Unmanned Air Systems

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Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), also refered to as Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV), have been an ever-growing part of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for decades. Both weaponized and unweaponized systems have been used extensively by different countries in both theaters of war: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), since the beginning of the war in 2001. Soldiers on the ground and commanders at all levels use the information provided from these drones every day for intelligence analysis and tactical operations support.

An ever-more common occurrence (reported by the media and Pakistan) is the use of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles from the MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper (note in designations; “M” refers to multi-role including carrying weapons, “Q” indicates unmanned air system and “R” refers to ISR). The troops on the ground and commanders claim they don’t have enough UAS assets; this fact is currently being addressed. Vast sums of funds have been allocated to procure UAS of all types. The Pentagon is doing its best to ensure that with the increase of UAS in the inventory, there will be ample personnel to operate and maintain the systems (includes spares and logistics) and analyst personnel (military and civilian, plus contractors) to process and compile the information provided by an ever-growing quantity of UAS. Because the military cannot keep up with the training of new personnel at the rate of procurement for new systems, contractors are now fulfilling more maintenance in theater.

Over the years the military and intelligence agencies have become more proficient and efficient in the use of UAS and getting their data to at least the higher commands. Local commanders have also benefited from immediate real-time data of their sectors, and have asked for more coverage. Industry responded with many choices, including the RQ-5/MQ-5 Hunter, RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-11 Raven. These smaller and cheaper UAS can provide ISR all the way down to element/squad level without having to wait in queue for the larger assets from higher command.

New developments include networking UAS data feeds to other manned aircraft such as the AH-64 Apache helicopter and ground command vehicles as well as command and control aircraft such as the E-2 Hawkeye and E-3 Sentry AWACS. There is also development in the area of providing direct UAS control to crew of the Apache, though there is a question of work and data overload for that crew.

Other issues are spectrum de-confliction, which is caused by the close proximity of different radio frequencies transmitting at different power levels affecting other hardware. This isn’t just an issue of one UAS conflicting with another UAS, this is across all communications bands. Certain conflicts are cell phones, hand held radios, datalink, remote detonators and other emitters and receivers within range and settings. These conflicts will intensify as more UAS enter theater and additional communications gear is provided to units and personnel.

Globally, the UAS is proliferating heavily, and its not just for militaries anymore. Local law enforcement are now able to acquire smaller UAS since the prices have come down and capabilities have gone up due to significant military investment establishing manufacturing infrastructure and expertise in design. As large companies purchase smaller companies, additional smaller companies will be created to either secure a niche market or increase competition in another saturated market further driving down costs and increasing availability of models and quantities. With these developments, where will the battlefield be in the future? Where will the global market be in the future? The UAS has and will continue to transform the way conflicts are resolved and indeed how we all will interact within our own umbrellas of local security.

Contributor: Jason Verdugo

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Jason Verdugo joined the USAF as a munitions systems specialist in 1991 at the age of 17. He served a tour in South Korea and multiple TDY’s including a rotation to Dhahran AB in Saudi Arabia in 1996 where he participated in logistics and EOD operations. He eventually specialized in tactical missiles and other precision guided munitions.

Jason left active duty and attended Northern Arizona University (NAU) and graduated in 2003 with a BS in History and a minor in Political Science.  He went on to earn a graduate level Public Management Certificate in Public Administration and Government Budgeting.

He has worked for IGOV a large defense IT company and for Centurion Research Solutions, located in Chantilly performing market studies for government procurement as a military research analyst. While with Centurion he also performed RFP analysis and worked contract pricing estimations and requirements.

Jason currently works for KMS Solutions, LLC located in Alexandria, Virginia. He specializes in contracts pricing, administration and wrap rate analysis to include related proposal development and production, pricing narratives, spreadsheets and past performances.

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