Army Aviation: Balancing the Equipment Challenges To Support Warfighters Today and Tomorrow

Army, Jan 2009 by Gourley, Scott R

According to contract timelines, in June 2008, Bell Helicopter had submitted its proposal for low-rate initial production lot 1 of the ARH-70A. In July 2008, the Army assessed the proposal and then notified Congress that the ARH program had exceeded cost-growth limits of the Nunn-McCurdy Act, which triggered a mandatory DoD review of the program.

Last October, the Department of Defense notified Congress and Bell Helicopter that it would not certify the U.S. Army ARH program for continuation. As a result, the Army Acquisition Executive Office for Aviation directed that the program's contract be terminated completely.

Explaining the decision, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren stated: "The cost and schedule that were the focus of the decision to award the contract to Bell Helicopter are no longer valid. We have a duty to the Army and the taxpayer to move ahead with an alternative course of action to meet this critical capability for our soldiers at the best price and as soon as possible."

Secretary Geren's comments reflect the fact that the significance of Army Aviation's balancing act is recognized at the highest levels of military leadership.

Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, Army director of operations, added: "Warfighting capability for a manned, armed reconnaissance helicopter is crucial to support our ground combat commanders and remains a critical requirement for the Army. Th[is] decision ... does not in any way diminish the imperative for this capability. Our operational tempo, attrition and losses of six aircraft per year underscore the need to fill this requirement as quickly as possible.

"To this end, we will rapidly pursue a revalidation of the particular characteristics needed for this capability so1 can restart the process of acquiring a manned, armed reconnaissance helicopter," he said. "Concurrently, we Will invest significant efforts into our existing Kiowa Warrior fleet that ensures that our aircrews and commanders continue to have the best capability possible to perform the mission."

Raven

In addition to the balancing act that is being performed across the entire manned helicopter fleet, Army Aviation planners are ancing current and future warfighter support across the fleet of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

One example is the RQ-11B Raven small UAS (SUAS). Manufactured by AeroVironment of Simi Valley, Calif., the rucksack-portable Raven is used for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, force protection and battle damage assessment. Originally emerging under the Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center's (NSRDEC) Pathfinder advanced concept technology demonstration, the system has a 10-kilometer range and 90-minute endurance.

Program observers note that SUAS, like Raven and others, have proliferated on today's battlefields as warfighters have begun to realize the myriad benefits of their inherent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, down to the squad and team levels.

One of the Raven's tactical shortcomings, however, has been its reliance on an analog downlink to provide video and telemetry generated by the SUAS sensor package. The analog system presents challenges in the transmission of critical full-motion video during weak signal periods and might contribute to lost link and fly-away problems. Moreover, the analog video requires significantly greater bandwidth than do digital technologies.