Photo By Lt. Col. Darin Bremmer | Sgt. Jon Barendse, Company B, 126th Cavalry, Manistee, Michigan, Sgt. Kristopher Wolf,...... read more read more
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GRAYLING, Mich. - The U.S. military has been developing and improving the safety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for years through operator training, procedures, and technology. These improvements now focus on the system, and the U.S. military uses the term unmanned aerial system (UAS), since the operation of the unmanned aircraft takes a team and additional equipment to manage and operate the vehicle.
Reconnaissance and surveillance are the primary purposes of UAS. The Raven RQ-11B is the most common UAS used by the military as reported in the Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability, April 2012.
During Operation Northern Strike 2014, UAS training was being conducted on Range 13 by instructors from Fort Custer Regional Training Institute (RTI), Augusta, Michigan.
Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Tramel, instructor at Fort Custer RTI, conducted the class at Camp Grayling to cross-train military Soldiers on the Raven RQ-11B.
Tramel, in his second year as a master trainer, taught Michigan National Guard Soldiers to be operators.
“Developing proficient UAS operators is our goal. We have never had a near-miss with any manned aircraft or a complaint from the local Grayling community”, said Tramel.
The Raven RQ-11 class is typically 10 days, depending on weather, to cross-train a Soldier to operate the UAS.
The training encompasses the following tasks: Conduct air reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition missions, plan and analyze flight missions for day and night operations, perform pre-flight, in-flight and post flight checks and procedures, launch and recover air frame, and perform maintenance.
Once trained, operators need to maintain a minimum proficiency by conducting a simulation flight every 60 days and a live flight every 150 days. There are also additional monthly verbal and quarterly written evaluations.
Flight simulation is conducted using the VAMPIRE (Visualization and Mission Planning Integrated Rehearsal Environment) flight simulator software solution, which provides the capability to teach, develop or maintain the abilities of operators in a highly realistic, simulated environment.
Pre-flight planning and mission analysis define the operational area within the restricted operation zone (ROZ) of the UAV. The operator will define waypoints for following a specific route or to define the operational area and orbit positions to focus on a specific location depending on the mission. Cloud clearance and visibility weather minimums must be met in order to operate the UAV. If for some reason the control signal between the UAV and the operator is lost the RQ-11 Raven has a return to home feature that brings the UAV back to the launch location.
Actual takeoff of the RQ-11 Raven is hand-launched and then the primary operator maintains altitude and flight path within the ROZ.
In Michigan, training and operation of the Raven is currently only authorized at Camp Grayling. The military restricted airspace at Camp Grayling is managed by Range Control, and Raven UAS operations are further limited to a specific restricted operating zone (ROZ). In flight, the operator has to be able to maintain altitude between 500 and 1,000 feet above ground Level (AGL). Flying within this specific altitude and ROZ maintains the safety and proximity of manned aircraft flying within Camp Grayling restricted airspace.
Landing of the Raven is planned by either a low-level manual landing to avoid identification of launch location or an autoland, which is a deep stall “dead stick” landing 1:1 glide ratio.
“The Raven does not require a landing field and is designed to separate on impact and easy re-assembly,” said Tramel.
Sgt. Jon Barendse, B Troop, 1st Squadron, 126th Cavalry Regiment, Manistee, Michigan, is a student in the operator’s class.
Barendse said, “As a reconnaissance unit, if we are asked to provide reconnaissance on a named area of interest (NAI). I can launch the UAV and provide a quick mobile aerial view with a level of detail and speed that would not be available from a fixed ground position."
The Raven has not been integrated into the actual Operation Northern Strike Exercise at this time. Operation Northern Strike 2014 is a National Guard Bureau-sponsored Joint Combined Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX) emphasizing the Theater Air Control and Army Air Ground Systems (TACS/AAGS) within the Theater Air Ground System (TAGS).
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2014 16:46 |
| Story ID: | 139503 |
| Location: | GRAYLING, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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