Expendable Remotely Piloted Vehicles for Strategic Offensive ...

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Advantages and Disadvantages ofRemotely Piloted VehiclesTable 6 is a GAO illustration of advantages and disadvantages of RPVsfor military missions. 9 The greatest advantage for RPVs is pilot risk, andthe greatest disadvantage is recovery. 10 Although this view is based upon1980s technology and does not directly deal with cruise missiles nor expendableRPVs, the advantages and disadvantages are still pertinent. Thefollowing sections of this chapter will address each area of advantage ordisadvantage in greater detail. Using the same 21 areas developed by theGAO, comparisons will be made between four aircraft categories designedto conduct strategic attack. The four categories are manned aircraft,cruise missiles, reusable RPVs, and expendable RPVs. Within an area,each asset’s advantage or disadvantage will be judged relative to the otherthree assets. In certain areas, an asset will more clearly warrant eitherhaving a major advantage (represented by the symbol “● ”) or else as havinga major disadvantage (represented by the symbol “◦”). An asset havingcounterbalancing advantages and disadvantages (represented by thesymbol “”) may have some ill-defined boundaries. At the end of each section,a rank (symbol) will be given to each asset according to the evidence.A chart at the end of this chapter will display the compiled results.Pilot RiskPilot risk is a major handicap for manned aircraft, and it is the greatestadvantage for UAVs. 11 Heavy air losses during World War I led to the followingBritish Air Staff statement which remains applicable today: “Theair force have never been unwilling to face heavy losses; but it must be realizedthat highly trained pilots cannot be replaced with the same ease asinfantry soldiers.” 12 Simply stated, manned aircraft put pilots at riskwhereas UAVs do not. While this is obvious, the importance of pilot riskdeserves greater discussion.As stated before, it is not possible to put a price on the life of a human;but many factors can make the high value of a pilot even greater. For example,a shortage of pilots can have serious repercussions. During theBattle of Britain, the British were producing all the aircraft they needed;but it was pilots they had trouble replacing. On the German side, the Luftwaffecreated and suffered a pilot shortage by taking the air war overBritish territory. If an RAF pilot was shot down and survived, he was ableto fly and fight another day. On the other hand, if a German pilot was shotdown and survived, he was captured and taken out of the war.Search and rescue (SAR) of downed pilots and aircrew personnel is anemotional and enduring issue. The Vietnam War saga of “Bat 21” representsthe great sacrifice that Americans are willing to risk to rescue oneairman. Debate continues on this case study as to whether the moralefactor associated with saving one comrade was worth the heavy cost in41
Table 6Remotely Piloted Vehicle Advantages and DisadvantagesAREA OF RPV ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGEPilot RiskSystem Cost (Excluding Operating Cost)Operating CostsFewer Design ConstraintsFlight DurationPayload FlexibilityFuel SavingsSmall and Less Visible SilhouetteBetter Performance in Hazardous, Boring, or Fatiguing ConditionsFlight NoiseAirspace SafetySafety of Ground Personnel/FacilitiesDevelopment CostsControl of PayloadLess Complex Communication and Control SystemAircraft Control (Navigation, Stability, and Maneuverability)Aircraft Flight PerformanceReliabilitySystemsPerformance Under Emergency or Unforeseen ConditionsRecoveryRELATIVE RANK●●●●●●●●●●◦◦Source: “DOD’s Use of Remotely Piloted Vehicle Technology Offers Opportunities for Saving Lives and Dollars,”General Accounting Office (GAO) survey (Washington, D.C.: GAO, 1981), 19.KEY:● Major Advantage Counterbalancing Advantage/Disadvantage◦ Major Disadvantage42
Page 1 and 2: Expendable Remotely PilotedVehicles
Page 3 and 4: ContentsChapterDISCLAIMER . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: AbstractThe future holds an acceler
Page 7 and 8: AcknowledgmentsI thank all the stud
Page 9 and 10: aircraft. Incorporating the added d
Page 11 and 12: UAVs were more easily defined when
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 4 answers the question: Why
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 2History and BackgroundWe h
Page 17 and 18: The Wright brothers are deservedly
Page 19 and 20: aerial bombs), the British took the
Page 21 and 22: UAVs during World War II to a few g
Page 23 and 24: On 27 October of that year, another
Page 25 and 26: United States to look beyond reconn
Page 27 and 28: ary 1996, Gen Ronald R. Fogleman, A
Page 29 and 30: 29. Shaker and Wise, 28.30. Michael
Page 31 and 32: Chapter 3Strategic Offensive Airpow
Page 33 and 34: ombs, as well as a high sortie rate
Page 35 and 36: It thus follows that future air cam
Page 37 and 38: possible for small formations to ac
Page 39 and 40: spite the successes, it is easily p
Page 41 and 42: The transmissions used by a control
Page 43 and 44: 33. Air Force Scientific Advisory B
Page 45: diverted 75 percent of its B-29s aw
Page 49 and 50: million dollars each. The unit flya
Page 51 and 52: Relative Ranks for Fewer Design Con
Page 53 and 54: mission) the open bomb bay doors si
Page 55 and 56: Relative Ranks for Flight Noise Are
Page 57 and 58: Owens also stated that the military
Page 59 and 60: All forms of manned and unmanned ai
Page 61 and 62: Relative Ranks for Reliability Area
Page 63 and 64: KEY: ● Major Advantage Counterba
Page 65 and 66: 7. “Report: Military Crashes Down
Page 67 and 68: 62. McGonigle, 34.63. Ibid., 33.64.
Page 69 and 70: expendable RPVs, American political
Page 71 and 72: cybornaut activates engine thruster
Page 73 and 74: Chapter 6ConclusionConstant evaluat
Page 75: one role. A countless combination o

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