Military Officer - January 2008 - (Page 58) T HE 195 0S OF TE N A RE R E ME M B E R E D as an idyllic era that brought us Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and television, but they had their dark side as well: McCarthyism, racial segregation, and the Korean War, to name a few. Perhaps the biggest shock came in October 1957, when Americans learned a Soviet satellite named Sputnik was orbiting overhead. It was a largely symbolic triumph for the Russians, but it had at least two long-term consequences: the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). otherwise would not have occurred the intervention of ground controlin areas such as unmanned systems, lers or manned systems. directed energy weapons, and other Blue-sky designs high-tech inventions that once were But OE is just the tip of the iceberg considered impossible. for TTO. Its A-160 Unmanned Long One of TTO’s ongoing projects Endurance Rotorcraft incorporates is the DARPA Unmanned Ground elements that enable it to surpass Combat Vehicle, which recently previous surveillance drones. With an completed autonomous navigation airspeed of 140 knots and the capabiltesting at Fort Bliss, Texas. The proity of hovering at a high altitude over totype negotiated more than 250 a target for some 20 hours, the A-160 kilometers of nearly impassable terhas a range of 2,200 miles — twice as rain on its own, averaging more than far as other unmanned helicopters. 7 mph. In the process, it set new One reason is its lightweight composspeed and distance records for unite construction; another rehearsed, autonois its unique hingeless mous navigation for optimum speed rotor, vehicles of its size. “Our mission which changes velocity Another achievehas depended to operate consistently ment is Orbital at the best possible Express (OE), deon patience, level. Boeing currently signed to test the persistence, is under contract to feasibility of auand a culture produce 10 A-160s. tonomous on-orbit that does not What do you get satellite refueling. In May 2007, the when you cross an airfear to fail.” OE Autonomous plane and a helicopter? — Tony Tether, At TTO, it’s the Slowed Space Transport DARPA director Rotor Compound AirRobotic Operations craft, or heliplane. It’s servicing spacecraft able to take off, land, docked with a nextand hover vertically like a helicopter generation satellite, completing the and cruise horizontally like a fixedtransfer of hydrazine propellant wing aircraft. The heliplane offers both to and from the vehicle. The two to three times the forward speed demonstration proved the viability of robotic satellite servicing without of a conventional rotary-wing craft. PHOTOS: PREVIOUS SPREAD, COURTESY BOEING; FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT, NORTHROP-GRUMMAN; CARTER AVIATION; AURORA; BOEING With the addition of the prefix “Defense” in 1972, DARPA officially came into being, tasked with maintaining the American technological superiority on the battlefield and elsewhere. Since those seminal days, DARPA has continued to stay one step ahead of the evolving threats of the 21st century, and in the areas of aerospace and tactical military systems, its Tactical Technology Office (TTO) has led the charge. Precluding preconceptions As one of the agency’s six offices, TTO is known for bringing fanciful science-fiction-style concepts into reality and helping transition them into our fighting forces. Where some ideas might be considered too far-fetched by commercial industry — which is loath to fund concepts that have little guarantee of success — DARPA and its TTO welcome innovative thinkers, whom they often hire as program managers for projects lasting four to six years. DARPA director Tony Tether says, “Throughout DARPA’s history, the achievement of our mission has depended on adherence to three themes: patience, persistence, and a culture that does not fear to fail.” This attitude of failure as a learning experience has served TTO well, leading to technological leaps that 58 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2008
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