Module 4.5 – UNSY 605

            The RQ-21A Blackjack is a small, tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which has been designed to replace the Boeing Scan Eagle in U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations (MilitaryFactory 2016).  The Blackjack is capable of both deck-launch and land-launch operations for the Navy and Marines due to the “SuperWedge” catapult launching system (MilitaryFactory 2016).  The system is a fixed-wing aircraft which measures over 8 feet in length and has a 16 foot wingspan (Insitu 2015).  An important piece of any ISR aircraft being able to complete its mission is the data processing and handling portion of the system.  The Blackjack uses a combination of three information software packages to handle the data collected by the sensors:  TacitView, Catalina, and Tungsten (Insitu 2016). 

The Tacitview and Tungsten software can be used by the operator for the exploitation of images and data collected by the Blackjack (Insitu 2016).  The Catalina software package is the portion that deals with the majority of the processing, storage, and dissemination of the collected data (Insitu 2016).  Catalina can index media and metadata and subsequently extract and edit information contained within these indexed files (Insitu 2015).  In addition to processing, Catalina provides for the dissemination of media and metadata as either files or streams to several nodes simultaneously (Insitu 2015).  The Catalina ensures that the dissemination of information is secured using Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security protocols and methods (Insitu 2015).  Finally, Catalina has the ability to work across multiple platforms for users such as Linux or Windows due to its C++ construction (Insitu 2015).   The combination of data processing software provided on the Blackjack allow for effective and secure collection, dissemination, and exploitation of ISR products. 

The Blackjack has multiple sensors which are responsible for providing data to the trio of processing software.  It is equipped with an electro-optic imager, a mid-wave infrared imager, a laser rangefinder, and an IR marker (Insitu 2015).  With these sensors, the Blackjack can collect multiple ranges of ISR information for up to 16 hours per mission with a power requiremtn of 350 W (Insitu 2015).  The sensor suite has a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Ethernet connection to the information processing software (Insitu 2015).  The TCP/IP is a four-layered secure protocol which accomplishes packaging, encryption, and transmission of collected data within the system (Microsoft 2016).  These components work together to accomplish the ISR missions required by the Navy and Marines.    

The Blackjack system is effective in accomplishing its assigned ISR missions, but there are ways that it can still be improved.  When the Navy or Marines order a Blackjack package, the package includes five air vehicles and two ground stations (MilitaryFactory 2016).  So the information processing software will be working with data from five separate Blackjack UAVs.  The amount of data being collected and sent to the processing software could be quite large if multiple aircraft are active at a time.  My suggestion would be that the Blackjack implement some form of compression treatment to the data in order to allow the processing equipment to more easily handle information from multiple sources.  The smaller files or streams would allow for quicker sorting and dissemination to the separate ground stations and users.

References

Insitu.  (2016). Information Processing Software.  Retrieved from https://insitu.com/information-delivery/information-processing

Insitu.  (2015). Catalina.  Key Features and Capabilities.  Retrieved from https://insitu.com/information-delivery/information-processing/catalina

Insitu.  (2015). RQ-21A Blackjack.  Product Card.  Retrieved from https://insitu.com/information-delivery/unmanned-systems/rq21a

Microsoft.  (2016). TCP/IP Protocol Architecture.  Retrieved from https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc958821.aspx

MilitaryFactory.  (2016). Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack (Integrator) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (2014).  Retrieved from http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1045