The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
USMC Works Its UAVs to Death
by James Dunnigan
August 21, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
Despite initial popularity, the U.S. Marine
Corps Dragon Eye UAV has been a victim of its own success. The marines found
the tiny (5-6 pound) UAV invaluable in combat. The problem was that the system
was, literally, rushed into service. The laptop computer, and wearable
electronics, used to control the UAV, often failed, and there was no quick way
to get them fixed. Then there were the special batteries the UAV used, which
were also hard to replace. The elastic chord used to launch the UAV was also
prone to breakage. The aircraft itself, made of plastic and the lightest of the
micro-UAVs used by American forces, was often damaged when landing (which was
done by simply flying the UAV low and slow, and turning the power off, for a
crash landing.) The manufacturer said each UAV would be good for about 40
landings, but marines in the field quickly exceeded that, and were exasperated
because the beat up UAVs were then falling apart (as predicted). Efforts to get
more spare parts, more rugged components and better support, have kept many of
the Dragon Eyes flying, but not enough considering how active the marines have
been. Nearly a hundred systems have been bought so far (each with three UAVs
and one ground controller computer, plus spare parts). Each system costs about
$120,000. The marines have used Dragon Eye heavily, and quickly bumped into the
systems limits (45-60 minutes in the air per sortie, max range from ground controller
of 10 kilometers, lightweight makes UAV unstable in high winds). The troops
want a more rugged UAV, that is also lightweight and easy to use and has
greater endurance (2-3 hours) and range (20 kilometers). A new and improved UAV
has not appeared, and the troops are not happy
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