This article appears in the September 6th-19th edition of the IET magazine, Engineering and Technology. I had to scan it as I couldn't find it on line, so apologies if the grammar/punctuation has gone tits up.
UK forces face shortfall in UAV operators
THE USEFULNESS of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to UK armed forces could be jeopardised by a lack of trained operators. A review of the role UAVs play in gathering battlefield information found that action is needed to avoid a 70 per cent shortfall in senior operators when new craft are introduced in two yearsâ time.
The House of Commons Defence Committee interviewed senior figures from the military and industry for its assessment of the contribution of UAVs to ISTAR (intelligence, surveil lance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) capability. It heard that systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are providing âbattle-winning capabilitiesâ and are proving effective in counter-insurgency operations, but found concerns about the numbers of people trained to operate them.
Three types of UAV have been acquired as âurgent operational requirementsâ. Reaper, used in Afghanistan since autumn 2007, is a 4,500kg vehicle with a 20m wingspan. It carries a full motion video sensor and synthetic aperture radar and is armed. Capable of flying missions lasting 16 hours, it is operated by RAF personnel based at a USAF ground control station in Nevada using a satellite communications system.
Hermes 450 went into service in July 2007 in Iraq and Afghanistan and is provided by Thales UK. Weighing 450kg and with a 10.5m wingspan, it can fly for 14 hours, operating at slower speeds and lower altitudes than the Reaper, but has to stay within radio line of sight of the ground control station. It is launched by a contractor- provided external pilot and operated by Royal Artillery personnel before control is handed back to Thales for recovery and landing.
The hand-launched Desert Hawk 3, which carries out hour- long missions, has also been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan, with 144 vehicles operated by the Royal Artillery from 18 ground control stations.
From 2010, Hermes will be superseded by the Watchkeeper system that Thales UK is developing from the same platform.
A deficit of army UAV operators was identified as a âpinch pointâ in the government response to the committeeâs report on the MoD accounts for 2006 07. This reported that between October 2006 and January 2008 the deficit had fallen from 51 per cent to 48 per cent as a result of take up of £10,000 bonus payments for three years service. Manning for 1JAV operators in the RAF is broadly in balance.
The Royal Artillery requirement for UAV operators has recently been increased in preparation for the introduction of Watchkeeper Measured against this, the MoD estimates that senior operator shortfall based on current manning levels would he around 70 per cent. The army plans to address this through extra training courses and transfer of personnel from trades where manning levels ate being reduced. Financial retention incentives may also he used.
The MoD also acknowledges that greater use of full motion video has increased the requirement for imagery analysts. leading to a shortfall of so 18 per cent within the RAE In the short term this is being addressed through training, and the MoD is developing an overall strategy for recruitment and retention.
Asked by the committee why the deficit was so large, Air Vice Marshall Stuart Butler, capability manager for information superiority with the RAE said the situation had improved âconsiderablyâ this year and stressed that it had had no impact on operations. âWhat we are doing on the odd occasion is stretching people a little bit much, but we do not actually have deficit for supporting current ops.â he said.
AVM Butler also admitted that there is a shortage of imagery analysts. âThey are quite difficult to train. it is quite difficult to get the right people and at the moment we do not have as many as we would like, but we are working through processes to ultimately get us up to the level that we need,â he said.
In their final report committee members warned that they expect to be updated on what actions ate taken to address the problems they have highlighted.
Committee chairman James Arbuthnot said the MoD may have been slow to appreciate the potential of UAVs. hut now recognises the important contribution they can make. âThe UAVs acquired for current operations are proving very effective in collecting ISTAR information. However, improvements are required in how this information is processed and disseminated. The MoD must push forward with its planned improvements so that our armed forces can continue to achieve information superiority over the enemyâ
UK forces face shortfall in UAV operators
THE USEFULNESS of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to UK armed forces could be jeopardised by a lack of trained operators. A review of the role UAVs play in gathering battlefield information found that action is needed to avoid a 70 per cent shortfall in senior operators when new craft are introduced in two yearsâ time.
The House of Commons Defence Committee interviewed senior figures from the military and industry for its assessment of the contribution of UAVs to ISTAR (intelligence, surveil lance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) capability. It heard that systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are providing âbattle-winning capabilitiesâ and are proving effective in counter-insurgency operations, but found concerns about the numbers of people trained to operate them.
Three types of UAV have been acquired as âurgent operational requirementsâ. Reaper, used in Afghanistan since autumn 2007, is a 4,500kg vehicle with a 20m wingspan. It carries a full motion video sensor and synthetic aperture radar and is armed. Capable of flying missions lasting 16 hours, it is operated by RAF personnel based at a USAF ground control station in Nevada using a satellite communications system.
Hermes 450 went into service in July 2007 in Iraq and Afghanistan and is provided by Thales UK. Weighing 450kg and with a 10.5m wingspan, it can fly for 14 hours, operating at slower speeds and lower altitudes than the Reaper, but has to stay within radio line of sight of the ground control station. It is launched by a contractor- provided external pilot and operated by Royal Artillery personnel before control is handed back to Thales for recovery and landing.
The hand-launched Desert Hawk 3, which carries out hour- long missions, has also been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan, with 144 vehicles operated by the Royal Artillery from 18 ground control stations.
From 2010, Hermes will be superseded by the Watchkeeper system that Thales UK is developing from the same platform.
A deficit of army UAV operators was identified as a âpinch pointâ in the government response to the committeeâs report on the MoD accounts for 2006 07. This reported that between October 2006 and January 2008 the deficit had fallen from 51 per cent to 48 per cent as a result of take up of £10,000 bonus payments for three years service. Manning for 1JAV operators in the RAF is broadly in balance.
The Royal Artillery requirement for UAV operators has recently been increased in preparation for the introduction of Watchkeeper Measured against this, the MoD estimates that senior operator shortfall based on current manning levels would he around 70 per cent. The army plans to address this through extra training courses and transfer of personnel from trades where manning levels ate being reduced. Financial retention incentives may also he used.
The MoD also acknowledges that greater use of full motion video has increased the requirement for imagery analysts. leading to a shortfall of so 18 per cent within the RAE In the short term this is being addressed through training, and the MoD is developing an overall strategy for recruitment and retention.
Asked by the committee why the deficit was so large, Air Vice Marshall Stuart Butler, capability manager for information superiority with the RAE said the situation had improved âconsiderablyâ this year and stressed that it had had no impact on operations. âWhat we are doing on the odd occasion is stretching people a little bit much, but we do not actually have deficit for supporting current ops.â he said.
AVM Butler also admitted that there is a shortage of imagery analysts. âThey are quite difficult to train. it is quite difficult to get the right people and at the moment we do not have as many as we would like, but we are working through processes to ultimately get us up to the level that we need,â he said.
In their final report committee members warned that they expect to be updated on what actions ate taken to address the problems they have highlighted.
Committee chairman James Arbuthnot said the MoD may have been slow to appreciate the potential of UAVs. hut now recognises the important contribution they can make. âThe UAVs acquired for current operations are proving very effective in collecting ISTAR information. However, improvements are required in how this information is processed and disseminated. The MoD must push forward with its planned improvements so that our armed forces can continue to achieve information superiority over the enemyâ
