US Marines have been trying out new roles for their H-1 helicopters, exploring whether they can serve as airborne launch and control platforms for first-person-view drones.
The concepts combine crewed and uncrewed capabilities, using helicopters to extend the reach of small, low-cost drones, giving Marines another way to strike targets without pushing aircraft as deep into contested airspace.
During a recent training exercise in California, Marines tested whether their helicopters could serve as “airborne motherships” for launching and FPV drones and aerial command centers for controlling them, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said in a release.
For the testing, Marines from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 and 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion used two modern H-1 helicopters: the UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter, which entered service in 2008 as an upgrade to the UH-1N Twin Huey, and the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter, which replaced the AH-1 SuperCobra.
At the Twentynine Palms testing event, Marines successfully deployed an FPV drone from a moving helicopter.
Marines also practiced handing off control to a distant helicopter with a line-of-sight connection. After Marine ground forces got their Neros Archer FPV drone flying, control of the uncrewed aircraft was passed to a specialized operator team inside a UH-1Y Venom helicopter miles away. That helicopter maintained the connection and flew the drone on to its target, functioning as a “flying command post” and “aerial control station.”
The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said that these approaches offer “commanders a scalable, cost-effective option to service a wide range of threats without risking the aircraft or expending expensive munitions on every target.”
The Neros Archer is the most popular first-person-view drone in the Marine Corps infantry. Necros has a $17 million contract with the Marines to build thousands of drones and has also produced systems for Ukraine.
Like many FPV drones, the Archer can carry different payloads, and how far it can fly depends partly on how much weight it is carrying. The Marines used it for the test because it is already widely used and has performed well.
Launching and controlling FPV drones from helicopters has the potential to reduce the risk to Marine aircrews, a UH-1Y crew chief said. “We are still providing our ground support, and close air support, but in a way that lets the drones close with and destroy the enemy, rather than putting our Marines in harm’s way,” said Sgt. Matthew Pocklington.
More drones aboard the helicopters could allow onboard operators to potentially swarm the systems in coordinated attacks.
Beyond the Marines’ latest test, the US is more broadly focused on manned-unmanned teaming. The US Air Force and US Navy have several projects in the works that have advanced drones flying alongside crewed aircraft, either operating autonomously or taking direction from human pilots.
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