ARMY UAS
UAS CONTINUE TO FLY AT A VERY HIGH OPERATIONAL TEMPO WITH MORE THAN 1.2 MILLION FLIGHT HOURS, 90 PERCENT OF THOSE IN COMBAT OPERATIONS. MEANWHILE, THE DEMAND FOR UAS CONTINUES TO
INCREASE, WHETHER FOR INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE ROLES OR IN ATTACK MISSIONS.
a surge push of 180 additional Raven systems in Afghanistan, according to Product Manager Cliff Brandt, who leads the effort to increase the distribution from 15 systems per brigade combat team (BCT) to 35 systems.
Route clearance patrols have also begun for Brandt’s other platform, the Puma, with 84 systems on the ground.
An additional surge is taking place at the direction of the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Peter W. Chiarelli.
EXPANDING LINE OF SIGHT
The Army has outfitted Shadow UAS with the Joint Tactical Radio System’s Rifleman Radio as part of an effort to expand ranges of a line-of-sight mobile, ad hoc network during this summer’s Network Inte- gration Evaluation at White Sands Missile Range, NM. (U.S. Army photo by Kris Osborn, ASAALT.)
Data collected from combat experiences in theater prompted the Army’s decision for a surge push. “The Puma allowed the battalion commanders to operate with a generic asset they didn’t otherwise have,” said SPC Dean Dawes, a Raven and Puma operator with the 4th Infantry BCT who recently returned from deployment to northeast Afghanistan. “We were also able to accurately call for fire with one adjustment and accurately hit targets.”
In all, “We are surging Puma systems in Afghanistan to the tune of 129 systems,”
Brandt said. The Pumas are being issued to the BCTs and from there to the company level, he said. “There is a lot of activity, a lot of systems in route … on top of con- tinuing to do our fleet upgrades, moving from an analog to a digital system.”
MILESTONES PM UAS has marked a number of mile- stones in the past year.
• Its Common Systems Integration Prod- uct Office, which is leading the MUSIC Exercise, successfully completed ROVER 6 design verification testing with National Safety Agency oversight. The ROVER 6 is the next generation of ROVER portable radios that transforms sensor-to- shooter networking and allows increased collaboration and interoperability. In addition, the office is supporting the Kiowa Warrior Product Office with its Level 2 Manned-Unmanned integration, whereby pilots in the cockpit can view feeds from nearby UAS in real time.
• In April, construction was completed for the new Hunter and Warrior han- gars at the Rapid Integration and Acceptance Center (RIAC) at Dugway Proving Ground. The RIAC has
sup-
ported numerous off-axis test events, including the Heterogeneous Airborne Reconnaissance Team system, which
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Army AL&T Magazine
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