Maritime-Based UAVs: A Key to Success for the Joint Force Commander.

摘要

Historically, drones have been used extensively to support a plethora of U.S. military operations from land-based locations; the precision and lethality of applying these assets in the counterterrorism (CT) realm is well documented. Recently the U.S. Navy has offered the Joint Force Commander (JFC) an effective and efficient means of prosecuting targets of opportunity through the employment of sea-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assets. These UAVs can give the JFC a capability close to the fight; an asset at his disposal to improve operational and tactical flexibility and a relocatable launch platform minus the concerns of a land-based footprint. This paper will consider the employment of maritime-based UAVs (mbUAVs) as a JFC asset from an operational art, factors and functions perspective. Employment of these assets has created an enormous appetite at the operational level for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) to support CT operations. Focusing on the advantages of employing this maritime-based asset with its unique capabilities in ISR will require further doctrine development in order to adequately assist the JFC in his decision making process; it will also provide recommendations for the same and access the potential uniqueness and flexibility of these assets in the littorals and on the high seas.