Drone Weapons of the Future

Jacob PrestonCS 536

October 31, 2013

Agenda

• Future Drones• Future Weapons

Aurora’s Excalibur Drone

• Capable of vertical takeoff and landing– Top speed: 400 knots (460 mph)

• Compatible with a variety of munitions– Hellfire, APKWS, Viper Strike

• Bridges the gap between manned aircraft that provide air support and current UAVs

• No pilot (remote or otherwise) required

Nano Drones

• Under development by US Air Force– Very stealthy

• From Scott’s previous presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z78mgfKprdg

Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems (HI-MEMS)

• Funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

• Cyborg Insects– Remotely controlled– Insect powers circuits– Implanted during

metamorphosis• Primary function is

surveillance, but . . .

Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS)

• BAE Systems• Alters normal unguided Hydra 70 rocket into a

laser guided one• Plug and play (no modification needed on

aircraft already equipped for Hydra 70 rockets)• Semi active laser guidance technology

– Distributed Aperture Semi-active Laser Seeker (DASALS)

– Uses same designator as Hellfire missile• Intended for soft or lightly armored targets• Compatible with multiple types of warheads

High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS)

• Funded by (DARPA)• Proposed 150 kW and ten times smaller and lighter than

current lasers of similar power– “High Power” handheld laser pointers are rated at 5 mW (~$40)

• Primarily used for defense against surface-to-air threats• Can be an extremely precise offensive weapon

– Minimal collateral damage• Size goal: 3 cubic meters, 5 kilograms per kilowatt (150 x 5

= 750 kilograms)• Can be used for long range target designation

Sonic Weapons (high frequency)

• In Research since the 1950s• Currently used for crowd control, fending off

pirates– Long range acoustic device (LRAD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krt5hqjy72g• Drone could circle/hover over a large crowd

Infrasonic Weapons (low frequency)

• Below human hearing frequency range– 20Hz to >0Hz

• Induces vibrations of internal organs– 130dB: Hearing affected– 150dB: Nausea– 166dB: Difficulty breathing– 177dB: Forced artificial respiration– Reference:

• Jet engine at 100 feet = 140dB• 12 gauge shotgun = 165dB• Death of hearing tissue = 194dB

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) – General

• Introduces high voltage transients, damaging electronics

• Very effective against Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices– Common integrated circuit devices– Much of the power grid is now controlled or monitored by

MOS devices• Can cause electrical grid problems regardless of causing direct

damage to the actual grid

• Shielded devices are not necessarily safe– Cabling can become antennas to device

Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse

• Also known as High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP)– Nuclear detonation at high altitudes creates electronic

interference• 2010 – smallest unclassified core for nuclear warhead

is only 9 pounds– Reminder: Reaper payload = 3800 pounds

• Approximate effective altitude of 30km (~98,000 feet)– No strict ceiling to this limit

• Boeing X-37B Unmanned Space Craft

Source: “The Early-Time (E1) High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP)and Its Impact on the U.S. Power Grid” pp. 2-3

Source: “The Early-Time (E1) High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP)and Its Impact on the U.S. Power Grid” pp. 2-4

Source: “The Early-Time (E1) High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP)and Its Impact on the U.S. Power Grid” pp. 2-15

Non-nuclear EMP (NNEMP)

• Less effective compared to NEMP• Less politically volatile (not a nuke)• Multiple forms– Flux compression generator– Magneto-Hydrodynamic generator– Microwaves

Explosively Pumped Flux Compression Generator (FCG)

• First demonstrated at Los Alamos National Labs

• 10 – 1000 times more electric current than a lightning strike (30kA to 120kA)

• Essentially compresses a magnetic field using an explosive to create a short burst (tens to hundreds of microseconds) of a very large current (MegaAmperes)

Source: “The Electromagnetic Bomb – a Weapon of Electrical MassDestruction” Section 3.1

Magneto-Hydrodynamic Generator (MHD)

• Uses explosives to move a conductor through a magnetic field– Conductor = plasma caused by ionized explosive

• Not as far along in development as FCG

High Power Microwaves (HPM)

• Wide range of HPM Devices– Vircator tube• High energy electron beam used to create microwave

oscillations, generating a large amount of energy

– Power level range between 170 kW to 40GW• Dworshak Dam maximum capacity 450 MW

EMP Final Thoughts

• Explosively controlled EMPs can be easily put into a full weapons package

• NNEMPs can be combined into one device: one generates the power for the other to create the pulse

• All you need for an NEMP is a nuke and an aircraft capable of very high altitudes (X-37B)

Other Weapons

• Rail Gun– US Navy currently in development

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uV1SbEuzFU

– UI Senior Design– Higher range than conventional weapons– Lower projectile cost– Very high velocity

• Nuke space pod (Against Outer Space Treaty)– Up to 20 nukes orbiting the Earth

• Anything you can put your mind to

Questions?

Sources• http://www.baesystems.com/article/BAES_051867• http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/STO/Programs/High_Energy_Liq

uid_Laser_Area_Defense_System_(HELLADS).aspx• http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2012/04/17/darpa-hybrid-insect-

micro-electromechanical-systems-hi-mems/

• http://www.aurora.aero/development/excalibur.aspx• http://

www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-11/acoustic-weapons-book-excerpt

• http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1996/apjem

p.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty• http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html