New Life For The Dragon Lady

A New Sensor Suite for an Old Lady
Researchers are developing revolutionary new sensors for future and legacy airborne platforms.

Even before the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis brought the US near the brink of war with Russia, the U-2 Dragon Lady (see figure), a multi-intelligence manned aircraft, had been providing the National Command Authority (NCA) and field commanders with invaluable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) information. Upgraded over the last 5 decades, the U-2, along with other low-density, high-demand ISR assets and unmanned air vehicles, is still a valuable national asset providing the NCA and field commanders with near-real-time ISR data to conduct Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. Scientists and engineers at the Sensors Directorate are pushing technology to develop revolutionary new systems to satisfy user requirements for complementing legacy and future ISR platforms. These technologies include electro-optic (EO) and radio frequency sensors, as well as automated exploitation tools, to help detect and identify targets.

Engineers assigned to the Spectral Infrared Remote Imaging Transition Test (SPIRITT) program are developing a day/night, high-altitude, hyper-spectral reconnaissance sensor test bed. Researchers will use this test bed to demonstrate advanced technology for transition to the U-2 and Global Hawk. The goal of the SPIRITT program is to develop an integrated reconnaissance capability to reduce target search timelines and intelligence analyst (IA) workload specifically for rapid precision-targeting missions. The concept involves two major components: (1) the build and integration of an EO/infrared, hyper-spectral-imaging payload that can fly concurrently with the existing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and signal intelligence (SIGINT) payloads, and (2) the processing of sensed data to detect even obscured targets. Researchers will design the payloads to fit within both the U-2';s Q-bay (sensors bay) and the Global Hawk’s EO-bay.

Integrated directly into the existing reconnaissance system architecture with the SAR and SIGINT payloads, the hyper-spectral sensor system will support real-time, day/night, semi-automated detection and identification of difficult targets, such as those employing camouflage, concealment, and deception (CC&D) techniques. The real-time, onboard, automatic target detection process for rapid precision targeting will significantly reduce the IA workload in rapidly distinguishing these challenging targets from wide areas of background clutter to support precision-targeting missions. Adding a hyper-spectral collection capability to the U-2 and Global Hawk will also improve the system capabilities for threat detection and the identification of solid and gaseous materials.

Several directorate programs will provide exploitation aids for current U-2 and Global Hawk payloads. The Assisted Target Recognition for Time- Critical Targets (AFT) program will provide detection, change-detection, geo-location, and target-recognition algorithms to accelerate exploitation of SAR imagery from these platforms. The AFT program builds on algorithms, data, and target-modeling technology from previous directorate programs and will promote these advancements to support time-critical targeting tasks in ground stations worldwide.

The Targets Under Trees (TUT) program is a directorate effort providing the Air Force (AF) with a capability to engage hidden targets. The initial phase of TUT uses very-high-frequency (VHF) SAR change detection and multi-sensor, multiplatform fusion to detect and prosecute targets in foliage. VHF radar penetrates this foliage, denying the enemy sanctuary under trees, and allows the AF to use other sensors and semi-automated processing to identify the targets. Engineers are primarily designing the new VHF radar sensor for the Global Hawk, with an alternate design for the U-2. Engineers will fuse other sensor data (SIGINT, moving target indicator, and other imagery) to further reduce false alarms and to identify and precisely locate targets. TUT provides a Distributed Common Ground System-compatible environment to use and improve these technologies.

Difficult targets (stealth, CC&D, urban, obscured, or obstructed) seem to be the norm for the modern battlefield where U-2 and other ISR assets must engage and strive to overcome. Directorate programs address these challenges with integrated--sensing and exploitation capabilities for strategic, operational, and tactical weapon systems to detect, locate, and identify difficult ground targets for day and night operations in the battle-space. The programs provide multifunction scalable systems with reduced size and costs. These critical functions provide the war-fighter with the decreased kill-chain time and the increased targeting accuracy required in modern conflicts and asymmetric warfare. By developing advanced ISR capabilities, AFRL is supporting the manned and unmanned ISR program offices and, in turn, the combatant commanders.

The U-2 Dragon Lady is entering its 50th year of service to the US and allies. Developed in secrecy during the early years of the Cold War, the U-2 is the result of a remarkable collaboration between the Air Force (AF), the Central Intelligence Agency, Lockheed “Skunk Works” (led by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson), and other industry partners. In an unprecedented feat of design and engineering, the concept went from the drawing board to first flight (August 1955) in just 8 months. The U-2 entered operational service in 1956, providing high-resolution aerial photographs of military airfields, missile launch sites, and other targets critical to national security, giving the President and military leaders detailed information on the Soviet threat. Throughout the years, the U-2 has been the first to arrive and the last to depart from nearly every major US conflict. The U-2 collected the first-ever photographs of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba in 1962. Nearly 40 years later, the U-2 flew the first US combat missions over Afghanistan less than 3 weeks after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Most recently, the U-2 is providing battlefield imagery for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM with the largest ever deployment of U-2 aircraft to the Central Command theater of operations. The U-2 has undergone a series of transformational changes over the past 5 decades. Engineers redesigned the aircraft in the late 1960s with a 40% larger airframe and improved sensor capabilities. In the mid-1980s, Lockheed again opened the production line where most of the current fleet was produced. Since 1994, the AF has invested in upgrades such as the new F118-GE-101 engine, an improved electrical system, a digital autopilot, an electro-optical viewsight, an all-new glass cockpit with state-of-the-art multifunction displays, and many new sensor improvements.