May 4,
2008: The U.S. Air Force has managed to
install lightweight satellite communications gear in U.S. Army RQ-7 Shadow 200
UAVs. This enables control via an operator back in the United States. This is
how the air force operates its MQ-1 Predators (which weigh over a ton and can
carry hundreds of pounds of sensors and communications equipment.) The Shadow
UAVs weigh only 327 pounds each and can carry 56 pounds of equipment (usually a
day or night vision camera and a transmitter). The Shadow 200 is eleven feet
long and has a wingspan of 12.75 feet. It can fly as high as 19,000 feet (out
of range of small arms). The Shadow has a range of about 50 kilometers and can
stay in the air for about six hours.
The army
and air force are cooperating on developing and maintaining the Predator
replacement, the slightly larger, and more capable, MQ-1C Sky Warrior. The air
force will be operating their Sky Warriors from the United States, and is trying
to convince the army that this would be they way for them to go.
Keeping
the operators back in the U.S. is called "reach back" and is increasingly
popular with the military. It's expensive, time consuming, and often dangerous,
to send people to a combat zone. Inexpensive satellite communications, and
increasing use of computers, has allowed more and more support troops to be
left behind. It works, even though it does prevent some face-to-face
opportunities. This has not been a problem. And even when it is, the military
is increasingly using video conferencing.
The army
is developing UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles), and these could be run by
stateside operators as well. All this is part of the trend towards increasing
automation and remote-control in warfare. Combat has increasingly become a
matter of issuing the command; "send in the droids," and leave the people at
home.
