Rotary Wing Aviation Training Report

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“Optionally Manned” is the future of Rotary Wing Aviation.

by

Lieutenant Colonel Paul R. Helten
United States Army

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The Blackhawk, Apache, and Chinook have performed service in various environments around the world and proven themselves in peacetime and during combat, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army Aviation and helicopter operations have a unique role in today’s modern battles. This role has been developed over time and many soldiers have placed a heavy reliance on helicopter assets being available to assist in their life or death situations. This reliance has carved out the true mission and is the reason Army Aviation exists; ”to be relentlessly focused on and dedicated to honoring a sacred trust with commanders and soldiers on the ground.“ This trust is why even the thought of moving toward unmanned aircraft causes such recoil among aviators and soldiers alike. Soldiers prefer the idea of riding behind a Blackhawk or Chinook pilot when heading into a firefight on an air assault. They appreciate a “Dust-off” flight crew willing to risk their own lives time after time to rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Combat infantry units under fire breathe a sigh of relief when they hear the calm voice of an Apache pilot arriving to provide them with aerial gun …show more content…

Navy introduced the first unmanned helicopter with a combat role. Approximately 800 DASH (QH-50) submarine hunters armed with torpedoes and depth charges were remotely flown from the decks of destroyers in search of enemy submarines. Since that time aircraft manufacturers have either modified existing aircraft to fly unmanned or started from scratch to build unique solutions to a specific mission.
In 2006 Boeing Aircraft Corporation flew their Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) on its first fully autonomous flight. The ULB is a modified A/MH-6 Little Bird, the workhorse used by US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. It took off, hovered and flew a preprogrammed 20 min route segment simulating a reconnaissance mission, then returned and landed within six inches of its intended touchdown point. This is one of the first examples of an optionally manned helicopter.
Northrup Grumman developed the MQ-8 as a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle. Its missions include real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, battle damage assessment, direct targeting of the enemy and general intelligence gathering. Boeing has also developed unmanned helicopter from scractch. The This aircraft advancements have been madeIn the. Itin when a took flight in . The flith consisted of It has evolved over the years with the

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