TAMPA, Fla. — Special operations rotary-wing pilots must find a way to navigate without GPS, and the fleet itself is in need of electric-powered aircraft, in response to this system executive officer for U.S. Special Operations Command’s rotary-wing assets.
Those features are usually not simply nice to have, but are necessities to maintain these crucial platforms flying in contested environments, Geoff Downer said Tuesday on the SOF Week conference in Florida.
“We all know the window is closing to remain on GPS when denied,” Downer said, referring to technology that may prevent access to positioning systems. The military services are already attempting to ensure navigation for the warfighter, but “flying 100-300 feet at 120 knots causes a novel problem for some solutions which can be on the market.”
Moreover, to expand the pilot’s situational awareness, the command is in search of higher sensor data fusion — a recently funded objective. That effort would merge systems and draw different information from the identical sensors, thereby reducing the payload of the aircraft, he explained.
For greater than 4 many years each system added to just about any aircraft did about one thing, which led to stovepiped features and the addition of evermore technology onto platforms that have to be lean and fast.
For instance, Downer noted that special operations personnel were capable of cut 1,000 kilos from the MH-60M Black Hawk by changing wiring and making structural modifications. They increased the lift by 300 kilos using a ten% rotor tip modification.
That’s the sweet spot for SOCOM, Downer said, because often the organization takes what the services provide, after which get to work on modifications that fit mission sets.
That approach has proved its value, as SOCOM continues to make use of airframes that date back to the Vietnam War, similar to the MH-47G Chinook. Though nearly all the pieces on those aircraft was replaced or upgraded multiple times.
Beyond current modifications, the rotary-wing fleet is anticipated to undergo major technology changes. For instance, the Army is acquiring future vertical lift aircraft — the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft and the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft.
In 2022, command officials pushed industry on electric-powered options to interchange the AH-6M for close air support and the MH-6M for troop transport. Latest aircraft should greater than double the speed of the prevailing fleet, in response to program requirements.
The aircraft is anticipated to constantly receive upgrades and use until 2033. Following that, the command seeks to sustain and divest by 2040.
The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft will take over many mission needs because it enters the sphere, Downer noted.
Meanwhile, the electric-powered effort is proving difficult, Downer said.
To date, the technology isn’t providing the hover time needed for special operations missions. However the team is working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on a program for an electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing platform, Downer added.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.