Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV)Costing Considerations
PSI Team
SCAF Workshop
22 November 2010
UAV Design Considerations
1. Role2. Design quality – military / commercial?3. Performance altitude, speed, endurance4. Propulsion5. Power source6. Power requirements for flight & payload7. Payload 8. Ground environment
UAV Role(s)• Reconnaissance
• Communications Relay
• Earth Observation, remote prospecting
• Law Enforcement (Traffic, Border control, Agricultural monitoring)
• Offensive activities against Land/ maritime targets
• Air combat, electronic warfare……….
• Any mix of the above!!
UAV Design – military / commercial• Military specifications arduous• Military materials and components costly• Design certification/ acceptance different• Historic
– schedules long– projects overtime/ cost etc
• Good commercial design reduces timescales, uses proven materials, components and may trade-off some performance for early fielding
UAV - Performance
• Performance– Endurance >48 hours
– Speed ~150Kts maximum
– Altitude 40,00ft plus
• All of the above are inter-related and some performance attributes will be role dependent and large drivers of cost.
UAV – Propulsion
• Air breathing– Reciprocating – Turbo-prop– Jet
• Chemical (rocket)• Electric
• Other propulsion nuclear or more exotic types ruled out on grounds of safety or immaturity.
• Final option likely to be a mix for resilience and performance
UAV – Power requirements
• Battery (sustain and engine electric start)
• Payload with growth capability
• Compile equipment list with power drains
• Total + safety margin + growth
UAV – Power sources
• Battery• Generator• Photo-voltaic, ~12% minimum efficiency
• Other sources nuclear, chemical etc are ruled out due to increased safety and certification issues.
• Final option likely to be a mix for resilience and performance
Photo-voltaic family
Photo-voltaic costs $/Watt
y = 0.0672x2 - 270.6x + 272432R² = 1
0.1
1
10
100
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Series1
Power (Series1)
Poly. (Series1)
UAV – Payload
• Mixed systems– Data link– Flight Control– Sensors (Electro-optic, SAR– etc)– Communications – Collision Avoidance– Potential capacity for Defensive Aids /Weapons
(internal bay)
• Satcom
UAV – Ground environment
• Handling & other facilities• Communications & control• Mission planning• Operator & Maintainer training• Maintenance policy• Operations & Mission Data collection &
analysisNeeded but excluded from this analysis
UAV – Costing Considerations
• Handling & other facilities• Communications & control• Mission planning• Operator & Maintainer training• Maintenance policy• Operations & Mission Data collection &
analysisNeeded but excluded from this analysis
PRICE Systems Team Option
OTS Reconnaissance UAV
UAV – Reconnaissance Option
• High altitude good commercial build• OTS Payload off the shelf avionic (10KW max)
– Communications Relay– Electro-optic (visible and dual band infra-red)– Synthetic aperture radar– Unused 250Kg capacity internal– External standard wired hard points
• OTS Propulsion small jet turbine(150Kts max)• OTS Power (15KW capability for growth)
– thin film photo voltaic– battery
Not the place for cutting edge technologies
UAV – Assumptions• Lighter Than air (LTA) technology (Helium)• Dry mass ~ 3.6 Tonnes• With LTA ~200KGs• Power requirements 15KW• Propulsion SAFRAN TR60-5 (1200lbs thrust)• Size ~ 16m diameter x 3m tall• Usable area 640 sq metres, • usable LTA volume 3290 cu metres• Composite airframe• Payload pack• Expandable airframe
PRICE What could it look like?
Picture courtesy www.freakingnews.com
Illustrative Mass DispersionUAV Illustrative Mass KGs
UAV power KGs Propulsion Airframe Payload Ballast Fuel
UAV – OTS Payload• EO/IR• Weapons/ DASS• Synthetic Aperture Radar (intermittent)• Data Link• Satellite Communications• Navigation• Communications Relay• Flight Management System• Anti-collision radar• Power supplies/ filters
RESULTS
UAV Point Estimates
Development £20M
SEPM £75M
Production £45M
Total £140M
Results – in round numbers
• 1,500,000 total hours UAV Acquisition
• Non Recurring costs £20M
• UPC (30 off) £1.47M
• 50%’ile £147M, £7.5M standard deviation
• Project cost range £138M -£157M @ 10 & 90% confidence intervals
Cost Split
Cost – Where the Activities Occur
Where the hours are spent