God and Country

The Marines have decided to deploy an unmanned helicopter to Afghanistan to conduct cargo delivery operations:

Adm. Bill Shannon, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, approved Lockheed Martin/Kaman’s K-MAX unmanned helicopter for a six-month deployment to augment Marine Corps ground and air logistics operations.

The unmanned helicopter has reportedly Read more…

One of the “advantages” of unmanned aerial vehicles is the removal of the human element from much of the operation.  In theory, its inability to get tired, make mistakes, or act with emotion may make a UAV a “better” system.  In theory.

While the UAV may not be able to get “sick,” it is apparently still vulnerable to computer viruses, as public reports indicate has occurred to both MQ-9s and MQ-1s (which are essentially the same UAV).  To be fair, that was likely a result of the “human element,” but the fact remains that UAVs are not always the panacea some may think they are.

An MQ-9 Reaper has crashed on final approach at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.  The base reported that the owning squadron was a training unit for the MQ-9.

The AT-6C, a modified version of the T-6 currently used to train US Air Force and Navy pilots, has reportedly been used to deliver LGBs out of Tucson, Arizona.  The Air Force Reserve Command Test Center has been testing the AT-6C, which is explicitly not an in-development weapons acquisition program.

Though light attack is not an Air Force procurement program, AATC’s task is to report its findings to senior leaders early next year to help refine requirements…

As if to prove the point, the aircraft has a civilian N-number, rather than a military designation:

There aren’t too many civilian aircraft in the world equipped to Read more…

General Edward Rice, commander of the Air Force Air Education and Training Command, has made (the foreseeable) statement that UAV pilots will someday outnumber all other pilots in the Air Force.

Of course, the birth of the nuclear age foretold the end of the fighter pilot era, and the demise of the dedicated close air support aircraft has been predicted (and proven false) repeatedly.  The future is anything but entirely certain.

US Army Specialist Benjamin Halbert recently said

If you can play Xbox, you can fly a Raven.

Unfortunately, that kind of attitude is ultimately how you run airplanes into each other.

The Raven is a rucked-in, hand-launched UAV with a four-foot wingspan.  Halbert’s point is probably that it is not complicated to fly – which is true.

But physically flying the UAV is only one Read more…

The US military pays certain career fields “bonuses” and other incentive pays for a fairly simple reason:  to keep people in the military who would otherwise make far more money outside of it.  Some have complained, then, when the economy turns:  For example, when the airline industry took a dive, some questioned what reason there could be for giving military pilots incentive pay.

The Air Force Times claims the “commercial pilot job market” is now set “for a boom,” however.

After nearly a four-year drought of openings, airlines are predicting they will hire more pilots in the next decade than they ever have. Aircraft maker Boeing forecasts a need for 466,650 more commercial pilots by 2029 — an average of 23,300 a year.

They also noted that changes in the Air Force culture may affect Read more…

According to the Wall Street Journal, a US Air Force C-130 and an unmanned RQ-7 Shadow collided over Afghanistan on Monday.  The C-130 was damaged but landed safely; the RQ-7 apparently did not survive.

The name of the UAV is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The RQ-7 is a tactical UAV generally operated by US ground forces.  DefenseTech.org has pictures of the C-130.

In a bit of sensationalist headlining, a few news articles noted the Defense Department report blasting the acquisition program of the Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.

According to a June 24 report from the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, the critical error came when the drone’s operator accidentally pressed the spacebar with a wire from his headset — launching the self-destruct mechanism on the vehicle.

As the articles later note, there’s no such thing as a single-button Read more…

One question asked repeatedly is whether it’s better to go Air Force or Navy if one wants to fly or be a fighter pilot.  The FAQ of this site answers this question (as well as many others), but there’s interesting and relevant information from the graduation of the class of 2011 that just occurred.

USNA:
Class Size:  1035
Pilot Training (incl. “Marine Air”): 305 (30%)
Naval Flight Officer: 75 (7%)

USAFA:
Class Size:  1021  Read more…

The US Army proudly announced its MQ-1C Gray Eagle had successfully employed a Hellfire missile in Iraq.

Of course, the Army’s Gray Eagle is essentially the same aircraft as the Air Force’s Predator, which has been armed for some time.

The article notes some of the differences between Air Force and Army operations:

The Air Force’s Predator drones are flown by officers who are usually located back in the USA and connected to the airframes by satellite link. But flying the Army’s Gray Eagle is an enlisted soldier’s affair, done in theater and close to the ground troops that the airframe serves.

The New York Times reports the United States has, with the knowledge of the Mexican government, begun flying drones over its southern neighbor to “gather intelligence” on Mexico’s ongoing drug war.

Officials on both sides of the border also said that Mexico asked the United States to use its drones to help track suspects’ movements. The officials said that while Mexico had its own unmanned aerial vehicles, they did not have the range or high-resolution capabilities necessary for certain surveillance activities.

One American military official said the Pentagon had flown Read more…

A newspaper columnist recently suggested there was a “strong moral argument” for taking out the Libyan leader, and the MQ-1B Predator was just the tool for the job.  Columnist Richard Miniter said:

Since President Barack Obama seems comfortable killing terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan with Predator drone strikes, why not in Libya?

Ignore the political and even moral aspects of such a statement for a moment.

Such an assertion is both ignorant and asinine.

Following Operation Desert Storm, hundreds of hours of CNN Read more…

The US Air Force has accepted delivery of the last MQ-1 Predator.  This completes the purchase order created some time ago.

For all those who look forward to joining the Air Force to fly by remote control, not to worry:  Production and purchase of the Predator‘s bigger brother, the MQ-9 Reaper, is still in full swing.

This was the “last” only because newer and better UAVs are now filling the ranks.

The US Air Force launched its second X-37B, an unmanned, shuttle-shaped space plane.  The first was in space for much of last year, ultimately performing an autonomous landing at Vandenberg AFB.

The mission and capabilities of the X-37 have been the source of much speculation.