Defense Technology International - June 2008 - (Page 66)

INSIGHT EDITORIAL T wo stories in this issue highlight an important fact about airpower, one that might illuminate the contentious debate about the relevance of military aviation in current and future conﬂicts. The U.S. Air Force, for the ﬁrst time in almost 30 years, is spending real money on a new bomber: subsonic, survivable, with a bigger ordnance load than a formation of ﬁghters (see p. 16). In other news, the classic Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) seems to be giving way, in many missions, to its bigger sibling, the Predator B or Reaper (see p. 44). The connection between the two is range and reach. Why is USAF looking at a new bomber? Fighters can go deep into hostile airspace, but quickly run out of fuel, weapons and pilot endur- Airpower And Range ance. The bomber’s assets are its “deep magazine” and varied weapon load, and its long range makes it e ective even if bases near the target are closed. The original Predator UAV was a revolutionary weapon due to its combination of full-motion video (FMV) sensors, precision navigation and satellite communications. With a Predator overhead, a commander anywhere knows more about where the hostiles are than they do, down to the location of individuals, and he sees them move when they move. FMV doesn’t just mean a picture and a location; it shows actions and history and lets the analyst infer intent. But the Predator is a little plastic airplane with a snowmobile engine glued to its tail. Its ﬂight envelope looks like the Westland Wapiti biplane that the RAF used in Afghanistan in the 1920s. The Predator “does 120 kt. on a good day going downhill,” one operator says. It takes a long time to get where it’s needed and it hates bad weather. When you run that little Rotax 24/7, it’s going to give up the ghost sooner or later. The Predator B is a di erent animal. General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Inc. boss Tom Cassidy flies between San Diego and the company’s Grey Butte, Calif., test site in a Raytheon King Air. The Predator B is about that 66 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2008 big, and cruises at more than 240 kt. indicated (faster than 240 kt. ground speed) at 50,000 ft. But that is what airplanes do. They move quickly from place to place in a straight line. Speaking in April at the rollout of the Gripen Demo in Linkoping, Sweden, I made the point that a jet ﬁghter can inﬂuence events anywhere within 600 mi. inside an hour, regardless of terrain. The best-equipped ship or army division can’t do that. Slow airplanes give up that advantage. Cassidy makes the point that the cost of ownership of the Predator B is less than that of the Predator A. One can guess several reasons why: It does not crash as much; its engine runs longer between maintenance actions; its sensors can see farther and its view is less obstructed by terrain; and it covers more ground within a given time. And if the Predator B is covering more ground, so is its crew. Since at least 2003, the demand for Predator FMV has exceeded supply. One can snipe about people commuting from Las Vegas tract homes to air-conditioned trailers at Creech AFB, Nev., but fatigue is fatigue—people have performance limits, units need to refresh and train, and these deployments have no limits. What does four years of combat—virtual or not—do to a 19-yearold? We’re about to ﬁnd out, whether we want to or not. Which raises the question of whether the Army’s plan to proliferate Sky Warrior UAVs into every division makes sense. It’s going to take more people that the Army hasn’t got—the service uses civilian pilots today—and they will have to be trained, housed in-theater and moved when the division moves. If the idea is that the aircraft will be so automated that they have operators, not pilots, we humbly suggest that the Army hasn’t talked to anyone in charge of air tra c. So far, those authorities have been twitchy enough even about vehicles using fully-trained pilots behind the keyboard. And, as the rest of the world decides that higher and faster is the way to go, the Army still wants to chug into action with Sky Warriors at 120 kt. I —Bill Sweetman Read Sweetman’s posts on DTI's weblog, Ares, updated daily: AviationWeek.com/ares AviationWeek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com/ares http://AviationWeek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - June 2008

Defense Technology International - June 2008 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Basic Black Self-Defense Fire-Resistant Perfezione Hyperspeed Trial Big Sky Cashing In Digital Links Hang Ten Sea Change Programs Update Two Steps Back Direct Hit Staying Power Potent Stinger Do No Harm Guard Duty The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - June 2008

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