UAV programs need common standards, says industry study.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Technology

With at least 138 military unmanned aircraft in production today, it is imperative for the Defense Department to enforce common standards for the operation, command and control of these vehicles, said an industry study completed last month.

In particular, Air Force officials worry that, as more UAVs from every service join the battle, it will become increasingly difficult to manage and coordinate air combat operations, because each UAV system comes with its own unique software and mission-control stations. Keeping trained operators and maintainers for each system also drives up the cost of UAV operations.

These concerns prompted the Air Force deputy chief of staff for war-fighting integration to seek recommendations from major UAV platform manufacturers on how best to achieve a "plug-and-play architecture" that would allow multiple unmanned aircraft, sensors, mission control and ground stations to work in a common network.

The study group, organized by the National Defense Industrial Association, had 104 representatives from companies in the UAV business, including Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.

The study concluded that, "UAV stovepipes are the biggest barriers to interoperability, but new standards and tools will help break down cultural mindsets, organizational turf and industry point solutions."

So far, "we have not found anyone in the UAV industry who is moving toward architecture commonality," the study said. Contractors would support any mandated interoperability standards, but they also would expect the Defense Department to enforce compliance strictly across the board. "Most of the architecture requirements for UAV commonality are being defined today, but compliance with them is not being mandated," the study said. "Industry cannot support that commitment without government intervention."

Joint, interoperable UAV systems must become the norm for operational planning, training and exercises, the report noted. The Defense Department must take action sooner, rather than later, to enforce standards--or "building codes"--before the problem gets worse.

"The Air Operations Center is becoming inundated with a proliferation of 'tribal' stovepipes requiring 'tribal'-unique training, configuration-unique electronics and software, and an ever-increasing AOC bandwidth load and ground station logistics footprint," the industry group wrote. "The introduction of a new UAV into a theater...