UAV classification and Unmanned aircraft system

UAV classification

Luna X 2000 UAV of the German Army

The Mexican UAV S4 Ehécatl in take-off mode

UAVs typically fall into one of six functional categories (although multi-role airframe platforms are becoming more prevalent):

• Target and decoy - providing ground and aerial gunnery a target that simulates an enemy aircraft or missile
• Reconnaissance - providing battlefield intelligence
• Combat - providing attack capability for high-risk missions (see Unmanned combat air vehicle)
• Logistics - UAVs specifically designed for cargo and logistics operation
• Research and development - used to further develop UAV technologies to be integrated into field deployed UAV aircraft
• Civil and Commercial UAVs - UAVs specifically designed for civil and commercial applications

They can also be categorised in terms of range/altitude and the following has been advanced as relevant at such industry events as ParcAberporth Unmanned Systems forum:

• Handheld 2,000 ft (600 m) altitude, about 2 km range
• Close 5,000 ft (1,500 m) altitude, up to 10 km range
• NATO type 10,000 ft (3,000 m) altitude, up to 50 km range
• Tactical 18,000 ft (5,500 m) altitude, about 160 km range
• MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) up to 30,000 ft (9,000 m) and range over 200 km
• HALE (high altitude, long endurance) over 30,000 ft and indefinite range
• HYPERSONIC high-speed, supersonic (Mach 1-5) or hypersonic (Mach 5+) 50,000 ft (15,200 m) or suborbital altitude, range over 200km
• ORBITAL low earth orbit (Mach 25+)
• CIS Lunar Earth-Moon transfer

A computer simulation of Train Cable UAV (TCUAV)

Additional category can be applied in pattern of function: fixed routes vs. dynamically variable routes:

• A Train Cable UAV (TCUAV) is a combination of three concepts: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles(UGVs), and trains.

The U.S. military employs a tier system for categorizing its UAVs.

[edit]U.S. military UAV classifications

The modern concept of U.S. military UAVs is to have the various aircraft systems work together in support of personnel on the ground. The integration scheme is described in terms of a "Tier" system, and is used by military planners to designate the various individual aircraft elements in an overall usage plan for integrated operations. The Tiers do not refer to specific models of aircraft, but rather roles for which various models and their manufacturers competed. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps each has its own tier system, and the two systems are themselves not integrated.

US Air Force tiers

• Tier N/A: Small/Micro UAV. Role filled by BATMAV (Wasp Block III). [1]
• Tier I: Low altitude, long endurance. Role filled by the Gnat 750.^[4]
• Tier II: Medium altitude, long endurance (MALE). Role currently filled by the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper.
• Tier II+: High altitude, long endurance conventional UAV (or HALE UAV). Altitude: 60,000 to 65,000 feet (19,800 m), less than 300 knots (560 km/h) airspeed, 3,000-nautical-mile (6,000 km) radius, 24 hour time-on-station capability. Complementary to the Tier III- aircraft. Role currently filled by the RQ-4 Global Hawk.
• Tier III-: High altitude, long endurance low-observable UAV. Same parameters as, and complementary to, the Tier II+ aircraft. The RQ-3 DarkStar was originally intended to fulfill this role before it was "terminated."^[5][6]

US Marine Corps tiers

• Tier N/A: Micro UAV. Wasp III fills this role, driven largely by the desire for commonality with the USAF BATMAV. [2]
• Tier I: Role currently filled by the Dragon Eye but all ongoing and future procurement for the Dragon Eye program is going now to the RQ-11B Raven B.
• Tier II: Role currently filled by the ScanEagle and, to some extent, the RQ-2 Pioneer.
• Tier III: For two decades, the role of medium range tactical UAV was filled by the Pioneer UAV. In July 2007, the Marine Corps announced its intention to retire the aging Pioneer fleet and transition to the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System by AAI Corporation. The first Marine Shadow systems have already been delivered, and training for their respective Marine Corps units is underway.^[7][8]

U.S. Army tiers

• Tier I: Small UAV. Role filled by the RQ-11A/B Raven.
• Tier II: Short Range Tactical UAV. Role filled by the RQ-7A/B Shadow 200.
• Tier III: Medium Range Tactical UAV. Role currently filled by the RQ-5A / MQ-5A/B Hunter and IGNAT/IGNAT-ER, but transitioning to the Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP) MQ-1C Warrior.

Future Combat Systems (FCS) (U.S. Army) classes

• Class I: For small units. Role to be filled by all new UAV with some similarity to Micro Air Vehicle.
• Class II: For companies. (cancelled.) [3]
• Class III: For battalions. (cancelled.) [4]
• Class IV: For brigades. Role to be filled by the RQ-8A/B / MQ-8B Fire Scout.

Unmanned aircraft system

UAS, or unmanned aircraft system, is the official U.S. Department of Defense term for an unmanned aerial vehicle. Initially coined by the Navy to reflect the fact that these complex systems include ground stations and other elements besides the actual aircraft, the term was first officially used in the DoD 2005 Unmanned Aircraft System Roadmap 2005–2030.^[9] Many people have mistakenly used the term Unmanned Aerial System, or Unmanned Air Vehicle System, as these designations were in provisional use at one time or another. The official acronym 'UAS' is not widely used outside military circles, however, as the term UAV has become part of the modern lexicon.

The military role of unmanned aircraft systems is growing at unprecedented rates. In 2005, tactical- and theater-level unmanned aircraft alone had flown over 100,000 flight hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which they are organized under Task Force Liberty in Afghanistan and Task Force ODIN in Iraq. Rapid advances in technology are enabling more and more capability to be placed on smaller airframes which is spurring a large increase in the number of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) being deployed on the battlefield. The use of SUAS in combat is so new that no formal DoD wide reporting procedures have been established to track SUAS flight hours. As the capabilities grow for all types of UAS, nations continue to subsidize their research and development leading to further advances enabling them to perform a multitude of missions. UAS no longer only perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, although this still remains their predominant type. Their roles have expanded to areas including electronic attack, strike missions, suppression and/or destruction of enemy air defense, network node or communications relay, combat search and rescue, and derivations of these themes. These UAS range in cost from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions of dollars, with aircraft ranging from less than one pound to over 40,000 pounds.