- The US Army is rethinking its approach to drones and looking to "unman unmanned" aircraft.
- The aim is for drones to be able to fly more easily from anywhere with fewer people involved.
- But the Army's older drones could still have a part to play thanks to upgrades and automation.
The US Army is aiming to "unman unmanned" aircraft operations, as one of its top generals likes to say, and that process involves developing the ability to fly drones easily from more places with fewer people in the mix.
The shift reflects a desire to build a more flexible force capable of operating from a greater range of locations, from built-up bases to austere outposts. Like other service branches, the Army is pursuing such a force in response to the emergence of adversaries — namely China — that can more effectively challenge its ability to operate.
"I'm widely quoted as saying, 'We have to unman unmanned formations,'" Maj. Gen. Michael McCurry, commanding general of the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence, said during an event on the future of Army aviation hosted by Defense News at the Association of the US Army annual conference on October 10.
"That doesn't mean I want to get rid of all those people," the general said of the service members involved in drone operations. "What we need those people doing is helping us take advantage of the massive amounts of data and information we're collecting with these systems instead of being focused on driving trucks and trailers and setting up landing strips."
He said that of the different capabilities the Army has been looking into, runway independence — the ability for drones to operate away from traditional runways — is a leading priority. "That's the first thing, and then being able to rid ourselves of large ground-control stations is another way to unman the unmanned formations," McCurry said.
McCurry's remarks at AUSA shed light on the Army's push to change how its personnel support advanced drone operations, but they also point toward the vision for what future drones can do, especially compared to current unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and RQ-7 Shadow. Gray Eagle operations can require companies of as many as 135 people, including operators and ground-control personnel.
But that's not to say drones like Gray Eagle and Shadow don't have futures in the Army vision, particularly as Army automation and artificial intelligence efforts change the way troops operate UAVs and gather data.
While early drones served strictly in reconnaissance functions, modern UAVs are often armed with precision air-to-ground missiles, extending the capability of unmanned assets beyond just surveillance to strike. US combat drones played an extensive role in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places.
UAVs like the long-range Gray Eagles, variations of Predator, take off from large runways like manned aircraft, with the Shadows flying from a launcher. This requires multiple operators to remotely control the aircraft and a host of personnel to keep an eye on flight patterns, weather, and mission operations. And even more personnel are needed to maintain the drones and sift through data and footage they collect while in the field.
It can be a logistical and security challenge, having troops remain static in one location where enemies can easily locate and target them. And with some of these drones, like Gray Eagle, requiring more than 100 people for regular operations, they risk becoming drains on Army manpower, which is already under stress.
Last year, the Army missed its recruiting goal by 15,000 people. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said it was the "most challenging recruiting year since the start of the all-volunteer force."
This problem is one reason the Army is looking to cut the number of people involved in UAV operations. As McCurry said recently, the focus is pushing personnel away from more manual labor jobs, such as "driving trucks and trailers and setting up landing strips," and toward processing "massive amounts of data and information" gathered by drones. That could include employing AI to help troops fly UAVs and make decisions in real time, too.
To get there, the Army first needs a new fleet of flexible, adaptable drones that can take off and land vertically from anywhere, with no need for a runway or extensive support equipment and ground operations. That means the Army could theoretically fly drones from austere locations not known to enemy forces or land them at a moment's notice. A second issue is more a software and user-interface problem.
Operators are typically static when flying UAVs, so the Army wants to scale down the control interface so troops can easily control them on the move, McCurry said. And common controls would also allow troops to switch from one drone to another without having to undergo major training, taking personnel out of the field.
But even with the move toward this future for Army drones, there's potentially still opportunities for older models to serve a purpose.
"I think we have platforms that are out there and if they're competitive, I think we can upgrade them," Rodney Davis, acting Program Executive Officer for Aviation said during the event, adding that drones like Shadow have a future due to improvements that can be made to the technology to keep them updated and functioning in line with other drones, although the Army does have plans to eventually replace Shadow in coming years.