UAVs will raise STA profile

Keeping an eye out: Locators from 131 STA Bty watch for enemy fire. 131 STA Bty will become part of 20 STA Regt next year.

Weapon Locating Radar

AT A GLANCE Weapon Locating Radar (131 STA Bty) Accurately locates enemy guns, mortars and rockets. Artillery Meteorology and Survey Tp (131 STA Bty) Survey uses GPS to conduct accurate positioning. Meteorology launches hydrogen-filled balloons with sensitive equipment to measure met conditions (weather accounts for 60 per cent of the reason why artillery misses its target). Data produced by these balloon ascents result in data that is applied to the guns, improving accuracy of fire. Thermal Surveillance System (131 STA Bty) Under Project Land 53 Ninox, the TSS will allow LPs to cue WLRs and surveillance patrols to acquire targets by day or night. JP129 TUAV Project JP 129, Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) will deliver a UAV system to the Army to support a land task force. UAV will project live imagery from the battlespace into a brigade or battle group HQ.

By Lt Simone Heyer

WHEN 20 Locating Regt was disbanded 35 years ago, few would have imagined that the addition of tactical UAVs would see the regiment raised again.

20 STA Regt’s implementation team is a small staff of surveillance and target acquisition (STA) specialists led by Lt-Col Phil Swinsburg, who are putting the groundwork into what will be one of the Army’s key capabilities.

The STA regiment’s capability of ground surveillance, target acquisition and UAVs, when linked with the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, the future fire support systems under project Land 17 and the Abrams tank, will make for an extremely powerful addition to the modern land Army.

In 2006, 131 STA Bty will be absorbed into 20 STA Regt with the regiment formally being raised in 2007. The new regiment will comprise a HQ and three batteries – 131 STA Bty, 132 UAV Bty and a CSS Bty.

Growth of the regiment will be significant by current manning standards. It’s planned that by 2012 manning will grow by more than 100 per cent. Extra land will be allocated to the regiment’s expansion within Gallipoli Barracks with the building of the UAV unit, including world-class UAV simulators.

20 STA Regt’s implementation team’s Maj Russell Hamsey said the team had taken a lot into account. “There’s been a lot of brainstorming and thinking. I haven’t had this much fun in years,” he said.

“During the introduction into service period, the UAV trade will be linked to ECN 250, the current Artillery Meteorological and Survey trade. We expect that in the coming weeks an ECN review will be conducted to determine whether the UAV will become separate trade or remain a linked trade to ECN 250.”

He said that for a short period of time, an invitation was open to all corps for members to transfer into the UAV troop, provided they meet the education and pre-selection standards. All transfers however will be assessed by SCMA for suitability.

He said that he had a job for the PlayStation generation – because not everyone could handle an airborne vehicle from the confines of a shelter on the back of a truck.

Key members of the UAV troop will undertake 12 months training in the UK. On return they’ll develop the doctrine and TTP for the UAV and conduct training for the UAV battery.

Maj Hamsey said the UK and US had more than 50 years of combined experience with UAVs and the Australian Army would learn from that experience. In addition to the UK attachments, the implementation team will also be seeking to conduct attachments with US units, commencing in 2006.

“Part of the reason we’re sending soldiers to the UK is so we don’t need to make 50 years’ worth of mistakes to reach a high operational standard,” he said.

The UAV troop training will be conducted at Gallipoli Barracks.

Maj Hamsey said training would likely be conducted by civilian contractors from the chosen UAV tenderer, and by trained Army members. Flying ops for the UAV would take place in Queensland and NT military ranges.

The unit will be a direct command unit of HQ 1 Div with the RHQ working with the intelligence and targeting staff in DJFHQ.

Maj Hamsey said many countries used UAVs for various reasons, and that the Australian Army would strike a balance between reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition tasking.

“The UAVs will bring the capability to project live video imagery of the battlespace into a brigade a battalion HQ like never before,” he said.

“We’re treading on new ground. The challenge is making this work inside a brigade HQ that is not used to receiving such realtime information and ensuring that this results in situation awareness for the commander and not simply more information.”

Lt-Col Swinsburg said that the regiment would link current 131 STA Bty capabilities with the UAVs.

“STA support to a brigade will increase by over 500 per cent with the regiment’s establishment and CONOPS,” he said. “Being in direct support of Bde HQ means increased levels of int and staff to deal with the information flow and situational awareness.”

He said combining the STA coverage with the UAV troop would provide real-time imagery at brigade, battalion and company levels simultaneously.

“With coverage 24 hours a day, linked to a wider and layered STA coverage of the brigade’s AO, you start to see the powerful information gained,” he said.

“My aim with the regiment is to provide commanders with the most accurate and timely information possible to inform better decisions. The STA capability is linked into a broader engagement network through either indirect fire, manoeuvre or strike aircraft.”