[quote][b][url=/v3/forum/histoire-et-actualit%C3%A9s-45/topic/conflit-en-afghanistan-713/?post=45796#post-45796]pilou[/url] a dit le 11/01/2010 à 14:09 :[/b]

[url=http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/111212/us-army-to-increase-uav%2C-helicopter-numbers-in-afghanistan.html]Unmanned Aircraft Program Grows to Support Demand[/url]

[quote]WASHINGTON --- Discussions about the Army’s use of unmanned systems in the combat theater are likely to focus on bomb-detecting robots and ground vehicles able to navigate through hazardous terrain. 

Chances are the discussion won’t immediately go to one of the fast-growing fields in the Army: unmanned aircraft systems. 

These systems, operated at the tactical level by troops on the ground, are bringing warfighters unprecedented intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, Army Col. Christopher B. Carlile, director of the Army Unmanned Aerial System Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Ala., told reporters yesterday. 

“There’s an old saying that science and science fiction is only separated by timing, and that timing is now,” he said during an Association of the U.S. Army aviation forum. “We have it.” 

Some considered Army UASs little more than “model airplanes with some sensors hanging from them and a bunch of guys flying around with play toys” when they first entered the scene in the mid-1990s, Carlile conceded. But they’ve proven themselves as force multipliers that save lives on the battlefield, and have come to be embraced by the warfighters who employ them, he said. 

With almost 1 million UAS flight hours clocked in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is committed to growing the program to keep pace with demand for UAS capabilities. This year alone, the Army plans to train more than 2,000 operators who ultimately will deploy with the ground troops they will support, Carlile reported. 

Army UASs come in three primary forms. The Raven, just under 3 feet long, supports battalions down to the platoon level. The Shadow, 11 feet long with a 14-foot wingspan, supports brigade-level operations. The more sophisticated “big daddy” of Army UASs, the Extended Range Multi-Purpose system, has a 56-foot wingspan and supports division-level operations. 

These systems provide life-saving situational awareness and make soldiers more effective in tracking down enemy targets, Carlile explained. 

“This is not the movies,” Carlile said. “There is not an infantryman who can call up and have the National Security Agency turn a satellite so he can see what’s on the back side of a building. That doesn’t happen.” 

In the past, infantrymen found out what was behind the building when gunfire came from it, or a rocket-propelled grenade came at them from around the corner. Now, they have the Raven, the smallest UAS. At less than 5 pounds, it is lightweight and portable enough to deliver an aerial reconnaissance capability once limited to higher-echelon elements. 

“They can take that and fly it and put it above, and see if there is an ambush on the other side of the street, in real time,” Carlile said. Troops also can determine what the enemy is up to – such as hiding behind civilian shields – to reduce the risk of collateral damage during operations. 

Army UASs also have proven their effectiveness in identifying and taking out enemy operatives. A little-known fact, Carlile said, is that Army UASs have launched about 80 percent of the successful drone strikes that have made headlines in the news. 

When he commanded the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq as a major general, Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, now commander of U.S. Forces Iraq, called the tactical UAV Shadow system “an absolute must” for his brigade commanders in locating, identifying and ultimately defeating high-value targets. 

The UAS Center of Excellence leads the Army’s effort to synchronize its UAS program with those of the other services, especially the higher-visibility Air Force remotely piloted vehicle program based at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. 

Recognizing the contribution these sister-service aircraft make to the fight, Carlile emphasized the complementary value of unmanned aircraft operated by troops on the ground, directly alongside the soldiers they support. 

“Their whole intent is to support the guys they eat dinner with every night, the ones they sleep in the same tactical assembly area with,” he said. “Because of that, they have a tie they would not have if they were in Las Vegas, Nev.,” home of the Air Force UAV center at Creech Air Force Base. 

“You cannot have that same tie with the soldier. You cannot have that same situational awareness 8,000 miles away,” he said. “It just does not exist.” 

Lt. Gen. James Thurman, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations, told attendees at the AUSA session yesterday the Army will continue to invest in unmanned as well as manned aircraft to support warfighters. 

“Unmanned aircraft systems continue to significantly improve our war efforts, and demand for these specialized systems continues to rise,” he said. “The Army will continue to pursue highly capable systems while providing aircraft, highly skilled operators and advanced capabilities to support the war efforts.” 

While pointing toward solid growth within the Army UAS program, Carlile isn’t predicting a day when unmanned aircraft will take the place of piloted ones. Army experiments to measure both platforms’ effectiveness in tracking enemy targets in combat found they had the best results when working collaboratively to support the operation, he said. 

“When we put the manned and unmanned together into the combat operation, we get an exponential increase in synergy,” he said. 

That synergy can be measured in the number of successful target identifications or hits, Carlile said, with equipment providing consistent binary data and humans contributing the ability to think outside of that data field to make logic. 

“The two come together very sweetly, and that is what gives us the capability,” he said. (ends) 

 
  
  
 Army to Increase Medevac Support, Add New CAB, more UAVs 
  
  
(Source: U.S Army; issued January 7, 2010)
  
   
  
 WASHINGTON --- The Army's top operations officer said yesterday that not only will the Army add a new combat aviation brigade to the warfight, it will also increase the number of aircraft in medical evacuation companies. 

Speaking at the annual Association of the U.S. Army Aviation Symposium and Exhibition here, Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, G-3/5/7, told members and contractors that no force-wide transformational change to the aviation force was more important or consequential than the decision to increase aircraft in medevac companies from 12 to 15. 

"We've got to get our men and women off the battlefield - that's non-negotiable," Thurman said. "This demonstrates the Army's resolve and commitment to troops in combat operations as well as their families and loved ones." 

"We've also added nine additional medevac companies to the reserve component," said Thurman, who also formerly served as director of the Army Aviation Task Force. 

"The Army will aggressively grow this strategic capability in order to improve air medical evacuation in combat," he said. "The priority will be Afghanistan with the first transformed 15-ship company arriving late spring 2010." 

In an earlier AUSA session, the commander of the Aviation Center of Excellence, Maj. Gen. James O. Barclay III, told members about the stand-up of a new combat aviation brigade, though Army and Defense Department leaders had yet to decide where the brigade would be headquartered. 

Thurman elaborated on the new CAB, saying it would be designated as the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade in honor of the 16th Aviation Group whose heritage dates back to the Vietnam War. 

"The brigade will be formed by recognition of current assets from within the active component," Thurman said, "and while all aircraft and crews required to establish the 16th... are already in the force, the Army must add approximately 700 Soldiers to the force to stand up the assault helicopter battalion and aviation support battalion structures." 

According to the general, the next major structural change in Army aviation under consideration by Army leadership involves a potential restructuring of four remaining active-component heavy combat aviation brigades and one light combat aviation brigade to full-spectrum design. 

"This decision is being considered along with a decision to restructure the armed reconnaissance squadron to a design featuring three troops of OH-58 Kiowa Warriors and two platoons in Shadow tactical unmanned systems," Thurman added. 

"The manned/unmanned teaming concept will serve to provide real-time ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) support within the CAB and fully maximize the capabilities for both systems so we meet the ground commanders' needs," he said. 

Thurman also addressed the 400-percent growth of unmanned aircraft systems flight hours, noting those hours to have increased from 500 hours flown by only three UAVs a decade ago to more than 180,000 flown hours by more than 1,700 UAVs in 2009. 

Additionally, the aviation branch trained more than 1,800 unmanned operators in 2009 and expects to surpass 2,000 by the end of this year. Thurman said the exponential growth in the number of aircraft and trained professionals is coupled with providing more capable systems as the enemy adapts to current operations. 

"Our unmanned aircraft systems are forecast to reach the milestone of 1 million total flight hours flown in the coming year of which 88 percent have been flown in support of combat operations, so it's huge growth," Thurman said. He said the Army expects to have all brigade combat teams fielded with Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft systems by 2011. 

"We know the integration of unmanned aircraft systems with our maneuver forces into a single, cohesive combat capability is paramount," he said. 
 
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