Success is in the air

Volume 11, No. 56, November 16, 2006
By Cpl Mike McSweeney

Eyes in the sky: DSTO's UAV trials with the Pilbara Regt were successful.

UNMANNED Aerial Vehicles have undergone a series of trials in Australia's North West to test their suitability for Australian surveillance operations.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence Senator Sandy Macdonald said the UAV from US company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc operated with a RAN patrol boat, Joint Offshore Protection Command and the Pilbara Regt.

The North West Shelf is of vital strategic and economic importance to Australia and enhancing existing security in this area is a priority for the government, Senator Macdonald said.

“It is essential to explore new solutions and new technologies to protect this region from criminal activities such as illegal fishing, drug running and people smuggling.

Two Pilbara Regt vehicle patrols worked with the UAV during the ground phase of the DSTO-led trails.

OC 2 Sqn Maj Tony Said explained that while one crew was tracked as the enemy element, the other was directed by the UAV.

It's a fairly impressive piece of kit. We had the interceptor vehicle fitted with equipment that enabled us to establish a live video link so we could essentially see what the UAV was seeing, he said.

While the RAAF Learmonth-based UAV ground control crew refuelled, serviced and launched the UAV, the flying was conducted from South Australia.

“Once it was up in the air, [the ground controllers] would hand over to the controller at RAAF Base Edinburg, Maj Said explained.

He said the UAV was effective at reconnoitring ahead of a mobile patrol, vectoring personnel on to a target and providing situational awareness.

A great example of this was when the adversary patrol hid a box in a culvert under the road.

The UAV was tracking them and it recorded exactly where the box was hidden and then continued to track the vehicle, he said.

“We just got the coordinates from the video link, we drove to that vicinity using the GPS, we got to within about 20-50m and then the camera operator in Edinburgh directed us to walk to where this box was hidden.

So he actually walked someone right up to this box.

The acquisition of a long endurance, multi-mission UAV is planned under project Air 7000.