Military drones beset by problems
We don't cover military drones here, but I thought I'd make an exception for this excellent LA Times article, which shows that the pros have as much trouble with their UAVs as we amateurs do!
Some highlights:
"Thirty-eight Predator and Reaper drones have crashed during combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and nine more during training on bases in the U.S. — with each crash costing between $3.7 million and $5 million. Altogether, the Air Force says there have been 79 drone accidents costing at least $1 million each."
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"At least 38 drones are in flight over Afghanistan and Iraq at any given time."
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"At least one drone crashed because it had no fuel gauge, and the aircraft ran out of fuel. In another crash, investigators cited a design flaw: The "kill engine" switch was located next to the switch to lower the landing gear, and a ground-based pilot confused the two."
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""These airplanes are flying 20,000 hours a month, OK?" said retired Rear Adm. Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., president of the aircraft systems group at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, which makes Predators and Reapers. "That's a lot of flying," Cassidy said. "Some get shot down. Some run into bad weather. Some, people do stupid things with them. Sometimes they just run them out of gas."
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"On Sept. 13, a pilot inside a ground station in Nevada lost video and data links to a Reaper over Afghanistan. As it was about to exit Afghan airspace and crash, an F-15 pilot was ordered to shoot it down and ground troops recovered the wreckage to keep top-secret technology out of insurgents' hands."
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"After a Predator crashed during a landing at Kandahar air base in March 2007, investigators faulted the Predator system for a "lack of visual cues" to help pilots understand the position of a plane flying half a world away. The pilot in Nevada misjudged the drone's altitude, the investigative report said.
The Predator that ran out of fuel over Iraq had a leak, but there was no gauge to warn the pilot, an Air Force crash researcher said. And a pilot trainee at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada crashed a Predator by hitting the "kill engine" switch instead of the adjacent landing gear switch, according to an investigative report.
Some ground control stations, where pilots and camera operators sit, still have 1990s-era text-based computer systems. Pilots have to type function and control commands rather than clicking on icons.
"There's a control delay between typing something and having it actually happen on the airplane," said Gregg Montijo, a contractor who trains drone crews. "When the heat is on, sometimes guys will type something in, then type it again real quickly. They'll confuse the computer and get the wrong display and get into a vicious cycle."
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Comment by JOHN PIZZICARA on July 6, 2010 at 1:56pm -
You have to show your wife the crash wreckage to justify spending discretionary income on new technology model, motor, battery, and AP technology!
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Comment by James F. on July 6, 2010 at 3:10pm -
Many people don't realize that these planes are more like a fancy FPV plane than an AP controlled plane. The lack of AP tends to be the downfall of these planes. The Global Hawk is a much better example of how a UAV should work.
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Comment by Dave Buckley on July 6, 2010 at 3:18pm -
@John - +1
Very good analogy.
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Comment by Ravi Gaddipati on July 6, 2010 at 4:11pm
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I read a paper a while ago, and it seems a major issue in UAV's is the lack of tactile feedback. A human pilot uses a lot more than the displays.
These also have very high latency communication times, and the failsafe is flawed. When the signal is lost, it automatically tries to return home, but as soon as it gets a signal, it resumes its original path.
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Comment by Xander on July 6, 2010 at 9:43pm -
Honestly, I find it a bit troubling that they run into the same problems we do. I mean, I know it's a new field and these companies are learning as they go... but at that price I'd expect something a bit more thought out
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Comment by Robert Palmore on July 7, 2010 at 11:33am -
That rate of crashes does seem a little high but without the sortie hours and number air craft to frame it, it's impossible to get a good feel for how bad it is. I've always had an issue with the Predator control system (ground station) When you move the joystick to neutral, that doesn't bring the control surfaces to neutral. You have to effectively tell the surfaces to move the other way till they are neutral. Real head ache for any one that has flown. There are many other things that I could poke at about the Predator but we will just leave it at it could be better and if Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. doesn't know it, well I would be very disappointed. It is an awesome platform and I hope to see them used for a good long time. AQM-37's were used for close to 30 some years.
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Comment by Robert Palmore on July 7, 2010 at 11:34am
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Darnit dating myself.
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Comment by PeteD on July 7, 2010 at 8:05pm -
Why are pilots still manually controlling these drones? Shouldn't "flying" just be a process of pointing and clicking on a map?
Auto take-off and landing isn't hard if your willing to pay for it.
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Comment by Bill Porter on July 7, 2010 at 8:13pm -
@dydx
I'm not sure about the Air Force, but the Navy's stance is no autonomy on any unmanned vehicle that has weapons. There must always be a human in the loop.
Disclaimer: I work in unmanned systems for the Navy.
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