June 17,
2008: In Afghanistan, Canadian troops
used micro (under ten pounds) UAVs differently than U.S. troops do. While the
Americans assign the Raven micro-UAV to infantry companies, or Special Forces
teams, the Canadians have the artillery forward observer teams operate the five
MUAV (Micro/Mini UAV) systems. The Canadians use the Israeli Skylark instead of
the Raven. Each Skylark systems contains three ten pound UAVs, and one set of
ground control equipment. The Skylark,
like most micro-UAVs, is a battery powered plastic aircraft. It can stay up for
90 minutes per flight and can operate up to ten kilometers from the base
station (radio gear and a laptop computer). The UAV can be equipped with night
vision video equipment, or a color day camera.
The
artillery observer team normally communicates with any aircraft providing
aerial reconnaissance for the infantry unit the observers are with. And the
observer is usually with, close to, or in radio contact with the infantry unit
(usually a company) commander. So the Canadian system takes advantage of existing
experience and procedure, to introduce a new technology (which replaces the
artillery spotting aircraft that have been around since World War II). But the
MUAV "belongs" to the artillery observer team, that team is in turn attacked to
an infantry company or battalion. Thus these infantry units now have their own
air force, and it's being run by someone familiar with how aircraft overhead
operate, and what they can do.
