Heron UAVs for the RAAF

“The experience that Air Force gains in operating long endurance UAVs in Afghanistan will also help shape the development of unmanned Defence capabilities for Australia through the next decade,” Senator Faulkner said in a September 7 statement. “Air power of the future will involve a balance of manned and unmanned platforms. In particular a long endurance UAV can enhance force protection by providing ground commanders with real time intelligence.”

The RAAF has, for several years had a requirement to fill the UAV ‘middle ground’ between the Army’s hand launched Skylark and slightly larger Scan Eagle tactical UAVs, and the top tier Global Hawk which is expected to eventually be ordered under Air 7000 Phase 2 late next decade to replace part of the AP-3C Orion fleet. In allied forces, this middle ground is currently covered by Predator A/Bs, Sky Warrior ER-MPs, RQ-5 Hunters, IAI Watchkeeper 450s, and a plethora of Israeli-sourced UAVs including Herons. Apart from the obvious benefits of operating indigenous ISR assets in theatre, the RAAF is also taking its first steps along the UAV learning curve as it prepares to introduce larger and more capable aircraft in the future.

ADF officials were keen to emphasise that Project Nankeen is an “all Air Force show” that is totally unrelated to the Army’s troubled JP129 UAV program. The Heron is a one tonne class air vehicle with a payload of up to 250kg, far larger than the 250kg total weight of the JP129 IAI/Boeing I-View which was cancelled late last year. It has a wingspan of 16.6 metres and a length of 8.5 metres, and can fly up to 30,000 feet for up to 40 hours. Maximum take off weight is 1150kg, and the Heron is powered by a single Rotax 914 of 86kW.

Defence is understandable sensitive about what payloads the RAAF will be operating with, but the Heron is capable of carrying modular electronic and communications intelligence (ELINT and COMINT), electro-optical and infra-red, and even ground scanning radar packages, or a combination. The payloads can be programmed to operate autonomously over a pre-determined course, or can be ‘flown’ along with the aircraft by a ground based operator via direct or satellite relayed datalink, or a combination of both.

The Heron is designated the CU-170 in Canadian service and earlier this year replaced the troubled Sperwer MALE which had reportedly struggled with the hot and high operating environment in Afghanistan. Canada operates its Herons under a similar turnkey agreement with MDA as an interim capability pending the selection of a new aircraft under the Canadian Forces’ Joint Unmanned Surveillance Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project from about 2014.

In a similar vein, Australia is also expected to mature a MALE requirement in the next few years, one which would be interoperable with allies in a coalition force structure. Indeed, it was rumoured as long as two years ago prior to the global financial crisis taking hold in mid 2008, that the ADF was considering a quick off-the-shelf acquisition or possibly a lease arrangement of a definitive MALE capability, with the General Atomics MQ-1C Sky Warrior ER-MP, a US Army heavy fuelled version of the MQ-1A Predator A favoured.