U.S. losing critical skills needed to weaponize unmanned systems.

• Author: Firebaugh, Millard S.
• Position: COMMENTARY

When U.S. forces went into Iraq in 2003, the military had fewer than 170 unmanned aerial systems and only a handful of ground robots. By 2008, the number of unmanned aerial systems had reached 6,358, and ground robots nearly 12,000.

Commanders clearly want armed unmanned systems. But the biggest issue facing weaponization of unmanned systems is the decline in U.S. energetics expertise. These skills are key to the future of armed robots.

So far, unmanned systems have been weaponized by retrofitting aircraft to launch munitions that already exist. For example, the Predator unmanned aerial system was fitted with two Hellfire missiles. The Shadow unmanned aerial system may he equipped to drop 81mm mortar rounds. The Reaper would be armed with up to four Hellfire missiles, two laser-guided bombs and a 500-pound smart munition.

These approaches both rely on munitions made up of yesterday's explosives and propellants, called "energetic materials." A National Academies of Sciences report noted that "using yesterday's energetic materials in today's battlefield systems would be as effective as trying to run a Ferrari on kerosene."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Energetics specialists should be involved in the development of unmanned systems and their munitions. Proof of that is the development of the M1 tank. It could outrange Iraq's Soviet-made tanks because energetics experts developed high-energy propellant grains, each the same size and including engineered holes that enabled increased combustion. Engineers designed the cannons to withstand the propellant's high pressures.

Energetics experts are needed to address both propellant and warhead issues in unmanned systems weapons. They can help reduce munitions' size and weight while ensuring effectiveness on a range of targets. They would also enable tactical concepts such as the "swarm"--multiple, small unmanned systems finding and attacking targets.

The ongoing development of the 5-pound, 25-inch long, Spike missile by the Naval Air Warfare Center is an example of what can be done. Munitions weight and volume can be reduced more with micro-electrical mechanical systems for fusing, and reactive materials, normally non-explosive solids that upon impact release extraordinary energy.

Munitions must be developed for their environment. The Hellfire missile had to be re-engineered for Predator's high altitudes, since it was originally designed for launch from helicopters flying below 2,000 feet. Similarly...