Watch the “Rise of the Drones” documentary below and answer the following questions:
1. What did you learn from this documentary that you did not already know about UAS?
2. Select one human factors issue/problem that was highlighted in the documentary for manned aircraft, and one for UAS. How can these issues/problems be designed out of a future variant of the system?
I must admit this is not the first time I have seen this video. This video has been the subject of many discussion forums in past classes I have taken in MSUS program. I am still amazed at the technology that is present in these systems from the GCS to the data links to the air vehicle itself as well as the pilots that fly them. In such a relatively short period of time we have gone from Kill Devil Hill to the sound barrier to unmanned aircraft that are capable of being piloted from thousands of miles away. As General Deptula, (RET) said, “where we are in terms of unmanned aerial vehicle is about the same place we were with bi-planes after world war I” (Nova, 2013). I have been in this field, specifically the unmanned aviation side of the house for almost a year now and I will be the first to admit I was not exactly thrilled to be a part of it. This has been the most challenging flying I have done to date and one that continues to challenge me in every way, shape and form. What I did not understand until I became an RPA pilot was the intelligence cycle, operational planning, development and the corresponding mission execution. During the WWII years it took months to collect information and process it to create the actionable intelligence needed to create a mission that would have an operational value to the objectives determined by military leadership. Once this was determined it would then take time to gather the hundreds of aviation assets needed as well as the munitions and bombs in order to prosecute targets with the actionable intelligence that was collected over the months. In the mid 1900’s the military had to develop aircraft for specific missions such as intelligence gathering and separate aircraft for attack missions. Today these capabilities are melded together into one aircraft, specifically the predator series of unmanned aircraft. With this system the entire information collection/processing/actionable intelligence/mission execution can be accomplished in a matter of minutes where it use to take months.
Military aircraft, specifically the manned SR-71 and U-2 aircraft were created for a specific mission. To fly higher, and in some cases faster, to collect information on the enemy while staying out of range of surface to air missiles. As a result there were limitations with the aircraft as well as the pilot. The U-2 pilots’ mission effectiveness/endurance is limited to 12 hours and aircraft, such as the SR-71, required refueling every two hours. Today, these manned aircraft are considered to have significant limitations although the dragon lady’s still have a significant role in intelligence collection. The predator family of unmanned aircraft can stay aloft, in some cases, up to three times that of the U-2 and the SR-71 collecting the same types of information quickly relaying to an operations center whereby analysts can quickly make determinations. As a result of real-time collection a nine-line can be issued in a matter of minutes by commanders.
References
NOVA. (2013). Rise of the drones. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikuu2VU2WCk