Expendable Remotely Piloted Vehicles for Strategic Offensive ...

phase and weapons support officers would receive control to perf o rmattack operations. 4 2Relative Ranks for Better Performance in Hazardous,Boring, or Fatiguing Conditions AreaManned AircraftCruise MissilesReusable Remotely Piloted VehiclesExpendable Remotely Piloted Vehicles◦●●●Flight NoiseIn a 1994 speech, General McPeak addressed flight noise as an areawhich required greater attention. “Surprise conveys almost overwhelmingcombat advantage,” he stated, “so it is very important that we continue to‘quieten’ aircraft, as we have submarines.” 43 Various measures are beingused to decrease the noise of jet engines; however, some level of outputwill always exist.Strategic aircraft, such as the F-117 and the B-2, have engines whichgenerate a great deal of noise. The F-117 may attack at higher altitudesmaking them more difficult, but not impossible, to hear. The B-2, redesignedfor low-level attack, is more vulnerable in the area of flightnoise. Despite this, these assets were designed for single-ship operations—making large formations (and the high levels of noise they generated) athing of the past.Air Chief Marshal Armitage addressed how RPVs can offer lower noisesignature design possibilities. He states that “only small and lower poweredpropeller driven aircraft are likely to offer extremely low acoustic signatures.”He continues, “many small drones and RPVs take advantage ofthis factor.” 44RPVs may actually be more effective as noise generators on certainmissions. For example, decoy drones may purposely want their pre s­ence known as they conduct 24-hour-a-day harassment missions. Thiswould not only affect the morale of the enemy but also force the enemyto expend re s o u rces to deal with it. This was the case with the V-1 BuzzBomb: “One of the ironies of the Luftwaffe’s ‘buzz bomb’ (which cost afraction of the V-2) was that not only did its noisiness create more terror, the fact that it could be shot down diverted much more Allied eff o r tinto stopping it.” 4 5All unmanned aircraft were assigned an advantage rank in this area becausethey offer the design potential to have lower acoustic signaturesthan manned aircraft. General McPeak acknowledged this as he continuedto address the aircraft quieting requirement. He stated, “really lowsignatures may require removing the pilot.” 4649