13.03.2010 2:00

Army Nears Aerial Milestone

The army expects to top 1,000,000 total hours in unmanned aviation by April, and sees a need for over 3,000 UAV operators by 2018. The Army plans to recognize the hours-flown milestone in late May with displays in Washington at the Pentagon and the Smithsonian Museum. Meanwhile, Fiscal Year 2010 should see the addition of about 800 trained operators (UAV pilots). Aside from vastly reducing the risk to military personnel, the Army's UAV program has pushed human error accident and incident rates close to the single-digit mark, according to the military. The military attributes that, at least in part, to the adoption of automated methods employed for take off and landing. Currently, roughly 90 percent of the hours flown by unmanned aircraft are done in support of combat, according to Col. Christopher Carlile, director of the U.S. Army Unmannned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence. He added that the Army is ready to both expand use of unmanned systems and broaden the unmanned aerial system mission set. As for personnel, a joint training installation operated by the Army at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., trains Soldiers, Sailors and Marines.