October 7, 2009
The Enterprise Ledger
Enterprise, Alabama

By Michelle Mann
staff writer

Using unmanned aircraft “where we don’t want soldiers to be” helps to reduce risk to soldiers on the ground, retired Col. Scott Larese told Enterprise Rotarians Tuesday.

The Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems, operates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known as a remotely-operated aircraft or UAVs, that are capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating engine, Larese said. A piloted aircraft can remain airborne about two and a half hours, he added. “UAVs can go from six hours in the smaller systems to 36 hours in the larger systems.”

Fort Rucker became the central headquarters for all of the Army’s unmanned systems in 2003 and Larese was named Enterprise-based contractor Navigator Development Group’s program manager for the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence this year. UAVs have been used by the Army since the early 1970s, Larese said. They are one part of the three-part unmanned aircraft systems. The word “systems” is used, said Larese, because each system includes the soldiers and control stations on the ground, the data links and the unmanned aircraft itself.

Initially, most of the maintenance and training on the ground system control systems was conducted by civilian contractors, but the Army is increasingly taking over that mission, Larese said. More than 1,400 soldiers, Marines and civilians have been trained by the Army and 2,300 are expected to be trained next year, he said. Training a control station operator takes from two weeks to two months, compared to the year and a half required for pilot training.

Some UAVs are controlled from a remote location, said Larese. Others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems.

UAVs perform reconnaissance and attack missions, Larese said. “The Army’s goal is to get that video to the soldier on the ground as quickly as possible because he is the one who needs it.” Input from the “soldiers on the ground” who actually use the systems has aided greatly in its fine-tuning, Larese said.

“The Army has flown more than 760,000 combat flight hours in unmanned aircraft systems,” Larese said “UAS are proving themselves in key operational roles and are embraced by the war fighters who use them.”