More than 400 attendees flocked the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Warfighter Forum from June 21-24 in Tucson, Ariz. Now in its 11th forum, the invitation-only gathering is an annual opportunity for attendees to confer openly with each other and discuss issues to identify what the Army has done right, what it can improve, and encourages the free flow of ideas, all in support of the Soldier.
“This forum is focused on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency and the actual employment of UAS,” Tim Owings, UAS deputy project manager, said. “It’s a very unique venue in that we bring together active war fighter, national guardsmen, acquisition professionals, other government agency professionals and our original equipment manufacturers to have this open dialogue and exchange of information. A lot of good information has come out of this.”
Sgt. Maj. Loren Gray, operations and force design director from Fort Rucker and first-time attendee, said the most-value added aspect of attending the forum was the opportunity to learn how each organization and what it does affects other people. “Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in your own mission that you forget the ramifications of a decision that your organization has made,” he said.
Attendees included UAS operators from 19 units including Army National Guard and Marine Corps representatives, 20 Army and DoD organizations, four other government agencies, and five of the UAS Project Office original equipment manufacturers.
During his keynote speech, Maj. Gen. Tim Crosby, programme executive officer for aviation, called UAS “revolutionary. We’re not buying anything new except for UAS,” Crosby said. The way the Army thinks, fights and engages with the enemy has evolved since the inception of UAS and has made the Army even more efficient and effective.
“What I’m really proud of is that they brought UAS and put them under back into PEO Aviation that allows that synergy across all platforms,” Crosby said. He elaborated on the efficiencies brought on by the teaming of manned and unmanned aircraft that is driving the way the Army fights. “There are so many aspects and potential that this team deserves all the credit and has enabled this great thing to happen.”
In May, the Army became the first service authorized to begin night flights of a UAV. The Army’s first flight was with the Gray Eagle using the Ground-Based Sense and Avoid System at El Mirage, Calif. Under a certificate of authorization with the Federal Aviation Administration, the project office, in coordination with the FAA, the Army Airworthiness Authority and General Atomics, has collected significant data from the flights which will be another great step for Army UAS to fly in national airspace.
“We continue to fly at a very high optempo with over 1.2 million flight hours, 90 percent of those continue to be in combat operations,” Owings said. “The major points for all of this is that the demand for UAS is continuing to increase whether we’re talking additional ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) roles or in attack missions but really across the spectrum we’re seeing increasing uses of systems. The technologies for the next generation of stuff are starting to come to fruition and allow us to advance ourselves into things like 4G networks, smart phones and lower cost ways of producing end product to dislocated users.”
Source: Army Mil