Application of STANAG-4586 Ed. 4 based Standardization for Up-to-Dated Interoperability of Military UAV System

Abstract

With the development of various types of military Unmanned Aircraft(UA)s, the need for interworking and integration between different platforms gradually increased. In order to ensure interoperability at each military UA System(UAS) level, North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) has established STANAG-4586 "Standard Interfaces of Unmanned Aircraft(UA) Control Systems(UCS) for NATO UA Interoperability-Interface Control Document". This paper looks at the basic design structure of STANAG-4586 and the changes on Edition 4 to enhance joint operational capability through reflecting and updating the interoperability design of the military UAS. In particular, we analyze the enhanced Datalink Transition/Handover Procedure and Autonomous functions, one of the biggest features added to the edition. Through this, we propose a modification of UA data link exclusive control using UA Bypass structure, which was impossible in the one-to-one communication structure between existing UA and Core UCS(CUCS). We also suggest ways to improve UA operational reliability by applying Autonomous Functions that directly decides how to deal with emergency situations, rather than by a remote operator over CUCS.

Fig. 1. ‘13 Inventory of Department of Defense UAS[4]

Fig. 2. Current UAS Operations Example[6]

Fig. 3. UAS Interoperability Architecture[6]

Fig. 4. STANAG-4586 Message Functional Group

Fig. 5. Current Transition/HO Concept

Fig. 6. STANAG–4586 Ed. 4 Datalink Transition/HO Concept

Fig. 7. Current Transition/HO Procedure

Fig. 8. STANAG–4586 Ed. 4 Transition/HO Procedure Proposal

Fig. 9. Proposition Mechanism Procedure Proposal

Table 1. STANAG-4586 Generic Message Table

Table 2. Datalink Discovery Messages[6]

Table 3. System ID Messages[6]

Table 4. Autonomy Messages