Now imagine each one of these quadrotors armed with a small explosive payload? Maybe even use their larger cousins that we saw being used in Libya. (imagine EFP’s mounted to the belly of a larger quadrotor?) Then use them ‘kamakazee style’ for a massive swarm attack or to support an ambush. In other words, it is research like this that is quickly making this stuff a reality. -Matt
Interesting news. But for the big picture, we have been fighting this war for over ten years and have used big, expensive and fuel gobbling jet aircraft for these support missions for awhile. I would have thought that switching to an aircraft like the Super Tucano or similar would have been a no brainer a long time ago?
Either way, better late than never as they say. I am sure we will see it get some use still and it will be really cool to see this thing in action in Afghanistan or maybe even Africa. I would be curious to see how much fuel and maintenance costs the Air Force really saves by switching to the Super Tucano for these missions as well.
On another point, I was able to stumble upon some Pierre Sprey papers on developing a Close Air Support aircraft. Here is a quote of a footnote in his essay for The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays To Help You Through It.
See Pierre M. Sprey, “Notes on Close Air Support,” Intrec Inc. Internal Study, Potomac, MD, May 1974. This is an extended introduction to the nature of the close air support (CAS) mission, the effectiveness characteristics required, and a comparison of aircraft available for the mission in 1974 (which remains essentially unchanged today, since no new CAS-specific aircraft or weapons have been developed in the intervening 35 years). Find a copy of this document here. See also Pierre M. Sprey, “Combat Effectiveness Considerations in Designing Close Support Fighters,” Briefing for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, 1983. This includes an effectiveness analysis, design characteristics and cost for a feasible close air support aircraft significantly more lethal and survivable than the A-10 at one-fourth the size and half the cost. See this document here.
Pierre Sprey is certainly a significant engineer and his babies were the F-16 and the A-10. He was also part of the Boyd mafia. I would be curious what Pierre would have to say about the Super Tucano, or if his vision of a CAS aircraft is different from the vision that folks have for the LSA? I would assume they are one in the same. I should also mention that Pierre had that ‘other’ war to gain lessons from called Vietnam, that probably heavily influenced his thoughts on the matter. Interesting stuff. -Matt
A-29 SUPER TUCANO WINS DEFENSE CONTRACT IN US
December 30, 2011
Embraer Defense and Security and partner Sierra Nevada Corporation will provide the US Air Force with the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft for the LAS program
The U.S. Air Force today announced that it has selected the A-29 Super Tucano, produced by Embraer Defense and Security, for the Light Air Support (LAS) program. The aircraft will be supplied in partnership with Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) as the prime contractor, and will be used to conduct advanced flight training, aerial reconnaissance and light air support operations.
“This opportunity to serve the US Government with the best product for the LAS mission, under the leadership of the Sierra Nevada Corporation as the prime contractor, honors us,” said Luiz Carlos Aguiar, CEO of Embraer Defense and Security. “We are committed to pursuing our U.S. investment strategy and to delivering the A-29 Super Tucano on schedule and within the budget.”
As specified by the Air Force, this is a firm-fixed price delivery order contract in the amount of $355 million for the Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft and associated support. Twenty LAS aircraft will be provided, as well as ground training devices to support pilot training and support for all maintenance and supply requirements for the aircraft and associated support equipment.
Thanks to Kyle for sending this over at Facebook. It’s not every day where you get to see a cop actually PIT a plane. lol I don’t think they teach that at most driving courses? Good on them though, and they got their guy! -Matt
What I wanted to do here is put together a list of all of the contract aviation losses in both wars. Thanks to wikipedia, it was easy to organize this and put it all together. If anyone has information they would like to add, or if you see some missing aircraft losses in this post, let me know in the comments.
Also, if you follow the links, they will take you to the overall aviation losses in these wars. In Iraq, the Kiowa Helicopter and the Apache really took a hit. Lots of crashes and combat losses there. But they were also heavily used.
In Afghanistan, I would have thought there would be more losses on both the military and civilian side. The CH 47 was the top aircraft that crashed or was shot down. The Blackhawk was right behind this aircraft. Although this war is not over, and these numbers could reach Iraq levels in a few years.
The big one in Afghanistan is the necessary power to get up to those elevations, and the CH 47 is a work horse for that. Hence why this was the top aircraft that crashed, because it gets the most use.
The total losses for military and civilian aircraft in the Iraq war was 133 rotary wing (with 43 lost to hostile fire) and 24 fixed wing losses (with 2 to hostile fire, and 2 to friendly fire).
In Afghanistan, it is 103 rotary wing (with 17 lost to hostile fire) and 23 fixed wing (with 1 lost to hostile fire on ground).
With those statistics, you get a good idea as to what the real danger is of flight in the war zones. The enemy is certainly a threat, but the environment/pilot error/equipment failure is what causes the majority of these crashes.
Also, it would be great to see our military or some think tank go through all of these accidents and combat losses, and find out if there is a better aircraft that could have been used for these types of missions. Sometimes the best aircraft is not necessarily the most expensive or fancier aircraft, but the one that can perform the job in the worst kind of conditions specific to that region or war zone. A hellfire missile fired from a Cessna Caravan, is no different than a hellfire missile fired from an Apache helicopter.
I guess my point is, are we using the correct aircraft with the best survivability and capability for the job that is required? We lost a lot of Kiowas, Apaches, CH 47′s, and Blackhawks in this war, and you wonder if there are aircraft that could have been better suited for these missions?
The other thing to think about is legacy aircraft for these countries when we leave. Both Iraq and Afghanistan are purchasing and using Cessna Caravans, and that is a great multipurpose aircraft that they could use. It is also cheap to keep running and pretty dependable. But once we give these countries the really expensive aircraft to operate and maintain, then how do we expect them to be able to afford using these things? And even with our own operations and the state of the US economy, we should be considering all options for aircraft, based on the requirements of the mission. It is not against the law to be more cost effective in war, and I have to think that there are cheaper options for some of the stuff we are doing in these conflicts. -Matt
Contract aircraft, non-military aircraft losses in the Iraq War
2009
July 17, 2009 – An MD-530F contracted to Xe (formerly Blackwater) crashes at Butler Range outside Baghdad. Two pilots died. The cause was not known.
2008
November 13, 2008 – An Antonov An-12 crashes after takeoff from Al Asad Air Base, killing all 7 crew members. Six members of the crew and one passenger died, three of them were Russians. The crew also consisted of a Belarusian, two Ukrainians and an Indian citizen.
2007
March 7, 2007 – A privately-contracted Mil Mi-8 helicopter from the Republic of Georgia crashes due to technical failures, injuring its three Ukrainian crewmembers, and several Iraqi passengers.
January 31, 2007 – A Blackwater USA Bell 412 helicopter is shot down under fire near Karma during a flight between Al Hillah and Baghdad. A US military helicopter rescues the passengers and crew.
January 23, 2007 – A Blackwater USA MD 530F helicopter is shot down by hostile fire in Baghdad. All of the 5 man crew are killed in the incident, likely executed after surviving the crash. The remaining survivor was also killed under unclear circumstances, when another Blackwater helicopter descended to the crash site.
January 9, 2007 – A Moldovan Antonov An-26 crashes near Balad in the 2007 Balad aircraft crash, killing 34 of the 35 on board.
2005
May 30, 2005 – A Comp Air 7SL aircraft with the Iraqi Air Force crashes in eastern Iraq, killing four Americans and an Iraqi on board.
April 21, 2005 – A Bulgarian Mil Mi-8 is shot down north of Baghdad, killing the 11 civilians on board, including six American contractors, three Bulgarian pilots, one of them is executed shortly after the crash, and two Fijian guards.
Link to Wikipedia here.
—————————————————————-
Contract aircraft, non-military aircraft losses in Afghanistan War
2011
July 6, 2011: IL-76 cargo plane, registered 4K-AZ55, was destroyed in an accident near Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The plane is said to have flown into the side of a mountain at about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters).The transport plane carried a total of 18 tons of cargo for the NATO-led forces at Bagram Air Base.
This is very cool. It sounds like this little drone archer weapon was used in Afghanistan just as it was intended. The article below also hinted at how the munition worked and said it was like a ‘flying shotgun’ and ‘the operator has control of how far away from the target it goes off –preselected distances,’. It will be cool to hear more reports about it’s various uses, and especially after the Army get’s their order of $4.9 million worth of Switchblades. -Matt
U.S. Flew Kamikaze Drones Against Taliban
By Tony Capaccio
Oct 18, 2011
The U.S. military has launched miniature kamikaze drones against Taliban targets and plans to deploy more next year for U.S. special operating forces, according to documents and an Army official.
The tube-launched “Switchblade” drone, made by Monrovia, California-based Aerovironment Inc. (AVAV), was secretly sent to Afghanistan for the first time last year. “Under a dozen” were fired, said Army Deputy Product Director William Nichols.
“It’s been used in Afghanistan by military personnel” and “shown to be effective,” Nichols said. The drone’s GPS guidance is made by Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) and the warhead by Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK)
Disclosure of the Switchblade’s use in Afghanistan highlights the Pentagon’s expanding range of missions for remotely piloted aircraft. The fleet also includes broad-area surveillance aircraft such as the Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) Global Hawk, the missile-firing General Atomics Co. Predator and Reaper drones, and hand-launched short-range surveillance models, such as the Aerovironment Raven.
Nichols declined to detail the Switchblade’s targets. He said the drone’s “designed for open threats, something that’s on top of a building but you can’t hit it” with regular artillery or mortars for fear of collateral damage.
The drone is less than 24 inches long and weighs about six pounds.
“It’s a ‘flying shotgun,’” Nichols said, not a “hit-to- kill” weapon that explodes on impact.
“The operator has control of how far away from the target it goes off –preselected distances,” he said in an interview Oct. 12 at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
Sep 28
One of the things I like about this is it’s ability to get an individual quickly and efficiently from a low point to a high point. To really have command of the high ground. A soldier could come in from a very high point, much like a parachutist, and have the ability to precisely land, or back off–much like a helicopter pilot could.
Imagine the ability to instantly place observers or snipers onto high ground as the battle takes place? Or to go and rescue folks with either a pilot operating the pack, or to use it like a UAV and remotely rescue someone? The delivery of life saving medical supplies/ammo/food/water etc. could also be accomplished. Lots of ideas.
The rescue feature is interesting as well. It is so small and maneuverable that I could see folks using this to grab someone off a cliff or a burning building. That would be a great use. Besides, it would be really fun to fly this thing around. -Matt
To quote the Joker, ‘Now You’re Talking’. lol It’s about time the Army invests in this weapon. Like I mentioned before, every contact with the enemy could produce tons of intel using drone archer weapons, and most of all, produce some kills. Or hey, if we really get good at this game, use the drones for non-lethal means and stun the prey so we can capture and get even more intel.
Weapons like this will also allow competent drone archer teams to take advantage of the chaos of a battle. As soon as the battle starts, these things go up and the hunters begin to hunt from a flank (the air) that most enemies are not prepared for. Not only can we see from the air with these devices, but we can kill, and that puts a lot of capability in the hands of small unit leaders.
Having a drone that can not only watch enemy movements during the battle, but could actually track the enemy as they try to escape is a tool that can be used for ‘relentless pursuit‘. (h/t to Eeben for that) And this also gives a squad leader choices. They can either watch with the drone and call it back if they can’t get a kill, or use the drone as a kamikaze weapon.
This weapon also helps in the ‘locate, close with, and destroy’ mission. Because as you close with that enemy, you need to be able to see if they are staying put while maneuvering upon their elements. You can also use the drone to see any terrain or enemy positions that a ground based observer could not see. This information is vital for a squad’s decision making loop (OODA) as they are trying to gain advantage in their fight and get a win.
Which by the way….. Something we can take from the insurgents here, is their methods for suicide assaults. Swarming is what they are depending upon–or to do a breach with one suicide bomber, then swarm in with multiple suicide assaulters fighting their way into pockets of human concentration to detonate. A drone archer team could probably take some interesting ideas from this process, as well as learn from the old Japanese Kamikaze attack strategies. I also like the idea of including these weapons within the strategic planning for an assault. Much like how you would use a SMAW team for initiating an assault, a drone archer team could have similar utility.
I also like the idea of being able to fly this thing across a canyon or to the tops of hills during a fight. I am sure most combatants have no respect for small drones at this time, thinking that they are not armed. I would love to see the expression on a booger eater’s face when they see that little thing slam right into their team and blow up. lol Or how about ten of those little drones swarming like some bees, and just plowing into targets of opportunity during a fight? And meanwhile the infantry is pouring on the lead and any other munitions to keep the enemy busy. That chaos, will provide plenty of opportunities for a drone archer team. Lots of ideas here….
I guess my intent is that I would like to see this weapon used to defeat hit and run tactics. These tactics are what insurgents depend upon for success against infantry units, and I would like to see drone archer tactics contribute to countering hit and run. In other words, if the enemy wants to expose themselves with a ‘hit’, then I want to deploy a weapon that will get them during the ‘hit’ and/or during the ‘run’ portion of that fight. We will see….-Matt
U.S. Army Awards AeroVironment $4.9 Million Contract for Switchblade Agile Munition Systems and Services
September 01 2011
AeroVironment, Inc. announced that it received a contract on June 29 from the U.S. Army Close Combat Weapons Systems (CCWS), Program Executive Office Missiles and Space (PEO MS). The $4,907,840 contract for the Switchblade agile munition includes engineering services and operational systems for deployment with the U.S. Army.
This award represents the culmination of years of development, testing, demonstrations and customer evaluations. The prototype Switchblade system previously received Safety Confirmation and underwent Military Utility Assessment with the U.S. Army in the fall of 2010. The award is for rapid fielding of this capability to deployed combat forces.
Til Valhall to those who perished in this incident. You will not be forgotten, and your contribution to the cause in Afghanistan was profound and honorable. My heart also goes out to the friends and family of the fallen, both in Afghanistan and in the US.
As far as what exactly happened is up to the military investigators to reveal. So I will not get into any speculation as to the weapons used by the Taliban, or who to blame for any operational screw ups. It could be that this shot was the Golden BB, or the lucky shot. Or it could be something that was planned and well coordinated using advanced weapons. Who knows, and it is all speculation until the final reports come out as to what exactly happened. -Matt
This is a quick one, and falls under the Opensource Military Hardware concept. Imagine this–building a weaponized drone using open source maker’s sites like DIY Drones and Dronepedia and utilizing a 3D printer to make hundreds if not thousands of them? That is where all of this stuff is going, and the possibilities are endless.
The other reason why I wanted to bring this up is that this kind of thing is definitely competition for the defense industries that specialize in UAV sales. Why buy an expensive drone from a company when you can just print out a bunch of them? And because anyone can access the information on how to build these things, then now you have the ability to continuously improve your drone program based on the input of the crowds.
My last point to bring up with this is that as this technology becomes cheaper and more available, then the odds of these things being used by criminals or terrorists increase. The other day, a DIY crew made a drone that could hack into computers via Wifi, and it is only a matter of time until we see the bad guys use this stuff to do all sorts of interesting things. Or even today’s terrorists/enemies, and all of the possible deadly uses of drones. Cartels or pirates could also get into the game of making and using drones. Especially for pirates, because drones could help them to find vessels to take down. Perhaps having shotguns for site security will be a required weapon in the near future? Or some kind of grenade launcher outfitted with special rounds to counter drone attacks?
Now what I would be interested to see is a drone that could be launched by an RPG launcher, and either used for surveillance or as a flying missile. A drone that you could quickly get into the air and use it as a ‘bird of prey’ for a fire fight. Or something that you could launch and have it fly farther than any of your unit’s weapon’s effective ranges, and have the ability to locate and destroy an enemy across the canyon or up in the hills. Something like that could end one of these DShK cross canyon ambushes, and especially if you did not have CAS on deck to deal with the attackers. While everyone is returning fire, this drone could be launched and flown above enemy positions so precise targeting data could be collected, or targets of opportunity could be taken out by the drone itself. -Matt
You are currently browsing the archives for the Aviation category.
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Arclite theme by digitalnature | powered by WordPress
