1. Drone Weapons of the Future
Jacob Preston
CS 536
October 31, 2013

2. Agenda
Future Drones
Future Weapons

3. 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

4. Nano Drones Under development by US Air Force
Very stealthy
From Scott’s previous presentation:

5. 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 . . .

6. 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

7. 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

8. Sonic Weapons (high frequency)
In Research since the 1950s
Currently used for crowd control, fending off pirates
Long range acoustic device (LRAD)
Drone could circle/hover over a large crowd

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

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

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

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

16. 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)

17. Source: “The Electromagnetic Bomb – a Weapon of Electrical Mass
Destruction” Section 3.1

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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)

21. Other Weapons Rail Gun Nuke space pod (Against Outer Space Treaty)
US Navy currently in development
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

22. Questions?

23. Sources http://www.baesystems.com/article/BAES_051867