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Armed and Dangerous - The Gray Eagle Goes Lethal
(April 14, 2011) | 
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An MQ-1C Gray Eagle armed with Hellfire missiles revs up before
taking flight at Camp Taji, Iraq on February 27, 2011. |
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CAMP TAJI, Iraq (4/11/2011) – The MQ-1C Gray Eagle looks less like
an eagle and more like a giant robotic insect. Its alien-like head
and dragonfly form give it a futuristic look.
Appropriate
enough since this unmanned aerial system is expected to play a big
role in the future of Army aviation.
Currently, four Gray
Eagles are based in Camp Taji, Iraq. The airframes belong to Quick
Reaction Capability 1-Replacement 1 -- a company-size unit attached
to the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.
QRC-1-R1 falls under the
8th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment, which
is the 40th CAB's attack arm. The unit's Gray Eagles perform a role
similar to Apache and Kiowa helicopters, |
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providing aerial reconnaissance and surveillance. And after a
successful Hellfire missile test shoot in February, the Gray Eagles
now give commanders in Iraq a deadly new weapon in the fight against
extremists. |
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In February, the Gray Eagle operators of QRC-1-R1 gave a demonstration
of the lethality of their airframe by firing six Hellfire missiles into
the abandoned hulks of light military tactical vehicles positioned at
Shadow Range in western Iraq. The targets were blasted with six direct
hits, providing proof of the accuracy and effectiveness of the Gray
Eagle in a combat environment.
When the Gray Eagle fired the
final missile during the shoot, it had some help from its little
brother, the Shadow UAS, which is a drone far smaller than the Gray
Eagle. A Shadow from the 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry
Division out of Al-Asad was flying nearby and laser designated the
target. This was a first for the Army—two unmanned aerial platforms
performing a cooperative engagement.
Sgt. Brent Randal is a Gray
Eagle operator who participated in the test shoot. “In essence, it's a
video game—a very expensive video game,” he said of flying the Gray
Eagle. “The difference is you actually have guys' lives in your hands,
whether it's finding [improvised explosive devices] on the road or
engaging targets in support of ground troops.”
QRC-1-R1 operators
fly their aircraft from portable shelters. Two operators sit side by
side in the air-conditioned shelters monitoring video feeds in real time
while following the Gray Eagle on maps on their screens.
“I can
click on a point on the map and the aircraft will make a B-line for it,”
said Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Bearden, QRC-1-R1 standardization
officer.
“It thinks for itself,” UAS safety officer Chief
Warrant Officer James Bouchard said. “It basically flies its own
algorithms.”
Although the Gray Eagle had previously fired
Hellfire missiles in Afghanistan, the February test shoot was the first
time weapons had been fired from the airframe in Iraq.
“This
gives commanders the confidence that we can successfully engage a
target,” Bouchard said.
The Gray Eagles have been at Camp Taji
since June 2010, but had been flying unarmed. Their high-tech
surveillance capabilities have been employed to find weapons caches and
IEDs, and they've been used to locate and designate targets for other
aircraft, as well as walk ground units in on targets.
Ground
units are able to monitor video feeds from the Gray Eagle on laptops in
their Humvees. The airframe also serves as a communications platform,
boosting the signal strength and range of ground-based radios.
The Gray Eagle is manufactured by General Atomics. It is cheaper to
purchase and maintain than a helicopter and it can stay in the air for
longer stretches of time. Essentially, the Gray Eagle is the latest
version of the Predator series of drones, retooled and upgraded for
Army-specific needs.
The Air Force's Predator drones are flown
by officers who are usually located back in the USA and connected to the
airframes by satellite link. But flying the Army's Gray Eagle is an
enlisted soldier's affair, done in theater and close to the ground
troops that the airframe serves.
“The Gray Eagle allows
commanders to see through the fog of war and helps them command and
control the battle,” said Capt. Mike Goodwin, a Black Hawk helicopter
pilot and commander of QRC-1-R1. “You don't have to be a certified pilot
to fly it. The aircraft is very autonomous.”
Goodwin said the
Gray Eagle has a big future. The Army is gearing up to supply all its
combat aviation brigades with 12 Gray Eagles apiece.
“It's the
latest and greatest,” Goodwin said. | |
Article and photo by Army 1st Lt. Jason Sweeney
40th Combat Aviation Brigade
Copyright 2011
Provided
through DVIDS
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