REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- No matter how you look at it, 2 million flight hours is a big accomplishment for the Army's family of unmanned aircraft systems.
But consider that half of that number was flown in combat during the past four years -- far surpassing the 1 million flight hours reached in the first 20 years of Army UAS -- and the number flies UAS off the performance chart.
Col. Tim Baxter, project manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Program Executive Office for Aviation, described the 2 million flight hours as a "major milestone."
On March 18, employees of the UAS Project Office were joined by Soldiers who operate and maintain unmanned aircraft systems along with industry representatives and community leaders to celebrate the 2 million flight hour milestone. The ceremony, conducted on the parade field at the Sparkman Center, included displays of five unmanned aircraft systems used by the Army -- Hunter, Gray Eagle, Shadow, Raven and Puman -- along with demonstrations of the One System Remote Video Terminal, One System Ground Control System, Unmanned Mission Simulator and Ground-Based Sense and Avoid Radar.
"It took us 20 years to get our first million hours. Since 2010, it's taken us less than four years to reach our second million miles … and 90 percent of those 2 million hours are related to direct support to combat operations," Baxter said.
He said the success of the Army's UAS program is a result of the hard work of the Team Redstone workforce that has made UAS reliable, accessible and effective on the battlefield.
"UAS has meant something to our commanders on the ground. It has proliferated across the Army in every format, every (Army) post," he said. "UAS is changing the way we fight. That's absolutely true across the Army."
Future advances in system interoperability and manned/unmanned teaming will reap dividends for the UAS program and for the war fighter on the battlefield.
Those comments were emphasized by two other speakers at the ceremony -- Rep. Mo Brooks and Dyke Weatherington of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Brooks recognized how an idea for unmanned systems evolved into a major Army aviation program. In 1985, the Army's Remotely Piloted Vehicle program was realigned as part of the Missile Command at Redstone and, in 1988, became the Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle Project Office, with its first UAS project being the Hunter UAS, which went into development in 1991. From there, UAS grew to include multiple systems that fill unique Army needs on the battlefield.
But to get to today's success, the program first had to get over the initial perception of being a program of model airplanes, Brooks said.
"That's a concept you have overcome. You've sold the idea of UAS to the Army. The benefits we have today in military conflicts that we're engaged in so many places across the globe started with your ideas for UAS. You have enabled our war fighter to be that much more successful going forward," he said.
Today, the UAS Project Office is known for providing world-class technology to the war fighter and that provides the "forward eyes of the commander" in areas such as tactical reconnaissance, intelligence surveillance, battle damage assessment, convoy protection and anti-ambush protection.
UAS help to "enhance the quality of decisions in conflict outcomes," Brooks said. "They provide the commanders with information they want when they want it in real time or near real time."
He pointed out that UAS is constantly evolving and improving, with UAS missions expanding as capabilities have been tested and fielded. Brooks also expressed his appreciation for the better buying power initiatives that the UAS Project Office and the entire PEO Aviation has put into place to create more program efficiencies.
"From the House of Representatives, you have our sense of thanks and pride," Brooks said. "America needs PEO Aviation to continue to exceed expectations. We are proud of the difference you make on the battlefield and in saving the lives of our war fighters."
Weatherington recalled that in 2001, the Army was "getting ready to box up and put in the warehouse" the Hunter and other unmanned systems that had been in research, development and testing. Then, the Global War on Terrorism shifted priorities within the Department of Defense, and leadership gave the Army's UAS program a mission.
"We went from 20 aircraft to more than 8,000 aircraft today," Weatherington said. "You have fundamentally changed how the Department of Defense does operations both in reconnaissance and battle."
Among the employees visiting the exhibits and demonstrations was Donna Hightower, who has worked on the Hunter UAS since its beginnings in the early 1990s.
"The number of lives we've saved is what makes all of this great and wonderful," she said of the ceremony. "What we do for the guys in the green suits is what really matters."
She recalled the 16-hour days Team Redstone employees worked in the Arizona desert as they flight tested Hunter so that it could be accepted as an Army program. Hunter was fielded in 1996, making it the first UAS fielded to an Army unit.
"Things have changed a lot since then. But our mission has been the same -- to provide the best unmanned aircraft systems to our war fighters," she said.
The 2 million flight hour ceremony ushered in the Pathfinder symposium hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville. At the symposium, Baxter gave an update on unmanned aircraft systems.
Future UAS plans call for transitioning all Hunter UAS units to Gray Eagle by 2018, to field a total of 15 Gray Eagle units with 152 systems by 2018, to field Shadow to 102 different units, and to maintain Raven and Puma at the battalion company level. He said the future for unmanned aircraft systems will be in growing the system?'s interoperability and its ability to team with manned aircraft.
"We've got to get away from proprietary equipment on the battlefield," Baxter said. "And the expanded use of man/unmanned teams will inspire the possibilities in the future."
Unmanned aircraft systems will have a significant role, he said, in making the Army more expeditionary and more rapidly deployable while also reducing its footprint.
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