AFRL Successfully Tests small Unmanned Air Vehicles Published Dec. 12, 2006 By Plans and Programs Directorate AFRL/XP WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- As part of the Cooperative Operations in Urban Terrain (COUNTER) project, AFRL scientists used unmanned air vehicles (UAV) to conduct flight tests designed to provide special operations forces with situational awareness in an urban environment. Small obscured urban targets are harder to detect from high altitudes. UAVs flying at lower altitudes increase the probability of detecting and identifying objects on the ground and are therefore an ideal solution for surveillance of potential threat targets in urban areas. The COUNTER project involves a small UAV (the BAT-3), which flies at altitudes of 2,000 to 10,000 ft while collecting video telemetry that enables potential targets to be nominated for further inspection. The BAT-3 works in conjunction with a micro UAV (the Nighthawk). The Nighthawk flies at still lower altitudes in the urban area, performing close-range surveillance of nominated targets to determine if a threat exists. The two UAVs send their collected video telemetry to the Vigilant Spirit Control Station, the command and control interface, for analysis. During recent tests conducted at the Jefferson Proving Grounds, located in southern Indiana, researchers conducted a series of three UAV flights over 2 days to test BAT-3 and Nighthawk performance. Although weather limited some of the tests, the team successfully confirmed the connectivity, two-way communication, video telemetry transmission, and cooperative control algorithms of both the two UAVs and the Vigilant Spirit Control Station. The tests also verified each UAV's ability to autonomously generate and follow specified trajectories. Future COUNTER project tests will include flight demonstrations in an urban terrain environment, which will test the vehicles' navigation capabilities in cityscapes.