Introduction
Army aviation is a core functional area in combat and combat support battlefield operations. Aviation resources are available to the battlefield commander at all echelons to execute the complete range of Army missions and achieve full-spectrum dominance. If the electronic link among forces is command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I), then the maneuver link is Army aviation. The close and direct relationship between Army aviation and the ground combat soldier is well documented in numerous accounts of decisive battles where infantry and aviation were used for mutual support and maneuvering. Combining ground and air capability produces a formidable force with greatly magnified effects.
Joint Vision 2010 And The Army Chief Of Staff's Vision
Joint Vision 2010 (JV 2010) postulates that the Nation must be ready to fight and win across a wide range of warfare situations involving terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, military operations other than war, transnational threats, information security, and major theater warfare. JV 2010 focuses on integrating joint capabilities, closing seams between Service competencies, and developing and fielding breakthrough warfighting capabilities. Furthermore, the foundation of JV 2010 rests on quality forces consisting of our people, first-rate equipment, training and readiness, and leader development.
Execution of this vision requires an array of versatile, agile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable forces. We must obtain strategic responsiveness when and where needed through force projection from CONUS or any other location. Deploying a warfighting division in 5 days will require equipped combat and service support units to overcome unimproved roads, hostile terrain, and difficult geography.
The ability to move forces from stability to support operations and, if needed, into hostilities and back, is the essence of an aviation unit. Crosscoordination from higher to lower, left to right, compels the Army to rely on future digitization that can surpass the traditional line-of-sight radio and communicate in three dimensions over the horizon. Making light forces more potent while increasing the agility and nimbleness of heavy forces is achievable by combining Scout and reconnaissance aircraft with the "big stick" of attack and transport helicopters.
As Army aviation moves from "mass as a center of gravity" to "maneuver and deploy," its existing platforms already support low-observable systems, ballistic protection, long-range acquisition and targeting, early attack, and higher first-round kills. We have shifted to an acquisition process in which a system, from research and development to production and life-cycle management, is fielded as a total system, including human factors and training. We are moving heavily, and for some components even exclusively, toward use of commercial items and away from "build to print." The interaction of the Army aviation community with commercial aircraft practices, communications and computers, materials, and flight dynamics ensures the infusion of new technologies into our systems. We ensure our technological overmatch through the remanufacture and upgrade of our platforms, such as the Apache to Apache Longbow and the CH-47D Chinook to a CH-47F improved Cargo Helicopter. New systems such as the Comanche and the Joint Transport Rotorcraft will add next generation technologies into the standard Army force.
Full-Spectrum Dominance
The aviation assets that support full-spectrum dominance through the year 2010 are currently found in the UH-60 for utility missions and in the Apache Longbow for total warfare (see the article by BG(P) Armbruster and LTC Hazelwood that begins on Page 28). Without prudent upgrades such as the service life extension of the CH-47D to the CH-47F and a similar upgrade of the Army's workhorse aircraft, the Black Hawk, our already strained system readiness will become increasingly stressed. All systems undergoing a true upgrade will include requisite digitization for performance and interoperability through software and communication systems modifications. Aviation plays a unique role in combating weapons of mass destruction, where advanced sensors like the Longbow Fire Control Radar and the Radio Frequency
HELLFIRE Missile work effectively against deep threats while air defense radar deter less capable weapon systems. More broadly, transport aircraft such as the Black Hawk and Chinook allow the combat commander to insert and sustain precision formations that shape and influence the operation.
Enabling, Capabilities
The Vietnam War, peacekeeping operations, Desert Storm, and the current operation in Kosovo all underscore the need to deploy a warfighting division on the ground in 5 days. Enabling capabilities include the early entry of Apache Longbows, Comanche Attack/Recon, Black Hawks, CH-47 Chinooks, and C4I systems such as the Army Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S).
A forward command post with highly lethal assets provides a versatile anticipatory base for the remainder of the force. These systems, used in conjunction with an unmanned sensor such as the Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, provide sustained long-range reconnaissance or deep-attack capability out to 200 kilometers for up to 4 hours. Additionally, the force package can tailor quantities and location of transport, attack, and recon aircraft to suit the mission need.
Reducing Deployment Times
The division commander must possess an inherent flexibility to reduce deployment and redeployment times. The CH-7F "fat boy" is a cargo helicopter modified to deliver thousands of gallons of fuel in forward refueling points in support of ground or air forces. Primary weapon systems like the Apache Longbow and Comanche are clearly the weapon systems of choice in the attack or Scout role. However, the improved Black Hawk (with digitization capabilities) and the improved cargo helicopter offer genuine versatility. With these types of aviation assets, the force can train for all missions across the spectrum of operations.
Improving Survivability
The interactivity of the program executive officer (PEO)-managed weapon systems with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Black Hawk creates a more survivable force for the aviation commander and the tactical ground forces. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), non-line-ofsight radios, future joint tactical data radios, Embedded Battle Command, and the Aviation Mission Planning System, each aviation platform will operate with relative autonomy, yet be digitally connected to other equipment and formations. The Longbow HELLFIRE missile, with its fire-and-forget capability, is employed on the Apache Longbow and Comanche. The Longbow millimeter wave radar coupled with a digital aircraft and the Longbow HELLFIRE missile is the world's most lethal combat system. PEO, Aviation is working with the Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to improve the targeting system and extend the range of the missile, thereby reducing the net weight while improving performance, in some cases by 50 percent.
Enhancing Support Efforts
A core staff of logisticians, engineers, and business and program managers is vital to each of the project managers within PEO, Aviation. These staff elements work in interlocking product teams with Army agencies such as the U.S. Army Materiel Command, TRADOC, U.S. Army Forces Command, the Eighth U.S. Army, and U.S. Army Europe. They also interact with other Services, U.S. government agencies, and international customers.
With full life-cycle support responsibility, the PMs aggressively conduct research and development efforts as well as seek operations and support improvements as the systems are designed, developed, procured, and fielded. The use of Alpha contracting for the key multiyear Apache and Fire Control Radar procurements enabled the Army to realize stable long-term production and support, including seamless support to the fielded units through performance-based contracting and warranties. PEO, Aviation has and will make a sizable investment in operator and maintenance trainers to provide initial entry training and sustainment training around the world. We use the knowledge gained in Apache training systems to reduce the procurement cost of trainers in the CH-47F and the Comanche.
Enabling Technologies
As a low-observable, lowacoustical, rotary-wing aircraft, Comanche provides technological overmatch through active and passive measures. These include radar cross-section reduction, infrared signature reduction, sensor fusion, night target acquisition range, advanced engines, Link 16 communications, advanced materials, and onboard diagnostics. In our Aviation Electronic Combat Project Office, emerging and future systems such as the Embedded Battle Command, improved GPS, Joint Tactical Radio System, and the non-line-of-sight radio are selected for all platforms.
As the Apache Longbow enters its second multiyear procurement, we expect to incorporate the following features: fire control radar combat and technology overmatch, second generation forward looking infrared optics, improved rotor and drivetrain systems for cost and performance enhancements, color digital mapping, fully adaptive algorithms, and wavelet technology.
Aircrew integrated systems will provide beneficial assets such as the Digital Source Collector (DSC) on the improved Black Hawk and CH-47F. The DSC will gather and analyze data on history and trends to enhance maintenance operations, aircrew training, human performance, aircraft system/subsystem monitoring, and aircraft accident prevention and investigation. The Air Warrior provides microclimatic cooling to allow operators to sustain 100-degree heat with 50-degree humidity as well as reduce the 57 pounds of crew equipment weight.
Aviation Platform Force Mix
The TRADOC: approved Aviation Modernization Plan shows a force mix of four principal platforms: Utility (Black Hawk), Transport (CH-47F), Scout/Reconnaissance (Comanche), and Attack (Apache Longbow). These four primary platforms fulfill the vision of the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) and allow for systematic technology improvements for many years. Air Warrior applies communications interoperability through GPS, Joint Tactical Data Radio, Link 16, Embedded Battle Command, and A2C2S. Maintenance and operator trainers provide technology and interoperability. With the development of the Joint Transport Rotorcraft, we will add a common transport aircraft for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps and further enhance the relevance and effectiveness of Army aviation.
Conclusion
The Army aviation community brings 50 years of rotary-wing contributions to Army operations. We've made a huge financial and operational investment in current platforms and sensor and communication systems and will upgrade core platforms such as the Black Hawk and CH-47. Emerging and future systems such as the Comanche, Joint Transport Rotorcraft, and the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures/Common Missile Warning System should ensure a balance of versatility, responsiveness, fullspectrum dominance, and sustainment for the Army. Aviation is essential to the realization of the CSA's vision. PEO, Aviation and its products fully support the CSA's stated and implied missions now and in the future.
[Author Affiliation]
LTC JOHN BURKE is the Product Manager for the Longbow Fire Control Radar on the Apache and Comanche aircraft. He received his B.S. from Florida State University and his M.S. from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is Level 111 certified in program management and communications/computers, and is a member of the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society.
MG JAMES R. SNIDER is the PEO, Aviation. He has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.
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