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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Troops Build Their Own UAVs |
| 2005-05-20 |
| May 20, 2005: Troops in combat zones are eager to get their hands on robotic vehicles, but the supply is limited. So the troops have been improvising. Radio controlled (RC) cars and aircraft are readily available from hobby stores, or their web sites. Items can be sent via air freight to Iraq. The high end RC trucks cost several hundred dollars, but can be controlled from as far away as 200 meters. These are often carried by troops on convoy duty, for checking out items on, or alongside, the road that might be bombs. Just shooting at these objects doesn't always set them off. But run an RC car up to it, and ram the object, and you quickly know if it is heavy (and possibly a bomb), or light (and likely just some garbage.) These vehicles can also be equipped with wireless video cameras, perfect for checking out what's around the corner. RC aircraft, especially the high end ones that cost $500 or more, can also, with some effort, be equipped with a wireless vidcam. However, using off-the-shelf equipment, your transmission range is only a few hundred meters. Most RC aircraft can be controlled up to 500 meters away, and with more expensive commo gear, nearly twice that. But troops have gotten their own improvised UAVs into the air (and sometimes shot at as well.) The army calls these efforts "field expedients," and they are one reason why the army (and the other services as well) are scrambling to get official versions of this gear into the hands of the troops. The government issue stuff is often little different than what the hobbyist troops are coming up with. The military versions are more expensive because they have to be built so that any soldier can quickly figure out how to use them. That takes a lot of effort, and runs the costs up. But for units that have some RC hobbyists in the ranks, you can make your own, crude but effective, recon UAVs for under a thousand dollars. The official versions cost $20,000 or more. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 It is easy to miss the essence of the difficulty with solving the IED problem - speed. RC cars and planes are easily controlled from stationary soldiers. IED's are a hazard to moving vehicles, ones that move faster than a Tycho toy. The toys are certainly a useful field expediant but a difficult to use to protect a moving convoy. This the need for the $20k outlay. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-05-20 21:04 |
| #9 Don't blame the developers; it's a lot more expensive doing business with the federal government than just buying the parts and building one yourself. Joe Improviser in Baghdad doesn't have to worry about whether wbat he's built is ISO-9000 compliant. He just has to make the system work. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-05-20 20:37 |
| #8 Necessity is the mother's milk of invention. Let's get some of these state-side ya-whos on the frontline and see how fast they move their blessed b-hinds. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-05-20 17:47 |
| #7 The official versions cost $20,000 or more. That's a little under the price of two race relations classes, but infinitely more valuable. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-20 16:49 |
| #6 A possible skunkworks project, remoteman? ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-20 14:06 |
| #5 The EOD teams have Talon robots with manipulator arms to pick up items or place some C4 next to a suspected IED. The SWORDS system, which is a Talon with a weapon platform mounted upon it is also likely to go in theater in the coming months. These systems are far more capable than an RC car. That said, you have to love the overwhelming evidence that remote vehicles are the way to go if the guys are using RC trucks and planes on their own cause they want them so much. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2005-05-20 12:45 |
| #4 Another prove how the idiots in army , armament industry and procurement in Pentagon dont help the soldiers and dont have vision whatsoever to see the wars. What they like is gold platted stuff with billions attached. |
| Posted by: Hupomoque Spoluter7949 2005-05-20 12:37 |
| #3 200m for R/C cars seems like enough range as long as you have some decent cover between you and the IED. I think this is a great job of improvising. |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-20 10:58 |
| #2 This morning NPR carried a long interview with the Brigadier-General who is in charge of working out countermeasures for IEDs; there was a very brief mention of aerial survelliance, but not a word about this kind of in-field problem-solving. Advantage: Rantburg, once again. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2005-05-20 10:35 |
| #1 (/stereotype) Typical American ingenuity! (/end stereotype) But nonetheless true. Way to go, guys! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-20 09:50 |