By Ann Roosevelt
Army unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have proven their worth on the battlefield and service leadership is supporting the programs even at a time where defense budgets are expecting cuts, an officer said.
“They’ve been funding us very well during this period of reduced budget because they know there’s a lot of good and bang for the buck that you get,” Col. Gregory Gonzalez, project manager for Army Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), said at the Pentagon Tuesday.
“When there’s a tight budget, you look for those areas where you derive the biggest return on the amount of money and this is an area where the Army feels they’re really getting a return on it–so we’ve seen a very positive approach,” he said.
Deputy Project Manager UAS Tim Owings said because UAS have been so well integrated into the service, “I cannot imagine the Army going to fight without these systems ever again. They’ve supported it with funding. They’ve supported it with what matters most, in the budgetary lines, and they’ve supported new programs.”
Currently, there are requirements documents for a Shadow C program, Owings said.
“We’re debating on whether we go to a Shadow C version or an improved B version,” he said. Shadow is produced by AAI Corp. [TXT].
There also is a proof of principle for a family of systems of small unmanned aircraft. This now consists of a Raven UAS, produced by AeroVironment (AV), an aircraft smaller than the Raven and one larger.
“We’re going to use that proof of principle to define exactly what we want to buy in the future,” he said. “But, in the meantime, we’re working toward a family of systems approach for the small UAVs.”
“I don’t think there’s going to be an end in sight and the Army has become a steadfast supporter of unmanned aerial systems,” Owings said.