Tag Archives: TERN

Air

2nd Test Vehicle

Tern, a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to greatly increase the effectiveness of forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates by enabling them to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned air systems (UASs). DARPA last year awarded Phase 3 of Tern to a team led by the Northrop Grumman Corporation to build a full-scale technology demonstration system. The program has since made significant advances on numerous fronts, including commencement of wing fabrication and completion of successful engine testing for its test vehicle, and DARPA has tasked Northrop Grumman with building a second test vehicle.

Tern, a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), has made significant advances during Phase 3 on numerous fronts, including commencement of wing fabrication and completion of successful engine testing for its test vehicle, and funding of a second test vehicle
Tern, a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), has made significant advances during Phase 3 on numerous fronts, including commencement of wing fabrication and completion of successful engine testing for its test vehicle, and funding of a second test vehicle

«DARPA has been thinking about building a second Tern test vehicle for well over a year», said Dan Patt, DARPA program manager. «Adding the second technology demonstrator enhances the robustness of the flight demonstration program and enables military partners to work with us on maturation, including testing different payloads and experimenting with different approaches to operational usage».

Tern envisions a new medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS that could operate from helicopter decks on smaller ships in rough seas or expeditionary settings while achieving efficient long-duration flight. To provide these and other previously unattainable capabilities, the Tern Phase 3 design is a tailsitting, flying-wing aircraft with a twin contra-rotating, nose-mounted propulsion system. The aircraft would lift off like a helicopter and then perform a transition maneuver to orient it for wing-borne flight for the duration of a mission. Upon mission completion, the aircraft would return to base, transition back to a vertical orientation, and land. The system is sized to fit securely inside a ship hangar for maintenance operations and storage.

Tern has accomplished the following technical milestones for its test vehicle in 2016:

  • Wing fabrication: Since Phase 3 work started at the beginning of 2016, Tern has finished fabricating major airframe components and anticipates final assembly in the first quarter of 2017. Once complete, the airframe will house propulsion, sensors, and other commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems to make up the full-scale technology demonstration vehicle.
  • Engine tests: In Phases 2 and 3, Tern has successfully tested numerous modifications to an existing General Electric engine to enable it to operate in both vertical and horizontal orientations. This type of engine was chosen because it is mature and powers multiple helicopter platforms currently in use.
  • Software integration: This summer, Tern opened its Software Integration Test Station (SITS), part of the System Integration Lab that supports software development for the program. The test station includes vehicle management system hardware and software, and uses high-fidelity simulation tools to enable rapid testing of aircraft control software in all phases of flight. The SITS is helping ensure the technology demonstration vehicle could fly safely in challenging conditions such as launch, recovery, and transition between horizontal and vertical flight.

Additional tests are about to start. A 1/5th-scale version of the approved vehicle model is in testing in the 80’ × 120’ wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Research Center’s National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC). Data collected during this test will be used to better characterize aircraft aerodynamic performance and validate aerodynamic models.

«We’re making substantial progress toward our scheduled flight tests, with much of the hardware already fabricated and software development and integration in full swing», said Brad Tousley, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, which oversees Tern. «As we keep pressing into uncharted territory – no one has flown a large unmanned tailsitter before – we remain excited about the future capabilities a successful Tern demonstration could enable: organic, persistent, long-range reconnaissance, targeting, and strike support from most Navy ships».

Tern is currently scheduled to start integrated propulsion system testing in the first part of 2017, move to ground-based testing in early 2018, and culminate in a series of at-sea flight tests in late 2018.

DARPA and the Navy have a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to share responsibility for the development and testing of the Tern demonstrator system. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) has also expressed interest in Tern’s potential capabilities and is providing support to the program.

Tern Phase 3 Concept Video

Air

TERN for Small Ships

Small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates could greatly increase their effectiveness if they had their own Unmanned Air Systems (UASs) to provide Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and other capabilities at long range around the clock. Current state-of-the-art UASs, however, lack the ability to take off and land from confined spaces in rough seas and achieve efficient long-duration flight. Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN), a joint program between Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to provide these and other previously unattainable capabilities. As part of TERN’s ongoing progress toward that goal, DARPA has awarded Phase 3 of TERN to a team led by the Northrop Grumman Corporation.

DARPA has awarded Phase 3 of TERN to a team led by the Northrop Grumman Corporation. DARPA plans to build a full-scale demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS designed to use forward-deployed small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites
DARPA has awarded Phase 3 of TERN to a team led by the Northrop Grumman Corporation. DARPA plans to build a full-scale demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS designed to use forward-deployed small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites

The first two phases of TERN successfully focused on preliminary design and risk reduction. In Phase 3, DARPA plans to build a full-scale demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS designed to use forward-deployed small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites. Initial ground-based testing, if successful, would lead to an at-sea demonstration of takeoff, transition to and from horizontal flight, and landing – all from a test platform with a deck size similar to that of a destroyer or other small surface-combat vessel.

«The design we have in mind for the TERN demonstrator could greatly increase the effectiveness of any host ship by augmenting awareness, reach and connectivity», said Dan Patt, DARPA program manager. «We continue to make progress toward our goal to develop breakthrough technologies that would enable persistent ISR and strike capabilities almost anywhere in the world at a fraction of current deployment costs, time and effort».

«ONR’s and DARPA’s partnership on TERN continues to make rapid progress toward creating a new class of UAS combining shipboard takeoff and landing capabilities, enhanced speed and endurance, and sophisticated supervised autonomy», said Gil Graff, deputy program manager for TERN at ONR. «If successful, TERN could open up exciting future capabilities for U.S. Navy small-deck surface combatants and U.S. Marine Corps air expeditionary operations».

«Through TERN, we seek to develop and demonstrate key capabilities for enabling distributed, disaggregated U.S. naval architectures in the future», said Bradford Tousley, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office (TTO), which oversees TERN. «This joint DARPA-Navy effort is yet another example of how the Agency collaborates with intended transition partners to create potentially revolutionary capabilities for national security».

The TERN Phase 3 design envisions a tailsitting, flying-wing aircraft with twin counter-rotating, nose-mounted propellers. The propellers would lift the aircraft from a ship deck, orient it for horizontal flight and provide propulsion to complete a mission. They would then reorient the craft upon its return and lower it to the ship deck. The system would fit securely inside the ship when not in use.

TERN’s potentially groundbreaking capabilities have been on the U.S. Navy’s wish list in one form or another since World War II. The production of the first practical helicopters in 1942 helped the U.S. military realize the potential value of embedded Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft to protect fleets and reduce the reliance on aircraft carriers and land bases.

The TERN demonstrator will bear some resemblance to the Convair XFY-1 Pogo, an experimental ship-based VTOL fighter designed by the U.S. Navy in the 1950s to provide air support for fleets. Despite numerous successful demonstrations, the Convair XFY-1 Pogo never advanced beyond the prototype stage, in part because the U.S. Navy at the time was focusing on faster jet aircraft and determined that pilots would have needed too much training to land on moving ships in rough seas.

«Moving to an unmanned platform, refocusing the mission and incorporating modern precision relative navigation and other technologies removes many of the challenges the Convair XFY-1 Pogo and other prior efforts faced in developing aircraft based from small ships», Patt said. «TERN is a great example of how new technologies and innovative thinking can bring long-sought capabilities within reach».

DARPA and the U.S. Navy have a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to share responsibility for the development and testing of the TERN demonstrator system. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) has also expressed interest in TERN’s potential capabilities and is providing support to the program.

The Convair XFY-1 Pogo is one of many attempts made after World War II to devise a practical VTOL combat aircraft
The Convair XFY-1 Pogo is one of many attempts made after World War II to devise a practical VTOL combat aircraft
Navy

TERN – Phase 2

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has awarded prime contracts for Phase 2 of TERN (Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node), a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR). The goal of TERN is to give forward-deployed small ships the ability to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for medium-altitude, long-endurance Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs).

Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node: Artist's Concept
Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node: Artist’s Concept

These systems could provide long-range Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and other capabilities over greater distances and time periods than is possible with current assets, including manned and unmanned helicopters. Further, a capacity to launch and retrieve aircraft on small ships would reduce the need for ground-based airstrips, which require significant dedicated infrastructure and resources. The two prime contractors selected by DARPA to work on new systems are AeroVironment, Inc., and Northrop Grumman Corp.

«To offer the equivalent of land-based UAS capabilities from small-deck ships, our Phase 2 performers are each designing a new Unmanned Air System intended to enable two previously unavailable capabilities:

  • the ability for a UAS to take off and land from very confined spaces in elevated sea states;
  • the ability for such a UAS to transition to efficient long-duration cruise missions», said Dan Patt, DARPA program manager.

«Tern’s goal is to develop breakthrough technologies that the U.S. Navy could realistically integrate into the future fleet and make it much easier, quicker and less expensive for the Defense Department to deploy persistent ISR and strike capabilities almost anywhere in the world», added Dan Patt.

The first two phases of the TERN program focus on preliminary design and risk reduction. In Phase 3, one performer will be selected to build a full-scale demonstrator TERN system for initial ground-based testing. That testing would lead to a full-scale, at-sea demonstration of a prototype UAS on an at-sea platform with deck size similar to that of a destroyer or other surface combat vessel.

Unfortunately, DARPA has restricted the bidding teams from revealing most details about their aircraft proposals, said Stephen Trimble, Flightglobal.com reporter.

The agency has released an image of an artist’s concept for a notional TERN vehicle. It reveals a tail-sitter, twin-engined design resembling the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) built by General Atomics and used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The artist’s concept demonstrates a sharply dihedral mid-wing and the Predator’s familiar anhedral stabilisers. The new vehicle is shown equipped with a visual sensor.

A dedicated launch and recovery system for the TERN UAS is not visible on either vessel shown in the image. A tail-sitter TERN is shown perched however on the aft helicopter deck of the destroyer, suggesting no catapults or nets are required to launch and retrieve the aircraft.