Innovative Development: Global Hawk and DarkStar in the HAE UAV ACTD--Program Description and Comparative Analysis (Innovative Development 1)

The past three decades have seen a number of lessthansuccessfulefforts to develop highaltitude unmanned aerial vehicles. In 1994, theDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency, in conjunction with the DefenseAirborne Reconnaissance Office, initiated an effortdesignated theHighAltitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (HAE UAV ACTD) whose goal was to facilitate the developmentof UAVs through the use of a new and innovative acquisition strategy. This report addresses the effect of that acquisition strategy on the flight testprogram of the two air vehicles: the conventional Global Hawk and thelowobservable DarkStar. The authors found that because DarkStar was canceled after having logged only 6.5 flight hours, not enough flightexperience was accumulated to allow for an understanding of the vehicle'sflight characteristics or military utility. By contrast, Global Hawkaccumulated ample experience to permit a demonstration of its militaryutility, achieving a level of performance that was close to predicted goals.The precise effect of the HAE UAV acquisition strategy remains the subjectof debate. The strategy did, however, influence some key aspects of theflight test program, most notably its increased contractor involvement andits early operational testing in the form of user demonstrations. The flighttest program also served to illustrate the vital need for early involvementof operational users to bolster the capabilities and perspective of thecontractor.