Intelligence: An Eye For Trouble

Archives

December 8, 2009: Operators of UAVs are finding that it's not their flying skills that matter most, but rather their ability to correctly interpret what is going on in the videos the aircraft is delivering. Interpreting such images used to be the province of trained specialists. While there are still image interpretation specialists scrutinizing UAV video, most of the interpretation is done by troops operating five pound RQ-11 Raven UAVs.

While it takes only a few hours training to learn how to fly a Raven, the operator never stops learning how to interpret the images. Actually, a few dozen hours at the controls gives operators the basics, especially if they have an experienced Raven driver there for a bit to give pointers on how to sort out who is doing what on the small screen. After a hundred hours staring at that videos, you become really good. Some officers and NCOs, who often have to look over the operators shoulder to double check the image before, say, a troop movement is made or a smart bomb attack called for, also become pretty expert at sorting out the fuzzy images on a display not much larger than you find on an iPhone.

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close