One Of Two Deployed Army Units Currently Flying The Gray Eagle

An Army unit deployed to Camp Taji, Iraq, is shaping the future of the Army's unmanned aircraft systems program with a handful of its newest aircraft, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle.

U.S. Army Photo

The unit, known as Quick Reaction Capability 1-Replacement 1, deployed in June to use the Gray Eagle in combat before the Army fields the aircraft to all of its aviation brigades in the next few years. It is one of two deployed Army units currently flying the Gray Eagle, and it is the only one using it in Iraq. The unit is attached to the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, an all-in-one aviation brigade from Fort Riley, Kan. The Gray Eagle's mission is similar to the mission of the brigade's Apache and Kiowa helicopters, but as an unmanned aircraft, has stronger ties to the intelligence community. The QRC1-R1 operators are working with aviators from the brigade's Apache battalion to integrate their mission into the aviation realm.

The Gray Eagle is an extended-range, multipurpose unmanned aircraft designed primarily to provide ground commanders a set of "eyes in the sky." The aircraft is built on the same platform as the Air Force's Predator drone, and will provide the Army access to the type of support usually provided by Predator-type aircraft. "The Army needed more UAS support ... there was a gap in coverage," said Capt. Michael Goodwin, the unit's commander, and a native of Cedar Island, N.C. "Predator-based platforms are spread too thin to meet all of the Army's needs ... we're the Army's answer to finding a quick solution to that problem."

The Army purchased its first batch of Gray Eagles from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems while the aircraft was still in the developmental stage. Forming the QRC units allowed the Army to get a head-start on introducing the aircraft to combat. The unit has not identified any significant flaws in the aircraft, which has yielded impressive results during the first six months of deployment, said Goodwin.

MQ-1C File Photo

The unit has flown nearly 7,000 accident-free hours, more than 350 combat missions, produced more than 16,000 surveillance-type images, and maintained a systems operational readiness rate of about 93 percent, according to unit reports. Soldiers of the QRC unit are not only developing the Gray Eagle and its systems, but often help introduce its technology to the commanders and ground troops it is designed to benefit. "One of the biggest things we try to do is educate other units about our capabilities," said Goodwin. "A lot of units have the ability to use our assets, but they don't know what we can do."

One of the most useful tools the unit offers ground troops is education on a portable system known as the OSRVT, or One Station Remote Viewing Terminal. Ground commanders using the system can access the Gray Eagle's video feed from a laptop. The OSRVT can be carried in a backpack and is designed to be used in most military vehicles. Access to the Gray Eagle's feed through the system provides ground commanders a firsthand, bird's eye view of the battlefield, said Goodwin. "We're finding that a lot of units have the OSRVT, but don't know what it does for them," he said. "Our company helps train the ground guys on the system, on how to access our feeds and use our aircraft to support them. It's such a new technology that - just like our aircraft - most people don't know how great the technology is. If I were a ground commander, I wouldn't roll out without it."

In addition to the OSRVT, the Gray Eagle and its operators are perfecting several technologies that are new to the Army's spy-plane arsenal.

Older Army UAS platforms have typically only served as a middle-man in engaging targets, providing attack helicopters, planes, or ground troops with a target. With the Gray Eagle, the Army's UAS family can now do both. The unit is working to prepare the aircraft to carry hellfire missiles, and is scheduled to conduct a live test of the missiles in Iraq during January. Sgt. Brent Randal, a Gray Eagle operator deployed with QRC1-R1 and a native of Las Vegas, NV, said that one of the aircraft's best features is its new Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR. Mounted underneath the Gray Eagle's nose, the SAR can compare high-resolution images of a location taken at different times to determine whether objects have been removed from or placed at a scene. "Using the SAR we can fly by a site, fly by several hours later, and if anything changes, we'll see it," said Randal.

The technology comes particularly useful in locating buried IEDs and weapons caches, said Randal. The Gray Eagle can also help ground troops communicate with their headquarters over long distances. "We've had a couple situations where ground troops were out of communications range from their higher headquarters, so we used our radio systems in the aircraft to retransmit their signals to their headquarters," said Randal. "In essence we bounce their signal back to their base."

The Army plans to provide 12 Gray Eagles to each of its aviation brigades when the aircraft is fully developed. The aircraft are likely to work closely with the Army's scout helicopters, but will remain strongly connected to intelligence and ground combat units, officials said.

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