Module 5 - UAS Mission (ASCI 530)

   

     Since the Coast Guards inception in 1790, it has been charged with protecting the nation’s waterways and to prevent the illegal import of items into the nation. This daunting task does require a lot of manpower, good intelligence and a bit of luck. Of all the missions that the Coast Guard is responsible for, it is law enforcement, specifically the tracking and interdiction of unregulated items, which is the most challenging to conduct. It is the most difficult because of the vast area the Coast Guard must patrol, and the reach they have if suspicious activity is detected. To ease the burden of tracking and stopping illegal activity like drug smuggling in all of the country’s waterways, the Coast Guard is actively looking at incorporating unmanned aerial systems into their fleet of aircraft. Unmanned aircraft provide the Coast Guard a cost effective solution to have a persistent eye in the sky in order to expand maritime domain awareness and proliferate valuable data and images regarding maritime hazards and threats (U.S. Coast Guard, 2016). According to an April 2016 article in Navy Times by Meghann Myers, the Coast Guard is not picky in terms of a fixed-wing or rotary-wing unmanned aircraft, they simply need a UAS that can be operated for 12 hours and has the capability to operate at an altitude of roughly 5,000 ft. (Myers, 2016). Due to the different locations, the UAS may have to travel, the Coast Guard will need an unmanned platform capable of incorporating various payload packages and be able to operate in bad weather. Specifically, the chosen unmanned platform will need to be equipped with an electro-optical, thermal and synthetic aperture radar camera payload package (Austin, 2010, p. 275). With regards to the law enforcement of the United States’ waterways, three particular unmanned aerial vehicles may be of assistance to the Coast Guard. They are the MQ-1 Predator, the MQ-8C Fire Scout, and the ScanEagle. When the term UAS is used in conjunction with law enforcement and surveillance, one the first platforms that come to mind is the MQ-1 Predator.
    The MQ-1 Predator is a proven long endurance, medium altitude aircraft. The aircraft more than achieves the design requirements for the Coast Guard’s law enforcement mission an operating altitude of 25,000ft and a range of 400 nm (Kable, 2016). Additionally, the MQ-1 Predator is capable of over 40 hours of operation time. Through the use of line-of-sight radio communication and beyond line-of-sight satellite communication, this platform can be operated from a variety of locations (Kable, 2016). Furthermore, the MQ-1 Predator is capable of carrying the required camera payloads. However, considering the current fiscal constraints of the U.S. government, the Coast Guard is looking for an unmanned platform that can do much more than one mission of law enforcement. Sadly, the MQ-1 Predator is only capable of accomplishing a few of the Coast Guard missions. This is where the MQ-8 Fire Scout may have the advantage.
    The MQ-8 Fire Scout is a multipurpose and flexible platform. The MQ-8 Fire Scout is a rotary-wing unmanned platform capable of operating at altitudes as high as 16,000 ft. (Northrop Grumman, 2015). The platform is able to operate for 12 hours with an approximate range of 1,227 nautical miles (Northrop Grumman, 2015). Similar to the MQ-1 Predator, the MQ-8 Fire Scout is also able to carry a vast assortment of payload sensors. Despite the different types of payload sensors the aircraft can carry, the MQ-8 Fire Scout can easily operate from land bases or sea-going vessels. This flexibility gives the platform the ability to accomplish most of the missions the Coast Guard has. Another, unmanned platform that may serve as a solution to the Coast Guard is the ScanEagle.
    The ScanEagle is a tried and tested medium-range unmanned aircraft. The ScanEagle is capable of both land and sea launch through the use of a pneumatically operated catapult system can increase the law enforcement flexibility for the Coast Guard. Additionally, the ScanEagle can operate for 25 plus hours with an approximate range of 1,500 nautical miles and operate at altitudes as high as 16,000 ft.  (Kable, 2016). The ScanEagle is a prime aircraft for the Coast Guard because of the “plug and play” nature of the payload packages. The payload is housed in the nose of the aircraft and can be changed out for another payload package in the matter of a few minutes. But before the Coast Guard decides which UAS to go with, they must determine what the benefits and challenges are with using UAS for law enforcement of U.S. waters.
If employed properly, unmanned aircraft provide the Coast Guard with a wide-ranging capability to provide law enforcement. Simply by adding unmanned aircraft to the fleet, the Coast Guard can extend the range/area the can patrol looking for illegal activity. In fact, in the early part of 2016, the Coast Guard was able to detect and track a drug-running submarine using a borrowed UAS from the U.S. Custom and Border Patrol (Myers, 2016). The use of borrowed UAS allowed the Coast Guard to surveille a larger area and respond with an armed cutter to enforce U.S. law. Despite the clear benefits of using unmanned aircraft, there are also clear challenges to using unmanned platforms for law enforcement.
The Coast Guard has a few challenges with the operation of UAS for as a tool to aid in law enforcement. At least within the bounds of U.S. airspace, the Coast Guard would currently have issues operating their UAS. This is due to the current rules limiting the use of unmanned aircraft within the national airspace, or NAS. Specifically for the Coast Guard, the potential to conduct surveillance at altitudes around 5,000 ft. creates a concern for manned aircraft which can see-and-avoid other aircraft. On a different note, the U.S. military currently uses armed UAS to detect, track and engage various targets around the globe. For the Coast Guard, the potential exists for them to do the same with any of the above-mentioned unmanned aircraft. Especially, considering that many of the Coast Guard surveillance areas may overlap with other sovereign nations, this may be a potential challenge regarding international relations. Another series of challenges for the Coast Guard are the potential ethical concerns. Ethically, in addition to having armed unmanned platforms patrolling over U.S. airspace, there has been large concerns with law enforcement gathering blanket data and images of American citizens. This invasion of privacy has been the sensitive subject for all entities wishing to use UAS in a greater capacity. However, because the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, there may be extra worries over the concept of “big brother.”

References

Austin, R. (2010). Civilian, Paramilitary and Commercial Roles. In R. Austin, Unmanned Aircraft Systems: UAVS Design, Development and Deployment (pp. 273-279). Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Kable. (2016). Predator RQ-1 / MQ-1 / MQ-9 Reaper UAV, United States of America. Retrieved from Airforce-Technology.com: http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator-uav/

Kable. (2016). ScanEagle, United States of America. Retrieved from Naval-Technology.com: http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/scaneagle-uav/

Myers, M. (2016, April 26). Coast Guard Needs an Aerial Drone Fleet Now, Lawmaker Says. Retrieved from Navy Times.com: http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/04/26/coast-guard-needs-aerial-drone-fleet-now-lawmaker-says/83540608/

Northrop Grumman. (2015). MQ-8C Fire Scout - Unmanned Air System. MQ-8C Fire Scout Data Sheet. San Diego: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/FireScout/Documents/pageDocuments/MQ-8C_Fire_Scout_Data_Sheet.pdf

U.S. Coast Guard. (2016, August 9). Unmanned Aircraft System . Retrieved from United States Coast Guard.mil: http://www.uscg.mil/Acquisition/uas/