Look Ma, No Pilot: ADFS Planning to Test Unmanned Aircraft System

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

American Dynamics Flight Systems (ADFS) of Jessup won't have a finished product to exhibit when it attends the world's largest air show next month in Farnborough, England, but it does have a vision: By this time next year, the advanced technology development company plans to develop and flight test the most capable vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in the world.
"We believe that ... the European market is ripe for a high-speed VTOL UAS," said ADFS President Wayne Morse. Closer to home, ADFS has set its sights on a more specific target - the United States Marine Corps' (USMC) Tier III VTOL contract, which is expected to be released for proposals sometime next year.
The U.S. Coast Guard's deep water program could also provide a potential niche for the aircraft.
Designated the AD-150, ADFS's next generation aircraft is maritime capable and uses proprietary High Torque Aerial Lift (HTAL) technology to provide lift, thrust and directional control.
"The tilt duct design we use improves on the usual tilt rotor by using a ducted fan instead of a rotor," resulting in increased thrust, said ADFS Director of Technology Development Paul Vasilescu.

Location Plus Potential
Constructed using carbon fiber and Kevlar materials, the composite airframe is relatively small as aircraft go, measuring just 14.5 feet in length and 4.75 feet in height with a wingspan of 17.5 feet.
But looks are deceiving. Morse expects that the AD-150 will be capable of a maximum speed of 300 knots with a projected maximum range of 600 nautical miles and an estimated service ceiling of 20,000 feet.
The aircraft features a modular mission payload design that can support internal, external or mixed payloads of up to 500 pounds.
ADFS moved from Calverton, N.Y., to Jessup in 2007, where it set up shop with a total of four employees in a 14,700-square-foot facility in an industrial park off Patuxent Range Road.
The move allows the company to be closer to potential customers and contacts in the Pentagon and the defense industry. "It just wasn't feasible to meet and have connections with the customers we need in New York," said Morse, who happens to be familiar with the area, having lived in Howard County 20 years ago before his work with General Dynamics took him away.
"We expect to have more success in getting potential partners to visit us here than in Calverton," Vasilescu added.
But it wasn't just proximity that made Jessup an attractive location. Morse and Vasilescu consider Maryland an excellent recruiting ground for the aeronautical engineers and machinists they will need - if and when American Dynamics begins to staff up for production.

Getting Aloft
The Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development worked closely with the company to bring it to Maryland. In the short period of time since its relocation, ADFS has started working with a number of partners within the state, including the University of Maryland, which plans to build a scale model of the aircraft to be tested in the university's Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel.
"We're also waiting for a technology transfer fund loan to come through from TEDCO," Maryland's Technology Development Corp., said Morse, noting that angel investors have taken the company only so far. "We're going to need some interim funds, and we're going to need $5 million to fly."
The schedule for getting the AD-150 off the ground is tight. "Lift and propulsion testing is scheduled to begin in August 2008," said Morse, while actual flight testing is scheduled to begin in early 2009 at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
ADFS plans to manufacture the aircraft's fan blades and transmissions in Jessup. "We're going to do what we do best - lift and propulsion - and go to other companies for the other components and integrate them here," said Morse.
ADFS has the ability to build three aircraft simultaneously and expects to roll out 12 every year.

Multiple Uses
The AD-150's biggest advantage, said Vasilescu, is that it can be configured for a wide variety of uses. Outfitted with sensors or video cameras, "There are some obvious police and fire fighting applications," he said, and it might provide an acceptable news gathering platform for civilian news agencies.
It can also be weaponized and perform dangerous missions in combat zones without risking a pilot's life. But perhaps more importantly, it has the potential to quickly airlift casualties from a battlefield to a field hospital or other care facility.
"It can support the U.S. Army's Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT) gurney, which can self-administer medicine," Morse said.
The aircraft is fully autonomous, Vasilescu added, meaning it can be programmed to fly along a route of set waypoints and can be redirected while in flight, with on-board cameras giving the controller a visual view from the plane's perspective.
While the obvious role for the AD-150 is getting supplies onto a ship from shore, it can easily do many other jobs that are currently done by helicopters.
"Our heli fleets are getting old," noted Vasilescu, "and I'm sure the services are going to be looking at opportunities to use other vehicles."

Red Tape
The fact that Japan is the world's largest user of unmanned civilian aircraft isn't lost on Morse and Vasilescu. "Their farmers use them for spraying fields," Morse noted.
Similarly, farmers and other potential users in the United States stand to benefit from unmanned aircraft, provided the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opens up airspace for their use.
"It's just a matter of time," Morse said, explaining that the basic issue with current systems is that UAS craft need to be able to identify, and avoid, other aircraft - some of which do not currently carry transponders or other equipment that aid in that task.
According to FAA Spokesman Les Dorr, there are a few other problems that have to be ironed out, as well, such as protections for flights over or near populated areas.
"As far as routine operations are concerned, that's many years away unless we see some type of reliable breakthrough in technology," Dorr said. "There are command, communications and control issues as well," he said, citing the example of an Air Force RQ-11 Raven unmanned aircraft which stopped responding to commands over Ocala, Fla., in early May and still has not been found.
Nevertheless, an April 29 presentation to the National Transportation Safety Board by Bruce Tarbert and Doug Davis, both of whom work for the FAA's unmanned aircraft program office, indicated that an Aviation Rulemaking Committee is currently studying the challenges of integrating UAS and that a final rule might be due in 2010 or 2011.
That's plenty of time for ADFS. "After all the research testing and evaluation programs, the AD-150 is scheduled to be fielded by about 2015," Vasilescu said.