Integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) With Current Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Doctrine

摘要

0300 HOURS (Zulu) somewhere north of Baghdad Major Chris Foster, call sign BACH-21, was flying a CAP mission supporting two flights of Air Guard F-16s attacking an Iraqi armor division retreating south towards Baghdad, when suddenly he had a warning on his Surface to- Air Missile (SAM) radar indicating he was being looked at by an Iraqi radar system. BACH-21 whipped his plane over into a left SAM break. As G-forces began to press against him, he felt his aircraft shake violently and continued to roll inverted as an SA-6 slammed into his right wing. Fighting the G-forces he fumbled for the firing mechanism of his ejection seat, found it, and pulled the handles. The canopy immediately blew-off and suddenly he was alone in the air, three miles above the barren deserts of Iraq. Completely numbed by the shock of ejection and the deployment of his parachute, he made good use of the time remaining during his decent. He pulled out his PRC-112B radio and tried to establish radio contact with his wingman. He called twice and got no response from his wingman orbiting farther south to stay out of the range of the SAM batteries below. His parachute-landing fall was much softer than he anticipated as he landed on the hard Iraqi soil. Quickly securing his parachute, he made a dash for the nearest wadi and waited for the recovery he hoped would come soon.