Although joint doctrine now identifies the aerial side as Unmanned Aircraft Systems, comprising both the vehicle and all ground control, launch, and recovery elements, Marine Corps VMU squadrons have retained the title of UAV squadrons.

“Marine commanders rely on UAS from every level of our family of systems to both preserve manned aviation assets as well as shape their battlespace,” the UAS Plan continues. “Battalion-level units will continue to use the smallest systems (Group-1) as an organic aerial reconnaissance and surveillance asset. The VMU squadrons will employ the larger and more complex systems (Group-3 and -4) via a common Ground Control Station architecture to provide task-organized support to the MAGTF.”

“Trained individuals can put together what I like to refer to as a mini-MAGTF, in which a patrol now has organic air support, albeit as simple as a Raven flying above them and covering their flanks. It also tells an adversary they have air support, so the enemy is less likely to engage that patrol, knowing a UAV above them may detect and warn the patrol.”

In 2010 and early 2011, the Corps challenged industry to meet a stringent set of basic requirements for an unmanned helicopter to resupply small forward units, freeing some trucks and manned helicopters for other jobs. Two platforms – the Boeing A160 Hummingbird and the larger Lockheed Martin/Kaman K-MAX – moved on to further assessment, leading to an August down-select to one helicopter for a six-month field test by deployed Marine units in Afghanistan.

“The MCWL [Marine Corps Warfighting Lab] demonstration in January through March proved it could be done. Now we have to see if they can do that on a routine basis – the maintenance required, cycle rate, austerity of a combat environment, etc.,” said Lt. Col. George B. Beach, UAS coordinator at Marine Corps Headquarters-Aviation. “At this stage, we don’t know whether our assumptions are correct, so we look at the military user assessment to answer some of those questions – can the aircraft carry a bigger load and get supplies somewhere faster, but also might it be more vulnerable to detection.”

The Marine Corps focuses on UAVs at the tactical level – primarily line-of-sight (LOS) systems providing reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA), as well as terminal weapons guidance.

“We embed our intel Marines within the UAV units to do some processing of the information that comes in [from the aircraft]. We also use the platforms for communications relay, SIGINT [signals intelligence], and similar payloads,” he added. “They have become a key enabler for the MAGTF. Even the Raven, in the hands of a warfighter, provides another degree of battlespace situational awareness.

“Trained individuals can put together what I like to refer to as a mini-MAGTF, in which a patrol now has organic air support, albeit as simple as a Raven flying above them and covering their flanks. It also tells an adversary they have air support, so the enemy is less likely to engage that patrol, knowing a UAV above them may detect and warn the patrol.

“As we get to larger systems, such as the communications relay capability of the Shadow, in addition to EO/IR [electro-optical/infrared] and laser-designated terminal guidance, the Marine on the ground can bridge geographic or urban canyons to do communications. At the same time, a comms relay capability enables the operator seeing the UAV video to speak directly to anyone with a radio on the battlefield.”

An important application in Southwest Asia has been the use of UAVs in a convoy overwatch role. In one such case, when a truck rolled off the road into a ditch, a UAV overhead enabled the operator to identify the vehicle and the radio frequency it was using through its battlefield tracker, call directly down to the disabled truck and ask if they needed assistance. As a result, Beach said, they were able to coordinate a quick recovery effort for that vehicle and the Marines in it.

As with almost any new technology sent into combat, the various applications warfighters find for unmanned systems often exceed those intended by the developers. That user adaptation is a key element in the combat field testing of the unmanned cargo helicopter.

“I don’t think we’ve fully explored what something like the K-MAX or Hummingbird can do. If you just think in terms of how we traditionally do things, you might miss possible solution sets,” Beach said. “You also have to look at the operational environment – hot/high or sea level – and applications other than cargo. For example, medevac is part of the discussion, but we’re not particularly focused on that; MCWL has released some RFIs [requests for information] to look at that for enhanced company operations they are exploring.

“There also are airships and other lift technologies out there, so you have to do a detailed analysis of sustainment requirements, the ideal weight provided to small units, small unit composition and operations concept, how long they will be out, the rate that drives the number of aircraft needed – three days resupply at a time or just-in-time resupply, maybe more than once a day. Those are all drivers in terms of capacity of the helicopter or other design.”