Photography > Aerial Reconnaissance and Imagery Analysis > Drones, RPVs, UAVs & UCAVs > Selected Programs

Compass Cope
The YQM-96A R-Tern Compass Cope-R was a Teledyne-Ryan high-altitude, long-range research vehicle designed for long endurance reconnaissance. It took off and landed on conventional runways. Only two were built. One set a world endurance record in 1974 of 28 hours and 11 minutes for unmanned, unrefueled flight.

The Boeing Aerospace Co. built the B-Gull YQM-94A in 1972 for a fly-off competition with the Teledyne-Ryan YQM-96A designed to meet the same specifications.

In 1976, the Air Force approached the Army Intelligence Center & School, Combat Developments, concerning use of Compass Cope vehicles to perform battlefield surveillance functions then performed by the OV-1 Mohawk. The rationale for this proposal was clear. Cope could stay aloft for up to 24 hours, had a stand-off capability, and was unmanned. Interestingly, there was even a concept to put a man in Cope vehicle inside a life support “capsule” with all the controls, etc. I believed at the time this proposal was based on opposition to RPVs/UAVs by those interested in keeping people in aircraft. The later development of the TR-1 supports assuredly supports this.

Even in the mid-70s, the density of the surface-to-air defense threat in Europe and elsewhere had rendered manned penetration missions much more dangerous if not totally impractical, leading to concepts that would allow stand-off imagery collection to meet a portion of the national and tactical requirements. Remotely piloted vehicles, such as Compass Cope, Aqualine, and even the less sophisticated drones, offered a viable alternative to manned aircraft even if it can be said the need technology was at best embryonic.

USAICS Combat Developments had required operational capability (ROC) documents in place for a suite of sensors for the next generation of the OV-1 (Tilt Rotar), and, failing that, there was always the ludicrous SOTAS – Stand-Off Target Acquisition System , mounting an APS-94 SLAR on a UH-1. SOTAS endured much longer as a program than it should have due support in certain high offices of the Army. Those of us “in the ranks” knew the concept had no merit, but could do nothing to put it to rest. I believed at the time an investigation should have been conducted concerning “influences” eercised to continue the program and in later years this was proven correct.

At the same time, the Army was exploring the use of RPVs for near real time target acquisition, similar to the capability Predator offers today. The Aquila system technology demonstrator (STD) was linked to the artillery’s cannon-launched guided projectile (CLGP) via its TV sensor with “bore-sighted” laser target designator. See http://www.tech-writer.net/usarmyaquila.html .

The Army never actively pursued an effort to adopt the Compass Cope vehicles to meet reconnaissance requirements.