Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Support to a Transforming Army and Update on Other Actions - Brief Article

Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, Oct-Dec, 2000 by William M. Knarr Jr.

Initial Brigade Combat Team UAV Support

In line with the Army's move to transform itself to a highly mobile, more rapidly deployable force to meet current and projected military needs, the first Initial Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) was organized at Fort Lewis, Washington. The IBCT has begun to train and develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) necessary to explore how it will meet the goals set forth by the Chief of Staff of the Army in October 2000. A key tenet of the IBCT concept is for the unit commanders to have the necessary organic intelligence assets to provide the critical information needed to enable the effective and optimum use of their forces. A vital piece in this concept is organic tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV) support.

As the Shadow 200 TUAV is still in the materiel acquisition process, the Army has directed that the first IBCT (IBCT-1) receive the Hunter UAV as an interim solution for TUAV support. Delta Troop (the Brigade's Reconnaissance Troop in the Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and TargetAcquisition [RSTA] Squadron), 1/14th Cavalry Regiment (IBCT-1), at Fort Lewis, has taken delivery of a TUAV-size slice of the Hunter baseline. Unit resourcing for the UAV Reconnaissance Platoon will consist of 17 military and 8 defense contractor personnel. They will operate and maintain the Hunter equipment from Gray Army Airfield, and provide UAV support to troops in training at both the Rainier Training Area, near Fort Lewis, and at the Yakima Training Center, near Yakima, Washington. The last of the unit's personnel and equipment were in place by early September 2000, and will begin support to IBCT doctrine and UP development in early fiscal year 2001.

JOTBS

In September 2000, the Army selected Fort Huachuca, Arizona, as the home for the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Operational Test Bed System (JOTBS). The JOTBS is a full-up, UAV test-bed capability undergoing initial development, fielding, and operation under a partnership between the Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO-W) and U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM). The JOTBS combines UAVs (initially two Predator air vehicles), a Tactical Control System (TCS) UAV ground station, and maintenance, operations, technical, engineering, and JFCOM staff support to provide a mobile, self-contained UAV operating capability.

This unit will enable JFCOM to realize fully its role as the advocate for "jointness," joint interoperability, and for joint force integration of UAV and TCS capabilities. The JOTBS will provide the joint commanders with an operational experimentation and test capability to develop the TCS so that it supports both Service UAV program needs and joint warfighting requirements. It will also serve as a tool for exploring new concepts, tactics, and procedures to assure maximization of UAV capabilities. The JOTBS will operate from Libby Army Airfield with flight operations beginning in February 2001.

TUAV Testing

The Army's new Shadow 200 TUAV will begin testing soon at Fort Huachuca. The Shadow UAV system is undergoing two phases of developmental testing (DT). The first phase, designated Test Series 200 (TS-200), is a contractor test using the corporation's own assets to prove out changes to the existing system that incorporate the capabilities required by the Army. The second phase, designated Test Series 300 (TS-300), will be under the direction of the Army TUAV Project Management Office. The contractor will also perform TS-300 testing, but will use the first Army-owned production Shadow system. TS-200 testing is currently ongoing at Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) in Maryland, while we plan for the TS-300 to take place at Fort Huachuca beginning in November 2000. The contractor wishes to complete the TS-200 testing at ATC; if inclement weather persists, an alternative is to move to Fort Huachuca for the remainder of the testing.

Colonel Bill Knarr is the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) System Manager (TSM) for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle/Aerial Common Sensor (UAV/ACS). Readers may contact him via E-mail at william.knarr@hua.army.mil and telephonically at (520) 533-2165 or DSN 821-2165. The TSM UAV/ACS Internet website is at http://huachuca-dcd.army.mil/tsmuav/tsm-uav.htm or ...mill/tsmuav/unmanned/index.htm.