U.S. security officials are evaluating a new unmanned aircraft system — with potential uses for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and security applications — from a local company that is developing drone technology in Simi Valley.
AeroVironment Inc., which also has offices in Monrovia where the company develops efficient quick-charging technology for electric vehicles, announced Monday that an anti-terrorism office within the U.S. Department of Defense was looking at the new system.
Called Tether Eye, the system can be launched from a small weather-sealed, self-contained base station. Once aloft, the aircraft can ascend to a pre-determined altitude and hover there while providing a video feed with a 360-degree field of view.
The drone is tethered to its base station by a lightweight electric cable that powers the unit and allows it to climb as high as 150 feet. The system is designed to function as a “virtual observation tower,” providing continuous, 24-hour-a-day surveillance.
“This could be up there for an extended period of time,” said Steven Gitlin, vice president of marketing strategy and communications for the company. “It can be used very rapidly in response to specific incidents. It’s an effective way to gain situational awareness. It deploys rapidly and it can also act as a communication relay for other unmanned aircraft.”
The DOD’s U.S. Combatting Terrorism Technical Support Office funded development of the Tether Eye program under a government contract.
The aircraft’s current payloads include electro-optical and infrared cameras as well as AV’s encrypted Digital Data Link. The cameras provide both day and night imagery with full-motion video that’s transmitted directly to a ground control station. The Digital Data Link, integrated into each of AeroVironment’s unmanned aircraft systems, provides secure communication that can’t be accessed by others.
A YouTube video demonstrates how efficiently Tether Eye functions. Situated in an open field, the base station’s two doors open up, the drone’s propeller blades begin spinning and the aircraft rises into the air. After a brief flight, the tether cord slowly retracts, pulling the craft back down where it lands on the base station and the doors close.
Gitlin said Tether Eye lends itself to nonmilitary uses as well.
“If there was, say, a facility along the coast line that is subject to earthquakes or tsunamis and something happened, this could be deployed to provide key people with a 360-degree view of the area,” he said. “It could provide information about people who might need assistance.”
The system could also come in handy at large sporting events.
“If there was a marathon or Super Bowl going on, law enforcement could have a greater situational awareness and visibility regarding the flow of cars and people,” Gitlin said.
Erroll Southers, a USC expert on terrorism, agreed.
“A marathon is 26.2 miles, but there are actually twice as many miles they have to control,” he said. “You have to monitor and manage alternate routes for people.”
Southers said unmanned drones are going to play an increasingly important role with law enforcement agencies.
“I think drones are the future for law enforcement,” he said. “It’s inevitable. But I have to stress that this is being done with extreme attention being paid to civil liberties and privacy. If you are flying a drone to a location and fly over my back yard and see something that doesn’t look right, do you have the authority — or the responsibility — to act? That’s a good question.”
AV’s other unmanned drones — including the RQ-11B Raven, RQ-12 Wasp and SwitchbladeTM — are already being used by the U.S. military and allied forces throughout the world.
“We have deployed about 30,000 unmanned aircraft globally and our systems have accumulated more than 1 million hours of operating time,” Gitlin said. “These systems can provide really critical information to people who need that information right then and there. It helps them make better decisions with greater confidence.”
Drone strikes have become increasingly effective in targeting and taking out terrorist leaders.
On Saturday, an American drone strike in a volatile province of Pakistan killed Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, leader of the Afghan Taliban, White House official confirmed Monday.
sgvtribune.com
