The US Navy has set a weight-based threshold for who will operate unmanned aircraft, with UAS weighing more than 55 pounds (25 Kilos) being operated as adjuncts to manned systems, while operators of lighter aircraft will come from other corners of the service.
Additionally, it’s expected that officers will fly the larger, more complex UAS, while enlisted sailors will operate the smaller ones that fly at low altitudes and close to the aircraft’s control center, Joe Gradisher, spokesman for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance, said in a statement.
It means that practically every unmanned aircraft the Navy is developing or operating will be in the hands of sailors who have years of aviation experience. Furthermore, the most advanced aircraft will primarily be operated by pilots and naval flight officers. The weight limit leaves the 40-pound (18 Kilo) ScanEagle as the only UAS now in the fleet that will be manned by those outside of aviation.
“This approach will leverage community knowledge and provide better synergies between manned and unmanned capabilities,” Gradisher said. The Navy has not yet decided whether enlisted people will join officers in flying UAS, but Rear Admiral William Shannon, programme executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said he expects that “very, very, very capable enlisted sailors” will operate drones. “If we, someday in the future, have systems that have to be operated by specially trained operators, we have absolutely failed in our jobs,” he said at a conference in April.
Exactly who from manned aviation will be responsible for each unmanned system — and at what point in their careers they will switch to UAS — has not yet been determined. Also, the 55-pound weight limit may change, Gradisher said. “Specific crew composition is still being studied for all unmanned aircraft systems,” he said.
Navy officials have said they anticipate aviators from manned communities leaving their primary aircraft after their first or second tours to receive training on an unmanned system before entering operations.
But enlisted members also will fill “unmanned aircraft vehicle operator,” or AVO, billets, Gradisher said. The use of officers and enlisted sailors to fill certain AVO billets depends on mission requirements and complexity, the operating environment and constraints from the community, he said.
Plans have generally called for enlisted members in the manned aviation community to work on unmanned systems similar to the manned aircraft in which they specialize. For example, the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter is expected to be operated and maintained by the MH-60 community. The Broad Area Maritime Surveillance system operators will come from the P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon communities because BAMS also will perform maritime patrol, surveillance and intelligence missions.
Source: Navy Times