...While Keeping Operators Safe
The capabilities and importance of Predator UAVs are
becoming clearer with each day the unmanned vehicles are deployed
on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan. From intelligence
gathering, to eradication of insurgent
forces, the Air Force wants its enemies to know that
Predators are watching them from the skies... while pilots of the
UAVs sit several (sometimes several thousand) miles away.
"I never thought I’d be doing anything like this," said
Airman 1st Class Kyle Bridges recently, from his seat at an RQ-1
Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ground control station at Balad
Air Base, Iraq. "I signed up to be an imagery analyst, which I
thought was going to be a cool job. Instead I was offered the
chance to be a sensor operator on the Predator."
Airman Bridges is with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance
Squadron at Balad, and controls the infrared and electro-optical
sensors, the laser range designator and the laser target
monitor.
"I also have to back up the pilot on everything he does, such as
radio calls, airspace and safety of flight," Airman Bridges (below,
right) said. "I’m given a lot of responsibility as an airman
first class."
Enlisted sensor
operators have a direct and significant role in the war on terror
and base defense, and are able to see their results
immediately.
"Once a Hellfire missile is launched from the aircraft, I guide
the weapon to the target with the laser," Airman Bridges said.
"Sometimes that can mean keeping the laser on a moving truck and
guiding the missile all the way to its target."
All Predators in the Iraqi theater of operations are launched
and recovered from Predator GCSs at Balad, while most of the
missions are flown from Nellis Air Force Base, NV.
"We get them in the air and headed in the right direction,
before handing over control to the folks at Nellis," said Maj.
Micah Morgan, commander of the 46th ERS.
Before relinquishing control of the aircraft to Nellis, the
Airmen at Balad get the Predator to its correct altitude, do system
checks and ensure the satellite link is operational.
The people in the squadron are trained in tactical control of
the platform and how to operate the weapon system, Major Morgan
said. They also receive additional training to handle the
specialized mission here of launching and receiving the
aircraft.
The Predators are launched and recovered by Airmen in theater
because the signal from Nellis has a slight delay after being
bounced thousands of miles into space and then back down.
Even without a delay, the Predator can be a handful to launch
and recover. "I have flown a lot of different airframes," Major
Morgan said. "Predator is by far the most difficult to land."
Once the Predator is handed over to Nellis for control, it flies
a mission assigned by the Combined Air Operations Center performing
reconnaissance and close air support.
Although the primary mission of the 46th ERS is to launch and
recover Predators, they do have a secondary mission of defending
Balad in conjunction with the base’s Joint Defense Operations
Center. In fact, Predators were involved in the apprehension of
nearly 20 insurgents last month, Major Morgan said.
The Predator has four capabilities that make it an important
tool in Iraq.
It has the ability to loiter in an area for a long time,
enabling it to watch a target all day and all night. Additionally,
it has immediate strike capability. The Hellfire AGM-114P missiles,
specially designed for the Predator, are guided all the way to the
target by the sensor operator. Third, the surveillance capability
gives the Predator the ability to provide instant battle damage
assessment.
Finally, the Predator has the ability to feed real-time video to
forces on the ground, giving them a greater level of situational
awareness and a new perspective on the battlefield.
"We can track a target, strike that target and make sure the
mission is complete all from one airframe," Major Morgan said. "The
Predator can accomplish something on its own that used to take
three different assets to do."
The capabilities of the
46th ERS are growing as more Predators come to Balad, and a new
control system comes online. The multiple aircraft control system
will enable one pilot, to control four aircraft simultaneously.
"The pilot will be very busy," Major Morgan said. "But it will
greatly increase our effectiveness."
Each Predator will still have a dedicated enlisted operator at
the controls of its sensors.
As for Airman Bridges, he is excited to be working with what he
calls the future of airpower.
"There are not a lot of junior enlisted Airmen out there getting
the chance to operate a weapons system like this and see the
results of their contribution to the war on terror daily," Airman
Bridges said.
(Aero-News salutes Airman 1st Class Jason Ridder, 332nd Air
Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs)