Applying UAV lessons to transform the battlefield - unmanned aerial vehicle - Transcript

Dr. James G. Roche, secretary of the Air Force

Remarks at Association of Unmanned Vehicles Systems International, Baltimore, Md., July 15, 2003

Thank you Lew [Lew Goldberg, Vice President, AUVSI] and good afternoon. I'd like to begin my comments today with a story--one that captures the essence of what it is that you do, and why it is so important. This story comes from an engagement in our war on terrorism, from a battle fought near the top of a 10,000-foot peak in Afghanistan--now known to us as Robert's Ridge. On that day--March 4, 2002--an Air Force Terminal Attack Controller and about two-dozen others--Army Rangers and Air Force special operations forces--were engaged in a fierce fight for their lives with Taliban militiamen. Their disabled helicopter marked the spot where the Americans were pinned down--with little cover and fighting an entrenched, well-armed enemy. They were taking heavy, sustained and accurate fire. Several of their comrades lay around them dead or dying.

Worse still, they were running out of options. Two F-15E Strike Eagles and two F-16s had already strafed the enemy, and the F-16s had already dropped three 500-pound bombs--virtually on top of the friendly position. But still the enemy fought on. With snow up to their knees, open ground between the enemy and their position, and seemingly no other means available to take out their adversaries save frontal assault, they turned their fate over to a weapon system about which they were unfamiliar and one in which they had little confidence--the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle equipped with two Hellfire missiles.

After calling for a test shot into the side of the mountain--in fact, at a particular tree--to confirm the accuracy of the weapon, our skeptical combatant commandos allowed the Predator pilot to fire his missile into the enemy position, less than 50 meters from their location. Just as the operator promised over the radio, he hit the target with deadly accuracy, destroying the enemy position and turning the battle for survival in favor of the Americans. For his heroism in this engagement, I recently awarded the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant Gabe Brown, an Air Force Combat Controller, and the airman who called for and controlled the Hellfire shot.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege to be here this afternoon with the men and women of America who are responsible for conceptualizing, producing, and sustaining the unmanned systems our soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines rely on to accomplish their important missions. I'm also honored to share the stage today with the distinguished speakers who have offered a variety of perspectives on how we should develop and produce unmanned vehicles for the warfighter.

The story I just shared with you captures the essence of our views on how the technology of UAVs possibly can deliver vital capabilities to our combatants. The system that saved the lives of Staff Sgt. Brown's team--the Hellfire-equipped Predator A--was developed by warfighters for warfighters. It was delivered in record time using innovative new approaches to acquisition, training, and employment. And while this method involved varying degrees of risk--in terms of technology, cost, and safety, and was bumpy at the time--the end result, operational capability and decisive effects on the battlefield, clearly justified the new approach.

But more than merely providing an example of battlefield success or a method of acquiring new systems, this example provides a vivid illustration of what 'transformation' means to warfighters. Fundamentally, it offers an instructive example of how we should proceed in adapting our nation's military to the demands of the 21st century.

As most of you know, we've been engaged in a wide-ranging effort to adapt the Air Force--and the Department of Defense--to the era in which we find ourselves; to meet the threats we face now, and to be prepared to defeat those that will emerge over the next several decades. In the Air Force, we have been evolving our organizations, concepts of operations, and technology for some time--all with the objective of improving our ability to generate overwhelming and strategically compelling effects from air and space.

The last decade of our history has been characterized by relentless adaptation--developing skilled airmen, transitioning the latest technology to warfighting, and integrating our legacy and evolving capabilities to produce effects on the battlefield that our combatant commanders need. In Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan--and in the skies over the United States--we have validated these efforts, and have demonstrated to the world the incalculable worth of experimentation and innovation.

But that is not to say we haven't experienced obstacles to change. My partner in leading the Air Force, our outstanding Chief of Staff General John Jumper, frequently tells the story of the challenges he faced in evolving the Predator from reconnaissance aircraft into a system that could help us in many other ways.