UAVs' Cost-Effectiveness is Compelling Argument

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The cost-effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is making them an increasingly appealing prospect, especially considering the constrained defence budget within the UK due to pressures of the recession.

General Sir David Richards, the UK land forces' Chief of the General Staff, reiterated his predecessor Sir Richard Dannatt's call for increased use of UAVs in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies this month.

Sir David highlighted the changing nature of warfare as one of the precipitators of change when it comes to investment in military equipment.

Managing Risk

"Spending on future defence capability is invariably about managing risk, not eliminating it," Sir David Richards told delegates.

"This thinking shapes our strategic posture. It is how we prioritise some equipment over others, some intelligence and technological advances over others, and some force elements over others."

UAVs are one of the technological advances that many feel should be prioritised due to the changing requirements of the military.

Richards stressed that state-on-state warfare, such as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan would continue to take place.

"These wars are not being fought by a conventional invasion of uniformed troops, ready to be repulsed by heavy armour or ships, but through a combination of economic, cyber and proxy actions," he explained.

"Modern state-on-state warfare looks remarkably like irregular conflict."

"Our defence establishment has not yet fully adapted to the security realities of the post-Cold War world and this complex and dangerous new century," he claimed.

More UAVs for Your Money

Some of the traditional, high-cost military equipment that has been used in the past perhaps need to be replaced by modern technology which equips forces for irregular warfare, Richards suggested.

"If one equips more for this type of conflict while significantly reducing investment in higher-end war-fighting capability, suddenly one can buy an impressive amount of 'kit'," he explained. "Whilst … I am emphatically not advocating getting rid of all such equipment, one can buy a lot of UAVs or Tucano aircraft for the cost of a few JSF [Joint Strike Fighters] and heavy tanks."

UAVs are not new to the British military. In January 2008, the UK's most sophisticated unmanned system, Reaper, entered operation in Afghanistan. BAE Systems has also been developing fully autonomous utility UAV systems over the past four years as part of a £124 million programme named Project Taranis.

The scheme was introduced as part of the British government's Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicle Experiment (SUAVE) and has already resulted in six different platforms flying in the last three years.

Its aim was to help the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) learn about and understand the potential of UAVs within the armed forces mix. The technology risk reduction knowledge that the MoD acquires as a result of the project will underpin an investment decision set for early 2011.

Trial Flights

The first trial flights of systems developed as part of the Taranis programme are scheduled to take place early this year.

Included within the British UAV fleet are the Desert Hawk III Mini UAV, Herti, or High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion Unmanned Air System, Hermes 450, Watchkeeper and the aforementioned Reaper.

Their functions range from carriage and release of weapons, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, autonomous imagery collection and in-theatre contractor logistic support.

Partners on the scheme include Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ and Smiths Aerospace, as well as BAE systems.

Contributor: Defence IQ

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