, persistent, lethal and adaptive full-
spectrum operations’, its 2018 aviation strategy
document explains.
The Marine Air Ground Task Force Unmanned
Aircraft System Expeditionary program — MUX
for short — aims to eld the new drone starting
in 2025. ‘There is a need to close battlespace-
awareness; electronic warfare; command,
control, communications and computers;
logistics and kinetic lethal res gaps in aviation
capabilities’, the o cial request for information
for MUX states.
The drone has to be capable of speeds of
between 200 and 300kt while carrying a 3,000lb
payload over distances from 350 to 700 miles.
Perhaps most critically, the new vehicle must be
compatible with a wide range of amphibious
vessels, including America- and Wasp-class
assault ships and smaller San Antonio-class
landing docks. That means MUX will probably
need to be capable of vertical take-o s and
landings. The drone should be roughly as large
as a UH-1Y helicopter, according to the RFI.The Marine Corps is examining options for
effectively replacing the venerable Prowler
from next year. Jamie Hunter94 Cutting Edge C.indd 94 20/04/2018 13:54