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Unmanned Retrofitted Aircraft then and Now

Unmanned Retrofitted Aircraft Then and Now

            In August of 1944 the United States had begun Operation Aphrodite.  War worn B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators had been stripped of armor, armament and all non-essentials to free up to 12,000 pounds which would be used to pack the expired aircraft with a new British explosive called Torpex that was 50 percent more powerful than TNT.  The mission was to destroy high priority German targets that were hardened and heavily defended such as V-2, and V-3 weapon sites and German U-boat pens (Operation Aphrodite, 2012).  These missions were extremely dangerous.  A volunteer pilot and co-pilot were awarded 5 missions to fly the aircraft to 2000 feet, arm the 21,000 pounds of Torpex explosives and bail out of the aircraft at 160 mph (Operation Aphrodite Drones Set to Destroy German, 2017).  This mission is widely known for the death of Joseph Kennedy Jr, the oldest brother of the Kennedy family whose B-24 suddenly and inexplicitly exploded in mid-air.
            Although Aphrodite was a failure, it was a primitive version of a large remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).  The unmanned aircraft radios receive RC controls from operator aboard the mothership aircraft to control the flight controls and engine throttle to guide the aircraft to its target.  Unlike modern autonomous and unmanned vehicles, engine throttles and yoke are moved by actuators.  Two television cameras were mounted in the cockpit and were broadcasted to operators in the mothership aircraft (WWII’s Operation Aphrodite | The Strange Truth, 2016).  Television at the time was in its infancy; the word television to many was never heard of.  The television antenna was mounted on the tail of the aircraft where VHF was broadcasted to the mothership antenna and displayed on a television.  These RPA pilots have minimal information to make any decisions on flight path with nothing but the configuration the pilots had in in before they bailed out.
            Modern retrofitted aircraft are highly complex unmanned systems.  DARPA funds the unmanned Sikorsky S-76 commercial helicopter.  Optionally piloted, DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) has recently taken off and flown a 30-mile sortie and landed autonomously from Stratford to Plainville Connecticut (Jeffrey, 2016). Data link and multispectral video is equipped aboard the helicopter.  “The entire flight was planned, monitored, and executed by an operator using only a tablet device (Jeffrey, 2016).”  DARPA seeks to continue supporting the production of greater levels of automation to commercial and military aircraft.  Semi-autonomous, partially manned, and optionally manned are also on the horizon for retrofitted unmanned aerospace systems.  The goal with these levels of autonomy is to reduce pilot fatigue and workload, improve mission capability, safety and reliability. 


References
Jeffrey, C. (2016). Autonomous 30-mile flight for Sikorsky S-76 commercial helicopter. Newatlas.com. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from http://newatlas.com/sikorsky-s-76-helicopter-autonomous-flight/43650/
Operation Aphrodite ‹ HistoricWings.com :: A Magazine for Aviators, Pilots and Adventurers. (2012). Fly.historicwings.com. Retrieved 15 August 2017, from http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/08/operation-aphrodite/
Operation Aphrodite Drones Set to Destroy German Targets | World War II Day by Day. (2017). ww2days.com. Retrieved 15 August 2017, from http://ww2days.com/drones-to-destroy-nazi-rocket-sub-bases.html

WWII’s Operation Aphrodite | The Strange Truth. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 18 August 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSu3Xs8ffVo

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