Aircraft Survivability Re-routing Navy SBIR FY2006.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2006.2 Topic No.: N06-115 Topic Title: Aircraft Survivability Re-routing Proposal No.: N062-115-0222 Firm: Technology Service Corporation 1900 S. Sepulveda Blvd Suite 300 Los Angeles, California 90025-5659 Contact: Jeffery Philson Phone: (203) 268-1249 Web Site: www.tsc.com Abstract: As the US continues to dominate air-to-air combat, the ability to maintain complete air supremacy will be challenged primarily from the ground. Airborne operations that require low altitude flight at relatively low speeds for any duration of time are particularly vulnerable to ground-based threats. TSC will investigate techniques for rotorcraft to increase their survivability by re-planning flight paths in real-time to maintain terrain masking from ground threats. Current algorithms are computationally intensive and cannot respond in real-time to pop-up threats or mobile Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) position changes. TSC's solution uses several complimentary techniques to drastically reduce the number of computations required. The resulting algorithms will be implemented and evaluated in site-specific scenarios using realistic threat parameters, simulated helicopter flight profiles and signatures, and available DTED. In Phase I, TSC will prove the feasibility of our concepts and estimate their real-time processing speed. In Phase II, TSC will implement the algorithms on a laboratory version of the MH-60R/S to mature and customize them for transition into the Navy's MH-60R/S fleet. Benefits: Improved route planning software that can respond to a dynamic battlefield in real-time will significantly enhance the survivability of US military aircraft. The algorithms to be developed can be incorporated into the Navy's new MH-60R/S and H-1 variants including the AH-1W/Z Super Cobra for real-time route replanning. They can also be incorporated into the SOCOM MH-47G helicopter and C-130 gunship, as well as the Army's UH-60L/M Blackhawk and AH-64A/D Apache. In addition, these algorithms can be employed on jet aircraft such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to improve their survivability when performing close air support. The core software algorithms to be developed can also be used for more efficient viewshed analyis in commercial GIS analysis tools to speed intervisibility calculations for communications and sensor network performance analysis. Return