Military Technology 9/2019

Technology the Final Frontier MT 9/2019 · 19 f f UVision was a name on almost everybody’s lips at the Paris Air Show this year. With a new CEO, a bigger, more visually impactful presence than ever before and with the innovative HERO 400EC multi-launch canister taking pride of place on its outdoor stand/chalet, the Israeli manufactur- er of loitering munitions (among other things) set tongues wagging. MT managed an interview with the company’s Vice President Marketing and Sales, Shane Cohen, in an effort to understand what makes this fasci­ nating company tick. The answer is – much, much more than clockwork…. What inspired development of the HERO range of loitering munitions/ UAS, MT asked? Was it in response to some pre-existing requirement? “There was no pre-existing requirement. Basically, we were a small, in- novative UAS company that had an idea. Loitering munitions had been around for some time – but the word ‘affordable’ had never before been associated with them. What it we could make such a solution available at a cost-effective price point? How would that disrupt the market? So, we entered a period of intense development, tweaking the flight controls so as to be able to routinely hit a point target and – perhaps most importantly – adopting a cruciform wing. That is an important adjunct to accuracy, since a traditional planar wing will inevitably add a lift component to the UAS’ vector – the very last thing you need in the terminal phase of an attack.” Essentially, what UVision achieved was to deliver a ‘better sniper rifle,’ as Cohen describes it, to users – without needing to recoup $10s of millions in R&D funding. Why a family of munitions? Was that a result of user feedback? “Not at all. We had the vision of an entire family pretty much from Day One. The basic thinking was that we needed to start somewhere, with a product we could start to generate sales with quite quickly. However, we also recog- nised that if we went in to sell this sort of capability at the platoon level, everybody in every echelon above the platoon would want their own – and their requirements would be subtly different. So we already knew we would be producing HERO 30, 120, 400, etc. – although they only really existed on paper at the time.” What else sets UVision apart from the other competitors in this space – except for the fact they are almost all much larger? “A lot of it lies in the design. We have basically inspired the development of a concept of operations that derives from extensive knowledge of the design – and performance – characteristics of a wide range of small, innovative UAS. That’s been leveraged into a solution to a formerly intractable problem – marrying precision and flexible kinetic effect to a reliable, cost-effective platform. Designing the airframe for stability, adapting the cruciform wing from the world of missiles to achieve accurate top attack at high angles of attack and to empower a last-second abort capability – these are things that other companies, whose solutions are more traditional in form, can’t claim right now. You have to understand – the operating system was de- signed with the simplicity (and ubiquity) of the iPhone in mind: two finger expansion of screen icons, for example. We understand the training of UAS pilots very well and have used that knowledge. There is no such thing as true ‘plug and play’ – but this comes awfully close! The man machine in- terface is very, very simple: within two weeks a soldier is fully competent in managing the system and prosecuting a whole series of attack profiles.” How educated is the audience you market this solution to? What obsta- cles do you have to overcome? “It’s fair to say that operators ‘get it’ – up to divisional level – almost straight away. Once they grasp the simplicity and efficacy of the concept, objections tend to fall away. However, that’s the point at which budget pressures and process-related problems begin to make themselves felt. The interesting thing though is that, depending on which military you are engaged with, the problems can be very different in nature. To respond with ‘It’s not a UAS, it’s a munition’ to the objection ‘I don’t have a UAS budget’ can be extremely liberating. ‘Munitions’ is a word that definitely makes life easier all round.” Where do you go from here? What is the next big thing for UVision? “We are seeing requirements develop for munitions with differing range charac- teristics – and that will continue as we push the envelope of potential users. We see a very large market for loitering munitions, which we are addressing aggressively. Change will come, undoubtedly, in the areas of warheads and terminal effects – but also in sensors, that’s the big one. It is the user com- munity that is driving the need for different sensors, which keeps our R&D department pretty busy.” Based in the United Kingdom, Tim Mahon is Mönch’s Special Correspondent and Editor of the Mönch Training & Simulation Channel (MTSC) g Small, flexible, powerful, man-portable and swift to bring into action – HERO 30 has it all. The sort of graphic image that brings smiles of glee to small unit commanders – and looks of horror to the faces of armour officers. Just another mission for HERO 400. Tim Mahon Technology: the Final Frontier Made With the iPhone in Mind Nothing quite reinforces the dry statistics of attack success rates as demonstrating the terminal effects of a loitering munition like HERO 30. (All photos: UVision)