The Art Of UAS Operations

Unmanned Aerial Systems Are Increasingly Capable of Maritime as Well as Overland Isr, but Whatever the Mission First Rate Simulation Training Will Yield the Best Operational Results.

- Andrew Drwiega

How did the Chinese government manage to conduct such a rapid island building campaign in the South China Sea before it became too late to stop. Going against international laws and ignoring the claims of other nations to the same real estate, the Chinese government rapidly developed port facilities, runways and defence capability. These bases significantly bolstered China’s ability to enforce its ‘nine-dash line’ territorial claim which encompasses most of the South China Sea. Was this a failure of diplomacy - or the lack of an adequate means to conduct meaningful intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance gathering?

The initial ‘land reclamation programme’ carried out by the Chinese in the Spratly Islands took place between 2013 and 2016. Some of the reefs had been little more than barren rocks were built up into man-made islands. The runways at 2,7003,300 feet could handle military jets.

In the Pacific, long range and endurance counts. Australia’s acquisition of seven Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Tritons is giving the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) a high altitude, long-range maritime patrol capability. Ranging out for up to 24 hours at a time at a ceiling well over 50,000 feet (15,000m), its 360 degree field of regard (FOR) sensors can cover over 2,000 nautical miles of sur-rounding ocean. This is achieved through its multifunction active sensor active electronically steered array (MFAS EASA) radar, electro-optical / infrared (EO/IR) sensor, automatic identification system (AIS) receiver and other electronic support measures (ESM).