Photo By Spc. Matthew Wantroba | Pfc. Austin Hurt from 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,...... read more read more
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SMARDAN, Romania - U.S. Army Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), improve their skills on the newly updated unmanned aerial vehicle, RQ-11B or “The Raven”, in Smardan, Romania, 16 Jan. 2023.
“We’re here in Romania to assure, deter and reinforce our NATO allies,” said Pfc. Henry Krebs Parker, a scout with 1-26 Infantry Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
With the recent upgrades made to the RQ-11B Raven Small Unmanned Aircraft System, referred to as The Raven, Krebs believes the task is made easier.
“A Raven is a small unmanned aerial vehicle, a drone that has many different capabilities,” said Krebs. “It can fly out to 10 kilometers, and allows you to capture photographs and even video.”
The Raven system is the most widely deployed unmanned aircraft system in the world, ideal for low-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions that depend on rapid deployment and pinpoint maneuverability.
Even after being highly trained on this equipment Soldiers continue to further their knowledge with the help of the manufacturers themselves. One of the manufacturers of the Raven were sent out to further educate Soldiers on the recent upgrades made to the Raven.
“One of the civilian contractors with AeroVironment, the manufacturer of the Raven, is here to help us learn more about its capabilities and show us how to use it more efficiently and the capabilities that it has,” said Krebs.
“Upgrading our technology will allow us to be more versatile in the upcoming conflicts,” said Krebs. “Technology is always ever-changing. It's important for the Army to stay up with those changes.
Lightweight and straightforward to operate, the Raven is rucksack portable and can be hand-launched for both day and night observation. The Raven has an optional stabilized gimbaled payload and delivers real-time color and infrared imagery to the ground control and remote viewing stations.
“Right now we're practicing using a gimbal payload,” Sgt. David Meyer, a scout with 1-26 Infantry Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). ”We're working towards our live fire that's upcoming where we're going to use the Raven to identify and pull grids for call for fire on mechanized targets.”
Due to its advanced avionics, the Raven can be operated manually or programmed for autonomous navigation.
“For my unit specifically as a recon unit, what we're doing is we're going to use the Raven to scout positions forward so we put less of a risk for our soldiers,” said Meyer. “I don't have to have my team maneuvering out in the open field.”
The Raven’s purpose is to be used for reconnaissance mission, call for fire missions and enhance the Soldiers capabilities to leading to lower risk on the Soldier for fewer U.S. casualties and more successful missions.
| Date Taken: | 01.16.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2023 03:13 |
| Story ID: | 436986 |
| Location: | SMARDEN, RO |
| Web Views: | 244 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Upgrading Raven Technology, by SGT Khalan Moore, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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