FORT JOHNSON, La. -- As drones have flown to the forefront of military planning, some Fort Carson helicopter pilots were getting their first chance to work in coordination with large drones in recent war games here at the Joint Training Readiness Center.
In practicing with the Gray Eagle drones, the Apache helicopter pilots expected to gain insight on their enemy hiding in the densely forested landscape at Fort Johnson. Where Fort Carson's high desert allows for pilots to see for miles, flying low over the heavy foliage Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ryan Gabrukiewicz, said he couldn't see beyond a kilometer.
Working with the Gray Eagles and their ground operators, helicopter pilots can gain intel directly from the drone pilots and pull video and data from the drones to their screens inside the cockpit, explained Gabrukiewicz, standardization pilot with the 4th Attack Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment from Fort Carson.
Thousands of soldiers from Fort Carson experienced World War I style trench warfare in a vast exercise at Fort Johnson in Louisiana, but this time as it is being experienced in Ukraine with drones and robots.
But since Apaches far outnumber Gray Eagle drones, its more likely for now that helicopter pilots will work together to target enemies, he said.
Either way it can give the helicopter pilot an advantage, he explained.
In one live-fire exercise in South Korea, Gabrukiewicz was in his helicopter hovering behind a hilltop and another Apache 4 kilometers from the target provided the video of it that Gabrukiewicz used to shoot it without ever seeing it.
While paring pilots up with drones, called manned-unmanned teaming, has been around since 2007, working with them is still new for many, Gabrukiewicz said.
"I'm getting new pilots out of flight school all the time ... they read about it in student handouts, but they never actually get to do it," he said.
Working with drones and their ground operators, helicopter pilots can gain intel directly from the drone pilots and pull video and data from the drones to their screens inside the cockpit. However, Apaches far outnumber available drones, so it's more likely helicopter pilots will work together to target enemies.
Apache helicopter pilots were previously paired up with Shadow drones, but the Army phased out the 11-foot drones this year calling them "not capable" on today's battlefield. Online, former operators called the Shadow a flying lawnmower because it was so loud.
Col. Nick Ryan, director of the Army Capability Manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, acknowledged the divestment of the Shadow drones has left operators with questions, during a September panel hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.
"We are in a gap right now where there is not much capability in the hands of soldiers at the moment," he said. His new office was set up in August 2023 and since then has been focused on studying the use of drones in Ukraine and Israel and how they can be implemented into the force. Ryan visited the front lines in the Ukraine war this summer and saw how a 15-kilometer area was completely controlled by robots.
"You could not step foot out there without being seen and immediately targeted and killed," he said of unmanned systems on both sides.
He expects the Army can incorporate the technology and build it better.
In the short term, Griffon Aerospace and Textron Systems are working on large high-flying drone prototypes that could replace the Shadow drones and provide reconnaissance and surveillance. The Army expects prototypes of the drones will be delivered by the end of the year, said David Hylton, a spokesman for Army Program Executive Office. The first units should be issued in the 2025 fiscal year, he said.
In the future, drones will not be commissioned to just collect intelligence, they will have to be lethal, as well, Ryan said at the panel.
But a key component of training at Fort Johnson is working with the current equipment soldiers could have in a deployment.
So Gabrukiewicz was preparing his pilots to work with the Gray Eagles, as Fort Carson Apache pilots did during their deployment to the Middle East in 2023.
While they were in the Middle East, the drones could provide information 20 to 30 minutes before pilots arrived at their objective, Gabrukiewicz said, which is a huge benefit.
During the training exercise, Gabrukiewicz hoped to see realistic plans from his students, such as using encrypted video as they would when they are deployed.
Apache pilots participating in the training said tasks of flying the helicopter and working with drone operators are split between the two pilots, so one can focus on flying and one can work with a drone operator or the drone itself.
"It's a team effort, really. So although there is a lot going on, you just work together," said 1st Lt. Andrew Bane, an Apache pilot.
As Army aviation prepares to counter enemy drones, retired Lt. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield said during the September panel that a drone envisioned as loyal wingman could help protect pilots. Such a drone is envisioned to fly somewhat autonomously alongside an aircraft in a support role.
Crutchfield, former commander of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, floated the idea of adding a weapons system similar to Raytheon's Coyote to an Army aircraft. The Coyote can sense drones with radar and then brings them down with a warhead.
He would like to see such protection function autonomously.
"We should not add an extra burden on to that flight crew," he said.
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