Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- Benefits to the Warfighter
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- Benefits to the Warfighter
From the first crude aerial vehicles to the current systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have sought to garner some advantage over the enemy. The benefits to the warfighter also have evolved over the years from basic delivery platforms to enhanced surveillance and precision delivery platforms. Future benefits might even eliminate the need for manned aerial platforms. However, the major challenges faced by troops on the ground today are not at the regimental, battalion, or even company level. The rationale behind the development of early UAVs, current UAVs, and even planned UAVs is that they support conventional operations at the company level and above, and for the most part they have provided excellent support. In the current operating environment though, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, troops at the platoon, squad, and fire team levels are engaging the enemy. To meet the requirements of troops at this level a major shift is needed in the development of UAVs from the traditional systems that support the 'over the next hill' or 'area of operation' battlefield concept to UAVs that support 'close-quarter' operations. The current threat on the modern battlefield requires a greater investment in specific UAV platforms to provide immediate support to troops in contact.
Document information
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- Benefits to the Warfighter
2006
19 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aircraft , Military Operations, Strategy, & Tactics , Marine corps , Strike warfare , Drones , Military capabilities , Tactical air support , Missions , Forecasting , Dwell time , Aerial warfare , Surveillance , Squad level organizations , Platoon level organizations , History , Aerial reconnaissance , Damage assessment , Target acquisition , Battlefields , Intelligence , Payload , Refueling in flight , Autonomous navigation , Uav(Unmanned aerial vehicles) , Predator uav , Global hawk uav , Pioneer uav , Hunter uav , Shadow 200 uav , Armed reconnaissance , Micro air vehicles , Fire teams