In situations where weather affects the effectiveness of electro-optical infrared (EOIR) sensors or when a gunship must operate at distances that makes their sensors ineffective, AFRL is hoping its Tactical Off-Board Sensing (TOBS) project will fill the gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put an EO\/IR sensor on a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and we launch it from the mother ship to get under the weather, to see through the weather, and to also be able to see from a stand-off distance,\u201d Jason Bowman, program manager for TOBS, told Jane\u2019s .<\/em><\/p>\n During the TOBS development phase, AFRL is using Area-I\u2018s ALTIUS (Air-Launched, Tube-Integrated Unmanned System) UAV to demonstrate the tube launching and survivability of the platform.<\/p>\n TOBS must provide equivalent \u2013 or better \u2013 levels of sensor performance as the mother ship, he noted.<\/p>\n Both the AC-130J Ghostrider and the AC-130W Stinger II have common onboard launch tubes. Those tubes measure 4 ft (1.21 m) in length and 6 inches (15.24 cm) in diameter. Bowman was handed a requirement from the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to fit a UAV into that tube.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no small UAV out there that could fit in that tube,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n Part of Bowman\u2019s effort was to develop the UAV to fit SOCOM\u2019s requirement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just so happened the air force had an SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research] contract with Area-I and at the time they were looking at fuel cell propulsion technology,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cWhen we started hearing about the company\u2019s capabilities, what they had demonstrated already, [we thought] this could be the UAV that could meet AFSOC\u2019s (Air Force Special Operations Command) requirements.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n