Inside the Pentagon
21 Oct 2010
English
656 words
(c) 2010 Inside Washington Publishers. All Rights Reserved
21 Oct 2010
English
656 words
(c) 2010 Inside Washington Publishers. All Rights Reserved
The role of unmanned aerial vehicles in counter-improvised explosive device operations in theater will continue to grow, while the use of unmanned ground sensors has proven largely ineffective in the fight, according to a top Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization official.
"There are a significant amount of UAVs in theater right now and we will increase that," JIEDDO Director Lt. Gen. Michael Oates said Oct. 20. "Their application to the counter-IED fight is enormous," he told reporters. "One for surveillance, two for other types of sensors that may lead us to detecting IED's or homemade explosive precursor materials."
Unattended ground sensors, meanwhile, have proven ineffective in both Iraq and Afghanistan, in large part because the "local population" can find them easily.
UAVs, Oates noted, can carry a range of payload packages that aid communication over mountain ranges in Afghanistan, and provide full-motion video at lower tactical levels.
"In many cases, they can provide the data directly from the UAV to a ground station and speed our understanding of what's going on," he said. "So we've got both fixed-wing carrying sensors and UAVs carrying sensors, and I expect they will continue to be used for some time."
The unique challenges of the terrain and threats facing U.S. forces in Afghanistan have required the service to explore using a range of UAVs in theater, including two new smaller systems, one of which may be a rotary-wing aircraft provided for company-level route clearance teams, Oates added.
"We're looking at something that will provide the company commander six to eight hours of endurance and carry a little bit larger payload package," he said. "Puma is smaller, Raven is smaller -- they can't really carry a whole lot and can't operate at high altitudes -- so we're trying to provide a range of options."
As for the service pursuing and fielding an unmanned rotary-wing system capable of counter-IED missions, Oates said, "Absolutely, we are doing it now; I hope to put a capability in theater here very soon."
As for unmanned ground sensors' effectiveness in counter-IED operations, Oates said, "Unattended ground sensors have been of limited utility in both Iraq and Afghanistan for what may appear to be some very obvious reasons: The local population is able to detect them almost as rapidly as we can put them in."
The Unattended Ground Sensor program is a remnant of the Army's now-defunct Future Combat Systems suite.
"All [UGS] tells you is something's moving but you don't know precisely what," said Oates. "That has not panned out to be as effective as many people thought it might be."
IEDs continue to be a significant threat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. According to documents provided by JIEDDO, more than 10,000 IED incidents have been reported in Afghanistan in calendar year 2010, and more than 1,000 were reported in Iraq. Of those IEDs cited, only half were found or cleared.
"The fact is since 2004, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the detect rate has hung at about 50 percent," said Oates. "Detecting the IED is only one component, but it is a difficult one, so we've put money into areas where we can try and mitigate the effects." These include training American, Afghan and Iraqi forces, as well as focusing on IED networks to reduce the overall volume of IEDs and to impact the entire supply chain, he added.
"When you look at the actual detect problem, we have got a significant challenge trying to improve our detect rate of IEDs outside the blast radius; this remains our number one priority for the detect component," said Oates. "There's no silver bullets that are going to solve this problem, but I do believe we've made significant progress over the years." -- Debbie Siegelbaum
"There are a significant amount of UAVs in theater right now and we will increase that," JIEDDO Director Lt. Gen. Michael Oates said Oct. 20. "Their application to the counter-IED fight is enormous," he told reporters. "One for surveillance, two for other types of sensors that may lead us to detecting IED's or homemade explosive precursor materials."
Unattended ground sensors, meanwhile, have proven ineffective in both Iraq and Afghanistan, in large part because the "local population" can find them easily.
UAVs, Oates noted, can carry a range of payload packages that aid communication over mountain ranges in Afghanistan, and provide full-motion video at lower tactical levels.
"In many cases, they can provide the data directly from the UAV to a ground station and speed our understanding of what's going on," he said. "So we've got both fixed-wing carrying sensors and UAVs carrying sensors, and I expect they will continue to be used for some time."
The unique challenges of the terrain and threats facing U.S. forces in Afghanistan have required the service to explore using a range of UAVs in theater, including two new smaller systems, one of which may be a rotary-wing aircraft provided for company-level route clearance teams, Oates added.
"We're looking at something that will provide the company commander six to eight hours of endurance and carry a little bit larger payload package," he said. "Puma is smaller, Raven is smaller -- they can't really carry a whole lot and can't operate at high altitudes -- so we're trying to provide a range of options."
As for the service pursuing and fielding an unmanned rotary-wing system capable of counter-IED missions, Oates said, "Absolutely, we are doing it now; I hope to put a capability in theater here very soon."
As for unmanned ground sensors' effectiveness in counter-IED operations, Oates said, "Unattended ground sensors have been of limited utility in both Iraq and Afghanistan for what may appear to be some very obvious reasons: The local population is able to detect them almost as rapidly as we can put them in."
The Unattended Ground Sensor program is a remnant of the Army's now-defunct Future Combat Systems suite.
"All [UGS] tells you is something's moving but you don't know precisely what," said Oates. "That has not panned out to be as effective as many people thought it might be."
IEDs continue to be a significant threat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. According to documents provided by JIEDDO, more than 10,000 IED incidents have been reported in Afghanistan in calendar year 2010, and more than 1,000 were reported in Iraq. Of those IEDs cited, only half were found or cleared.
"The fact is since 2004, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the detect rate has hung at about 50 percent," said Oates. "Detecting the IED is only one component, but it is a difficult one, so we've put money into areas where we can try and mitigate the effects." These include training American, Afghan and Iraqi forces, as well as focusing on IED networks to reduce the overall volume of IEDs and to impact the entire supply chain, he added.
"When you look at the actual detect problem, we have got a significant challenge trying to improve our detect rate of IEDs outside the blast radius; this remains our number one priority for the detect component," said Oates. "There's no silver bullets that are going to solve this problem, but I do believe we've made significant progress over the years." -- Debbie Siegelbaum
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