December 17, 2008: The U.S. Army has
developed a system, VUIT-2 (Video from UAS for Interoperability Teaming Level
II), that enables AH-64 helicopter gunships to share video from UAVs (like
Predator and Shadow) and troops on the ground. This is part of the OSRVT (One
System Remote Video Terminal) system that already enables video to be shared
between aircraft, UAVs and ground troops. The new system enables AH-64s to
share its video, and get video from UAVs, within 40 kilometers. The U.S. Air
Force also has a system that enables warplanes (including the AC-130 gunship)
to share video.
All this makes it easier to find and
destroy targets, and also makes friendly fire incidents less likely. In
addition, all that video sharing gives everyone more "situational
awareness" (a sense of who, enemy or friendly, is where and doing what.)
This is a tremendous advantage in combat.
