Armed scouts: U.S. Army plans to give Apache crews control of UAVs

摘要

When Apache Longbow crews climb into the next version of the U.S. attack helicopter, some will have the ability to control a UAV and fire its weapons -- a fact that poses operational and training questions for the Army, UAV experts said. About a third of the Army's forthcoming 634 Block III AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters would be equipped with a communications system called the Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data Link Assembly (UTA), the Army said. The UTA's antenna would be fitted inside a dome over the aircraft rotor blades in place of a radar on some Apaches. With the UTA antenna and modem, an Apache copilot-gunner would be able to control a UAV, steer its sensors and order it to fire weapons. UAV ground controllers would continue to direct takeoffs and landings. The copilot-gunner, rather than the pilot, would be the primary UAV operator on the Apaches.