Photo By Capt. Matthew Blubaugh | U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Curley, an infantryman with small unmanned aircraft systems...... read more read more
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HOHENFELS, Germany (May 10, 2018) – The airborne ability to guide forces on the ground is not new to the Army, but communicating directly to soldiers on the ground and letting them know what is right around the corner is a fairly new tactic on the battlefield.
Proving the worth of commercial off the shelf remote-controlled quadcopters for military use is an important role for the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, assigned to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center at 7th Army Training Command’s Hohenfels Training Area. Soldiers at HTA are utilizing small-unmanned aircraft systems unlike anyone else in the force.
“JMRC is great about allowing us the freedom to think outside the box,” said Staff Sgt. Kerry Clark, an SUAS operator who serves as the SUAS standards master at JMRC.
Sgt. Christopher Curley, an infantryman with small unmanned aircraft systems operator duties, assigned to 1-4, is part of the opposing force, working to thwart Allied and U.S. partner efforts during exercise Combined Resolve X., April 9th to May 12th.
Combined Resolve is a U.S. Army Europe-directed multinational exercise series designed to give the Army’s regionally allocated combat brigades to Europe a combat training center rotation with a joint, multinational environment.
Curley utilizes the unique capabilities of the Phantom 4 quadcopter to replicate current and potential real-world threats for the purposes of the rotational units training at JMRC.
Clark and Curley, who both serve as SUAS master trainers, reference quadcopters being used for military purposes all over the world.
“ISIS and other countries have been using quadcopters offensively,” Curley said. “These quadcopters can carry small payloads, and they are using them to drop grenades and explosives.”
During Combined Resolve X, the opposing forces utilize SUAS to relay crystal clear images of the enemy’s composition in real time, providing information for enemy movement, for indirect fire or anything their command can use it for.
“It’s a very real threat,” said Clark. “Just because we have air superiority doesn’t mean that we don’t have an air surveillance threat, whether that’s satellites, planes or drones.”
For now, the Army has banned the use of commercial quadcopters, citing security. However, the 1-4 has received approval for an exception to policy as JMRC is preparing rotational training units for what to expect on the next battlefield.
“Our SUAS collection leads to more fire missions than any other collection,” said Curley. “We do in two to three hours what a scout team may take over a day to achieve.”
Along with providing junior leaders a unique opportunity to call for fire on a target, 1-4’s use of quadcopters gives Soldiers the ability to impact troop movements on the battlefield.
“There have been times when I’m flying over one of our platoons in the field and spot the enemy nearby,” explains Curley. “Then I will contact them on the radio and say, ‘hey you’ve got a guy with an M4 around the corner on your left.’”
Curley says SUAS is constantly evolving, but for now the quadcopter is unique compared to other SUAS systems because it can hover, get low, see details and look through the foliage. According to Curley and Clark, these are all advantages that quadcopters have compared to military-grade SUAS vehicles such as the RQ-Puma unmanned aerial vehicle, or the RQ-11 Raven unmanned aerial vehicle.
“The quadcopter is definitely limited in range compared to the Raven and Puma, but it more than makes up for that with speed and maneuverability,” said Clark. “It typically takes 15 to 30 minutes to get airborne with a traditional UAV, but a quadcopter can do it in only one to five.”
“1-4 has even deployed a quadcopter from a moving vehicle during Combined Resolve and recovered it from one as well,” Clark adds. “These only take minutes to launch and seconds to recover.”
According to Clark, traditional military UAVs usually have a 40 percent failed launch rate due to wind and other factors, making it more difficult for SUAS operators at other units to obtain as many hours as 1-4 personnel get with quadcopters.
The OPFOR at JRMC gains about 100 to 150 hours of flight time in two weeks during Combined Resolve, which is more than most SUAS soldier obtain in a year.
After stepping into the “Box” RTUs quickly realize the importance SUAS plays in their training.
“Commercial products advance so much faster than our procurement process can keep up with,” said Clark. “SUAS isn’t utilized enough. This type of technique is constantly evolving.
“Our forces are so used to that Iraq and Afghanistan mentality that we own the air,” Clark explains. “Providing this SUAS experience here will help teach RTUs to no longer go into the fight and not include an airborne threat as part of their military decision-making process.”
| Date Taken: | 05.10.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2018 08:38 |
| Story ID: | 276453 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 1,728 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 1-4 IN Regiment is spearheading the future during Combined Resolve, by CPT Matthew Blubaugh, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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