A derivative of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) planned for naval service by the end of the next decade may launch smaller, expendable unmanned aircraft specially designed for reconnaissance or to jam, attack or decoy high-value targets such as enemy air defenses. Built for low-level operations, the ideal attack craft launched from the J-UCAS would be "small enough not to be seen or intercepted," said Navy Capt. Ralph Alderson, director of a J-UCAS concept demonstrator program. If developed, the attack craft could be a central element to the success of the J-UCAS, which is currently designed as a high-altitude flyer but expected to handle ground targets. Alderson and other J-UCAS program officials are assessing the feasibility of smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be launched by the larger craft for the suppression of enemy air defenses, a central rationale for the $4 billion J-UCAS program.
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