ARTICLE

May 2004

Schoolhouses for UAV Pilots Up and Running

by Frank Colucci

The U.S. Army has set up training programs for the Hunter and new Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

E Company of the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, 111th MI Brigade, is the schoolhouse for UAV operators. The service recently contracted for expanded facilities to train the growing community on the Shadow and, eventually, the RQ-8 Firescout.

The Shadow 200 already is flying in Iraq and Korea, and the Army plans 44 systems to outfit its maneuver brigades. Four Shadow 200 systems remain at the Fort Huachuca schoolhouse, where enlisted specialists are trained as vehicle/sensor operators. Training lasts from 12 to 24 weeks, depending on whether the student has prior experience on the Hunter. As prime contractor for the Shadow 200 system, AAI Corporation developed the schoolhouse syllabus for operators and provides collective brigade integration training as systems are fielded.

Each Shadow system has four air vehicles, two ground control stations and support equipment. A platoon deploys with 22 soldiers: 13 operators, seven maintainers and two command supervisors.

The Shadow ground station is manned by two or three soldiers. An air vehicle operator monitors flight instruments and can change the programmed flight path. A payload operator programs the search pattern or steers the electro-optical sensors. A mission commander communicates with air traffic control, coordinates with supporting units and supervises the UAV operators.

The Shadow 200 system has operator training capability with terrain databases embedded in its vehicular ground control station. The current portable ground control station has no such training capability. According to Suzanne Schwitala, AAI director of UAV systems project support, “The software has the look and feel, so you think you are flying the airplane.”

The company already is studying upgrades for more realistic air vehicle and sensor operator training. In contrast to the ad hoc training for older UAVs, the Shadow 200 training program is ISO 9000 certified. Embedded interactive technical manuals already help soldiers prepare the UAVs and conduct maintenance. AAI developed a portable simulator for air vehicle and sensor operators.

Beyond basic operator skills, collective integration training gives the entire Shadow brigade intermediate mission skills focusing on the mission commander. Basic training lasts about nine weeks, depending on the proficiency of the unit. The syllabus covers launch and recovery site surveys, air vehicle preparation, quality control procedures and maintenance recording.

AAI also continues to support the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Pioneer UAV that was developed jointly with Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. The long-serving Pioneer was deployed in Iraq, with Marine and Navy squadrons.

The Pioneer is flown with throttle, rudder, elevator and aileron control inputs. Pilots use computer displays and the view from the sensor payload to maintain situational awareness. Launch and recovery nevertheless require an external pilot standing by the runway. Once the UAV is downrange, an internal operator takes control with a conventional stick, autopilot knob or waypoint program. The internal operator/pilot remains in the loop for most of the mission, but a second operator may take control for launch and recovery. In 1998, the unmanned automatic recovery system gave operators the option of an automated touchdown or shipboard net recovery.

Pioneer operators and maintainers started training with civilian contractors in 1986. Government instructors were added in 1987, and UAV-qualified military personnel took the lead in 1991. A formal curriculum started in October 1997 when training responsibility was assumed by the UAV Naval Air Maintenance Training Group. In October 2003, operator training oversight transferred to the Chief of Naval Air Training under Training Wing Six in Pensacola. Pioneer operator and maintenance courses are now taught at Navy Outlying Field Choctaw near Milton, Fla.

The Marine Corps assigns each UAV squadron five officer mission commanders, five enlisted external pilots and 33 enlisted internal operators. The Navy follows similar guidelines.

Mission commanders are pilots and flight officers taught to orchestrate the mission and coordinate with external agencies and air traffic control. They no longer are taught to fly the Pioneer. Enlisted internal operators are qualified as both internal pilots to command and control the air vehicle and payload operators to manage on-board sensors.

The internal operator course lasts eight weeks and gives each student 41 flight hours. Two students from each internal operator course are trained to be external pilots in an 18-week course with 33 flight hours.

Pioneer external pilot simulators bought in 1996 were converted recently from Silicon Graphics to a PC-based Linux operating system to cut maintenance and upgrade costs. A stand-alone Pioneer UAV internal operator simulator was developed in 1999 with commercial software.

The Navy and Marine Corps planned to conduct training for the Firescout helicopter alongside the Navy’s primary rotary wing training area at Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

The semi-autonomous Firescout follows pre-programmed mission plans from launch to recovery. The air vehicle operator and mission payload operator preplan the mission load the plan into the air vehicle and ground control station. With the Navy and Marines no longer committed to full production and fielding of the RQ-8 Firescout vertical takeoff UAV, the Naval Air Systems Command UAV office says Pioneer training will continue through fiscal year 2008.

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