MQ-1 Predator And MQ-9 Reaper UCAS Effective Operations of Armed Forces

Much has been made of the considerable performance of such Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk, flying at 65,000 feet and covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of ocean or land in a single mission. Global Hawk is likely to provide maritime surveillance for several nations, at least for the United States and Australia, and smaller, lower altitude UAS are also likely to enter service with a number of nations in the region in the short- and medium-term.

One issue that is only now beginning to come to the fore, however, is what will the Asian Pacific region do about unmanned armed intervention systems? Current operational experience by Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan indicates a viable some would say vibrant role for Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems (UCAS), a role that is being proven almost daily in these areas. What does the region intend to do about implementing the lessons learned from this hard-won experience and applying them to what is arguably perhaps the most challenging arena in the world for sustained military operations? Does the future hold the prospect of swarms of armed UCAS darkening the skies of Asia?

Despite the levels of activity going on in UCAS development elsewhere in the world, the real answer to this question is that it is probably too early, at this point, to make any accurate forecast of what is likely to
happen in Asia. There are too many variables, too many vested interests that haven’t yet quite decided where their interests should be vested, and too many unanswered questions. It is not too early, however, to start asking the question. And it is certainly not too early to examine what might be learned from the development and concept demonstration programs taking place in other parts of the world notably the United States and Europe.

MQ-9 Reaper UCAS

In the United States, considerable attention has been focused on the development of concepts of operations for the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UCAS, which has resulted in robust and effective operations
of armed UAS in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan the latter theatre including significant involvement from British Reaper operators as well as American. Anecdotal evidence from theatre shows that, on average, some 20 percent of daily available UAS sorties are dedicated to strike missions.

MQ-1 Predator UAV

NATO’s Joint Airpower Competence Centre in Kalkar, Germany, has studied the development of UAS tactics and has determined a number of potential armed intervention missions that can be effectively fulfilled
by UCAS: strike, air-to-air, overwatch, suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD), electronic warfare and on the basis that the best defence against a weapon system is another iteration of the same weapon system counter-UAS operations