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Great Article on Distributed Warfare
By Charlie
UAVs are getting bigger and better, with the Reaper now carrying the same combat load as the F-16. As remote combat systems mature in theater, who knows what is next?
The airman who fired that missile was 8,000 miles away, here at Creech Air Force Base, home of the 432nd air wing. The 432nd officially "stood up," in the jargon of the Air Force, on May 1, 2007. One year later, two dozen of its drones patrol the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan every hour of every day. And almost all of them are flown by two-man crews sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of a "ground control station" (GCS) in the Nevada desert.
Are remotely-driven Strykers, Bradleys, and Abrams that far off? The thought of a remote-controlled armor division is almost as implausible now as dropping bombs from airplanes must have seemed in 1914. However, the question now is with the success of the very human-intensive tactics of waging COIN neighborhood by neighborhood, will robots take the place of soldiers on the battlefield?
I doubt robots can fill the gap, but the "big war" types may latch on to this technology as the solution to the "next big one," while could better serve as an enabler for our current COIN operations.
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Comments
Fox2-- Great Reference. Did you ever read the one short story about the stranded Bolo that fought to the end and when asked why he didn't give up he said, "For the glory of the regiment." Frakking great reading.
About the drones. Why do they operate them from so far away? Aren't there more ways for the comm system to break down thus losing the drone?
The challenge with "distributed" warfare is it works both ways. It won't take long for an adversary to understand that the best way to stop or disrupt remotely piloted/operated systems will be to target the communications links (remember China and the U.S. have shot down satellites) and possibly easier they will begin to target the control centers/pilots.
With remotely piloted combat vehicles (air-lan-water) and robotic infantry a renewed focus on Just war and ethics of combat will take place. Is it Just to wage war against and adversary if you don't risk your own flesh and blood? Are we reaching the point of answering the question; "What would happen if we held a war and nobody showed up?"
On the topic of remotely piloting drones from CONUS, our point has always been to get between the bad guys and CONUS. What happens when the enemy gets tired of shooting at drones and takes a crack of the control centers? Sending a small commando raid (Or terror cell) to try to eliminate a half dozen pilots in a single control shack (Along with all their equipment, especially in drones in flight at the moment) sounds like the kind of gambit an enemy might be willing to make. Drones might be the double edged sword that gives the enemy the impetus to bring the fight to our shores.
"Today, the Reaper, which went into service in Afghanistan last September (a year ahead of schedule), can carry nearly the same payload as an F-16 -- typically two 500-pound laser-guided bombs and four Hellfires."
I had no idea that the payload for an F-16 was so totally wimpy. I mean, surely it can carry more than 1,400lbs (since they say the Hellfire is only 100lbs)?
I wonder who fed the journo that line of tripe?
No doubt, the Air Force fed it to them... in order to justify more money.
If you take a look at the F16 Fact Sheet, you will note the following:
Payload: Two 2,000-pound bombs, two AIM-9 and 1,040-gallon external tanks
Armament: One M-61A1 20mm multibarrel cannon with 500 rounds; external stations can carry up to six air-to-air missiles, conventional air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions and electronic countermeasure pods
and the following:
Weight: 19,700 pounds without fuel (8,936 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 37,500 pounds (16,875 kilograms)
Fuel Capacity: 7,000 pounds internal (3,175 kilograms); typical capacity, 12,000 pounds with two external tanks (5443 kilograms)
I think they stretched the numbers a touch...
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