Hairy Buffalo Lab Demonstrates Control Of Aerolight Drone

Achieving an historic milestone for naval aviation, the “Hairy Buffalo,” NAVAIR’s flying Network Centric Warfare (NCW) laboratory, successfully demonstrated airborne control of an Aerolight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) March 31, at Webster Field in St. Inigoes, MD.

The Hairy Buffalo, a modified NP-3C, is the first Navy fixed-wing platform to achieve “Level IV” control of a UAV during flight – providing on-board control of the UAV and its sensors, and acting as an airborne C4ISR collection node.

Following on the heels of the successful “Giant Shadow” limited objective experiment in the Bahamas earlier this year, the Hairy Buffalo served as a surrogate for the Navy’s future Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) – as a means to assess the utility of an adjunct UAV role for the MMA. The event was co-sponsored by NAVAIR’s MMA program and the Office of Naval Research Autonomous Operations Future Naval Capabilities project.

A Wider View To A Kill

“We’re interested in small, deployable UAVs to augment the MMA’s capabilities,” said Fran Chamberlain, MMA Off-board Systems Team lead. “These low-cost, tactical UAVs will provide an extended view of the battlespace to all entities on the net, including troops on the ground.” According to Chamberlain, the UAVs would serve as a force multiplier in future network-centric operations, collecting vital information on enemy disposition without risk to valuable, high-altitude, long endurance UAVs and manned surveillance platforms.”

The demonstration began as the Hairy Buffalo circled Webster Field at an altitude of 4,500 feet, establishing connectivity with the UAV prior to its radio-controlled launch. The UAV’s flight path and sensor payload were controlled by equipment similar in footprint to two desktop PCs. The test employed two control stations – one on the ground and one onboard the Hairy Buffalo.

About 15 minutes into flight, the ground station handed off controls to the Hairy Buffalo, which flew the UAV up and down the St. Mary’s River at altitudes ranging from 1,800 to 2,200 feet. The Buffalo commanded the UAV’s electro-optical sensor to track a 44-foot Coast Guard vessel conducting north-south runs in the St. Mary’s river, as well as target vehicles located at Webster Field. The UAV was controlled via the Buffalo’s airborne control station for approximately 35 minutes, including one mid-flight transfer, before being handed back to the ground station for recovery. During the flight, the Aerolight provided video imagery to both the airborne and ground collection nodes.

“Today’s event builds on the Hairy Buffalo’s reputation for proving advanced operational concepts with unmatched speed and affordability,” said CDR Ron Carvalho, Hairy Buffalo project manager. “We hope to follow up with larger UAVs and advanced airborne control capabilities.”

The MMA/UAV demonstration evolved from “idea to event” in less than a month, according to ground station pilot Andy Pontzer, a test and evaluation engineer with NAVAIR’s Maritime Unmanned Development and Operations (MUDO) team. Based at Webster Field, the MUDO team has supported UAV experimentation for several years. Other participants included NAVAIR’s MMA UAV Systems Lead (Avionics Department, AIR-4.5); Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program (PMA-263); MMA Off-board Systems Team (PMA-290); Orion Test Team (Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20); Test and Evaluation Engineering Department (AIR 4.11); and the Hairy Buffalo program (Avionics Department, AIR-4.5, and Network Centric Warfare Office, AIR-4.0X).

“NAVAIR’s highly specialized facilities and unique expertise in the integration of naval aviation technologies are essential tools for the development and rapid delivery of future network centric warfighting capabilities,” said CDR Carvalho, who also serves as deputy for experimentation in NAVAIR’s Network Centric Warfare Office.

The Hairy Buffalo is a Time Critical Targeting, Network Centric Warfare test bed aircraft, which was designed, built, tested and operated by NAVAIR personnel. The project was designed to evaluate new technologies and advanced operational capabilities and tactics, quickly and at reduced risk for naval aviation programs.

Made In Israel

The MMA will extend the capabilities of the Navy’s P-3 Orion, which provides strategic, blue water and littoral Undersea Warfare (USW) capabilities, and armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Concept Acquisition Development (CAD) contracts were awarded last Fall to Boeing for its next generation 737 aircraft, and to Lockheed Martin for its Orion 21 concept. Final down select is planned for January 2004, with initial operating capability in 2012.

The Aerolight UAV is manufactured by Aeronautics Limited of Israel. Operated at NAVAIR’s Webster Field, the Navy’s three Aerolight UAVs are used for low-risk payload testing, experimentation, and the development of warfare concepts of operation.

Located in eight principal sites around the country, NAVAIR provides the US Navy, other Department of Defense services, and allied militaries around the world with precision naval aviation technologies – specializing in sensors, aircraft, weapons, training, launch & recovery systems, and communications systems. 

FMI: www.navair.navy.mil