Call for Papers

2010

  Towards Commercial Exploitation
   of Unmanned Aircraft

   Wednesday 10 - Thursday 11 November 2010
  No.4 Hamilton Place, London, UK

There are many obstacles to, but also opportunities for, the routine national and international commercial exploitation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

This conference is the second of a series of annual conferences run by the Royal Aeronautical Society to identify and assess these issues. The conference series will review progress of those activities which are already underway with a view to sharing information and encouraging co-operation. Each conference will seek to identify new subjects which have to be addressed, with a view to catalysing the establishment of work programmes to address them.

This year, the proposed themes are given below, and papers are invited on those subjects. However the organising committee, the RAeS UAS Specialist Group, will consider any papers relevant to the general purpose of this series of conferences. The submission of international papers is strongly encouraged.

Call for Papers: Deadline 22 June 2010
The Organising Committee invites prospective authors to submit abstracts of original work for presentation at the Conference.

Click here for the Call for Papers for this Unmanned Air Systems conference

Sponsorship & Exhibition Packages for the Conference are available here.

  Weapon Systems and Technology for Enduring Campaigns
   Classified Conference

   Wednesday 24 - Thursday 25 November 2010
  MoD Shrivenham, UK

Enduring Campaigns are a feature of warfare and in this context mean those operations that require a sustained, long-term presence of a military force in order to assist a country to achieve an acceptable end state. Examples include the conflict in Gaza, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger conflict, the war in Darfur, cocaine trading in Colombia, UK troubles in Northern Ireland and the US and NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It could be said that recent Planning Assumptions didn’t account for enduring campaigns.

Today’s enduring peace-keeping and policing campaigns are recognised, by definition, as those worth the outcome. Typically, the investment to ‘make a stand’ comes from a participating nation’s defence budget or special funding. But, especially when defence budgets shrink and other economic pressures prevail, the investment in enduring campaigns is scrutinised. Reasons for the extension of campaigns are examined. Emphasis is placed on achieving the end-goals of the campaign, but often the available prosecution methods prove less effective than initially expected.

What technologies can be developed or transferred to these enduring campaigns to address expectations, or can be brought to bear after campaigns take unexpected turns?

In order to address these questions, a two-day classified conference is being organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society's Weapon Systems and Technology Specialist Group. Papers are invited to discuss the issues associated with weapon systems and technologies for enduring campaigns.

Call for Papers Deadline Extended: Please contact the Conference & Events Department on 020 7670 4345

 Click here for the Call for Papers for the November Weapon System & Technology conference.
2011

  Weapon Systems and Technology
   Post-Strategic Defence Review

   Thursday 24 February 2011
  MoD Boscombe Down, Salisbury, SP4 0JF, UK

In the first major defence review for many years it is clear that difficult choices must be made about how the UK defends itself against a wide spectrum of potential threats, many of which have a global dimension. Cost could well drive military doctrine in that economic pressures are expected to determine which, if any, potential threats can be countered by unilateral action and which will need combined operations. Strong alliances are necessary to achieve operational sovereignty. Hybrid threats will require agile and adaptive system response.

Such a strategic review clearly raises fundamental questions about Weapon Systems and Technology (WS&T) of which the following are by no means exhaustive: How to respond to the future character of conflict; to what extent does procurement strategy need to change; how to rebalance the roles of central government, the fighting services, industry, and academia; do we need more research together with more rapid transition to development and deployment. It is to be hoped that these broad questions are addressed in the SDR itself; but how could such issues affect the WS&T community? If a major capability is dropped, how will the consequences ripple through weapon systems research, development and procurement? For example, will it be necessary to rethink the concept of technology insertion; or how will weapon system test and evaluation need to change e.g. by developmental test during operational evaluation?

In order to develop open debate on the impact of the SDR on WS&T, a one-day unclassified conference is being organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society's WS&T Group in conjunction with QinetiQ at Boscombe Down. Papers are invited to address the above, covering subjects such as:-

  • Weapon system flexibility and adaptability against rapidly changing threats;
  • Commonality, modularity, and re-use;
  • Complex weapon systems;
  • Functional agility in multi-role systems;
  • The role of open architectures;
  • New weapon concepts e.g. robotic swarms;
  • Through life capability enhancement and change;
  • Design for joint or combined operations;
  • Avoidance of collateral damage;
  • Cost-effectiveness through innovations in Test and Evaluation;
  • Lessons from history;
  • Development and Deployment?
Call for Papers Deadline: 2 July 2010

Click here for the Call for Papers for the November Weapon System & Technology conference.

  Spring 2011 Flight Simulation Conference
   The World Outside The Aircraft - Simulating The Operational Environment

   Wednesday 8 - Thursday 9 June 2011
  No.4 Hamilton Place, London, UK

Much progress has been made and discussed in previous RAeS Flight Simulation Group Conferences on the simulation of an aircraft and its operational systems for use in flight crew training. International standards have even been drafted in the civil arena defining required levels of simulation fidelity as a function of training tasks.

But what are the challenges that still need addressing in the fidelity of the simulation of the real world environment outside the aircraft? What is missing or lacking in this area that could improve the training value and realism of flight simulation based aircrew training in both civilian and military operations? What are the challenges to be resolved and how should we address them?

The Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Simulation Group believes that there has been substantial focus recently in the media suggesting that aircrew need to be given more training and increased situational awareness skills to cope with operating today’s advanced civil and military aircraft in an increasingly complex, busy and diverse airspace environment. Our objective is to identify what is lacking, missing or needs to be improved and to propose some specific solutions.

In civil aviation, recent safety analyses have highlighted loss of situational awareness and losing control of a perfectly serviceable airplane due to a variety of reasons related to external influences or procedures, as a major issue of concern. New procedures such as RNP, voiceless communications and visual aids such as HUD/EVS require precise integration with the simulated environment for training to be efficient.

From the military perspective the increasing amount of sensory information that is required to be shared and trained in the use of sole or collectively training, means that there are significant challenges in integrating these systems with a real world operating environment. For example the increased reliance on manned ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions (in combination with UAV ISR aircraft) can be a real challenge that needs higher fidelity training environments.

Call for Papers: Deadline 29 October 2010
The Organising Committee invites prospective authors to submit abstracts of original work for presentation at the Conference.

Full details on how to submit an abstract for the Spring 2011 Flight Simulation Conference can be found here.

If you need further information on any of the above events please contact:
Conference & Events Department
+44 (0)20 7670 4345
conference@aerosociety.com
www.aerosociety.com/conference