As the Marine Corps returns to its amphibious roots, the service's top aviators say its next generation unmanned aerial vehicles must be capable of operating aboard ships.
The Corps' future UAVs next generation unmanned aerial vehicles will be big, small and everything in between. They will be capable of surveillance, logistic support, direct attack missions and possibly even medical evacuation. Some will be fixed wing and others will be rotary wing. Some will even be optionally manned. But, they must all share one thing in common, said the service's top aviators Tuesday. They must be capable of operating aboard ships.
But the challenge will be developing large UAVs — group four and five, which rival manned aircraft in size and speed — that can take off from and land aboard ships.
For example, Marines saw great success with the MQ-9 Reaper when striking targets in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. (sel.) Karsten Heckl, the assistant deputy commandant for aviation at the Sea-Air-Space conference in mid-April. But it can't currently operate from a ship, he said.
What do you think of when you think of group four and five UAVs — those that rival manned aircraft in size and speed — asked Brig. Gen. Sel. Karsten S. Heckl, the assistant deputy commandant for aviation, during a joint-service panel discussion about future UAV programs titled "The Unmanned Vehicle Race: Where are we headed?"at this year's Sea, Air, Space exposition. Most people think of the MQ-9 Reaper which was used with great success to strike targets in Iraq and Afghanistan."That's a problem because that doesn't go on a ship," he said.
During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marine drone squadrons used enjoyed long, land-based runways. That is not a luxury they will have as the service bolsters its crisis response mission and rolls out its Expeditionary Force 21 concept of operations. Both are heavily reliant on sea-based operations from amphibious craft.
That point was reiterated during another panel at the conference later panel, also Tuesday, about the future of naval aviation. Lt. Gen. Jon M. Davis, deputy commandant for aviation, said future UAVs must be suited for to expeditionary operations. If it can land on a ship, it can probably also land on a 3,000-foot runway at a expeditionary forward operating base runway, he said.
Since much of the Corps' Because of requirements for gear that is suited for to expeditionary operations, the service has focused on developing and buying small UAVs. Unmanned aircraft that fall in that category — groups one through three — much of the Marine Corps' current resources allocated to UAV development and procurement are focused on small group one through group three UAVs. Those range in size from less than 20 pounds flying under 100 feet, to those like the RQ-7 Shadow, which weighs more than 300 pounds and can fly thousands of feet high.
Those UAVs tend to mostly support small-unit maneuver warfare, providing battlefield surveillance or — in cases like the Corps' Switchblade drone — the ability to deliver a 40mm-grenade-equivalent payload through a window on a platform that weighs less than is under 10 pounds and fits in a Marine's pack.
Whatever shape future platforms take, Heckl said the Corps will need trend is also towards multi-mission aircraft that can conduct execute the broad spectrum of missions. UAVs will from lethal to surveillance and carry out lethal strikes. They'll also need UAVs that can provide over-watch for long periods and offer long times on station and are interconnected with other drones operating in the area, which the — a hat tip to the so-called swarm technology the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab is now working to develop.
"We want something that can do airborne early warning, maybe medical evacuation and oh, why don't we have something that can do air-to-air," he said.
And to make drones easier to operate, the Marine Corps wants them What is more, they would like them to fit a common control architecture. That would that allows a single control station to pilot any of the service's drones.
Davis said offered the Corps' service's K-Max logistics helicopter that was deployed successfully to Afghanistan and autonomously slung thousands of pounds of gear to FOBs across the Marine area of responsibility, is as an example of a large UAV that could operate off a ship. And since it can operate either manned or unmanned, it can and could execute a number of complex missions.
Marines had great success with the K-Max, an unmanned helicopter, while in Afghanistan. Leaders say now they have to find ways to operate unmanned vehicles on ships or in places with short runways.
Photo Credit: Cpl. Lisa Tourtelot/Marine Corps
It is pegged as a logistics helicopter, but he said it has a 5,000-pound payload and an array of strong capabilities."I'll tell you what I want it to do," he said is his response to those who seek to narrowly define its future role, opening the door to possible attack and medical evacuation missions. The ladder, however, is dependent on other advances in medical technology that would allow casualties to be monitored and cared for in transit.
Navy and Coast Guard officials also The discussion was not limited to aerial vehicles. The Coast Guard and Navy addressed efforts to develop unmanned vehicles for the aquatic environments. and Marine officials are also mentioned efforts to developing unmanned ground vehicles like the an Internally Transportable Vehicle designed to fit in the belly of an MV-22 Osprey. That vehicle cannot recognize and avoid a Marine in the prone position yet, however, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killiea, director of the services Futures Directorate, commanding general of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and the Vice Chief of Naval Research, who also sat on the panel. That poses a safety threat, but one the service is working to remedy.
In the end, the goal is to develop procure systems that have supervised autonomy meaning they are given a mission and figure out on their own how to execute to "reduce the physical and mental burden on Marines."
