SubscribeSnowGoose - U.S. Army descriptions note that the mission of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) “is to disseminate truthful information to foreign audiences in support of U.S. goals and objectives.”
A wide range of systems and technologies are employed in the accomplishment of this mission, including posters, radio and television broadcasts, digital broadcasts, mass e-mail, web page postings and the distribution of printed leaflets. Ironically, even in an age of digital communications, the broad distribution of printed leaflets can have a significant impact on military operations.
One clear example of that impact occurred during Operation Desert Storm. Cited in a 1993 U.S. Air Force Gulf War Air Power Survey, the finding not-ed, "Of the targeted audience -- 300,000-plus Iraqi troops -- calculations based on enemy prisoner of war (EPW) interviews suggest that approximately 98 percent read or were otherwise exposed to the 29 million leaflets dropped in theater.
Most EPWs were found clutching leaflets in their hands or hiding them somewhere in their uniforms." Today, more than a dozen years later, printed leaflets are playing an equally important role in the global war on terrorism, where Army and joint service leaflets have been employed in a number of recent operations.
Unfortunately, to achieve the broadest aerial distribution, military leaflets are frequently delivered via C-130 series fixed-wing aircraft, with leaflet operations requiring dangerously low flight patterns to deliver 300-pound loads of leaflets. In addition to exposing the manned cargo aircraft to enemy shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles and small-arms fire, the logistics value and expense of using a critical 130,000-pound cargo aircraft to deliver 300 pounds of leaflets is an awkward equation to justify.
Program planners for U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) have been exploring ways to improve that equation for the last few years.
In early 2003, for example, a combined request for information/request for proposal (RFI/RFP) disclosed that USSOCOM was seeking potential sources interested in competing for production, fielding and sustainment of a leaflet delivery system (LDS) variant materiel solution, referred to as the Wind Supported Air Delivery System (WSADS).
"USSOCOM desires a materiel solution to address the Psychological Operations forces requirement to accurately deliver PSYOP products (leaflets) to a variety of targets and threat areas with minimal risk to ircrews/aircraft/delivery system," it read. "The desired solution must be usable across the spectrum of conflict and during peacetime operations.
Candidate systems must be able to transport leaflets via autonomous flight to a designated release point (latitude/longitude at specific altitude and grid coordinates). The system must also monitor wind conditions while in flight and modify calculations, if needed, to solve for a proper release point with-in the indicated tolerances; automatically release the leaflet cargo; and proceed to a predetermined destination for recovery."
A follow-on announcement several months later noted USSOCOM's intent to award a sole source production contract to Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology Inc. (MMIST) of Ontario, Canada, for the acquisition of the LDS/WSADS. Known as SnowGoose, the U.S. military variant of the new unmanned parafoil aircraft system is designated as the CQ-10A WSADS.
"The CQ-10A WSADS is the world's first cargo UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] in production," explained MMIST president, Sean McCann. "The SnowGoose is a powered parafoil designed to meet tough special operations air launch requirements from a C-130 or C-17." With a primary mission of delivering leaflets to support Army and joint service PSYOP activities, McCann noted that the CQ-10A reduces the risk to manned aircraft in delivering leaflets, while offering greater delivery precision than a C-130 and an estimated 20 to 1 cost advantage over manned delivery options.
The CQ-10A features a 110 horsepower ultralight engine, three-bladed composite propeller, cooling system and fuel system specifically designed to allow fully fueled air transport. The system can be deployed from a Humvee or logistics trailer ground launch vehicle as well as from C-17, C-141 and C-130 aircraft (four units can be transported and deployed in-flight from a C-130).
Moreover, in addition to leaflet distribution, the CQ-10A's flexible design features allow the platform to perform a variety of surveillance and utility missions at low cost and reduced risk to manned platforms. "The CQ-10A SnowGoose solves the problem of rapid aerial delivery of small but time-sensitive cargo and low-cost, long-endurance radio relay and surveillance," McCann said.
In terms of critical cargo, for example, the aircraft can carry up to 300 pounds of critical material or medical supplies. The supplies can then be delivered by small para-drops to three locations in a 250 kilometer range (out and back) or up to six locations in a smaller (50 kilometer) area. "Those capabilities would be ideal for quietly resupplying Special Forces A Team elements out in long-range recon missions," McCann observed. "The aircraft is almost silent at 3,000 feet AGL as it drops 100-pound resupply boxes with low opening, small disposable chutes with excellent accuracy."
As a line-of-sight radio communications relay or surveillance platform, the CQ-10A would provide up to 18 hours of on-station endurance with up to 100 pounds of communications or surveillance equipment. While the initial 2003 RFI/RFP announcement projected a need for up to 74 systems, as of this writing MMIST has produced a sizable number for the special operations community. Company representatives expect additional quantities to be ordered in the near future.
Meanwhile, company engineers are exploring near-term system upgrades to increase the speed and range of the aircraft for follow-on models while simplifying launch and recovery to allow for single-soldier operations.
"MMIST views the CQ-10A as the future ideal low-cost, utilitarian UAV platform for conventional U.S. Army operations and with its unique air launch capability, ideally suited to provide early-entry light forces with an immediate surveillance, communications relay and critical resupply capability," McCann said. "The CQ-10A is important to the U.S. Army's future mobility and speed of maneuver," he added. "It is the first installment in low-cost unmanned aerial platforms focused on cargo delivery -- versus pure surveillance.
The CQ-10A, as the world's first cargo UAV, ushers in a new era in moving the Army towards a fully three-dimensional force, well informed, well coordinated and well supplied ... with decreased dependence on vulnerable ground truck convoys."
