Army Considers Teaming Drones With Chinooks, Black Hawks - Blog
During air assaults, it would be invaluable
for mission commanders in the back of a UH-60 Black Hawk to be able to
look at a real-time video stream — captured by a drone — of a landing
zone and surrounding area. But officials don’t want to overload aircraft
crews with too much data, he said. "Will they get focused on watching
the video ... as opposed to flying and landing the aircraft?"
Manned-unmanned teaming could also help
medevac helicopter crews, who often have to land under fire or in the
immediate aftermath of a firefight, Lynch said.
“It would be
good to have a look at the [landing zone] before you go pick up a
patient and understand potentially where the enemy is,” he said. “Is it
still hot? ... Where am I going to land? Is it going to be a hoist? Is
it going to be a landing to the ground situation?”
The service
is already developing manned-unmanned teaming capability between AH-64E
Apache attack helicopters and Gray Eagle and Shadow UAVs. Army officials
announced earlier this week that the service is considering using those
teams to conduct reconnaissance missions currently flown by the OH-58
Kiowa Warrior.
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