Source: Cankao Xiaoxi Website
According to a May 19 report on the website of the US National Interest bimonthly, the US Army canceled its Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) program due to rapid technological advancements.
This is the latest high-profile US Army project facing cancellation. Just last week, the Army announced it would terminate General Dynamics Land Systems' M10 "Bulwark" armored vehicle and General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems' MQ-1 "Gray Eagle" medium-altitude long-endurance drone development programs.
Cancelling these projects is part of the Army's transformation plan announced on May 1, aimed at reducing waste and reevaluating some recent procurement plans.
In a letter to Army leaders, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George wrote: "Battlefields around the world are rapidly changing. Autonomous systems are becoming more lethal and less costly. Sensors and decoys are everywhere. Dual-use technologies are evolving faster than we can counter them. To maintain our battlefield advantage, we will transform the Army into a leaner and more lethal force by adjusting how we fight, train, organize, and acquire equipment."
The letter mentioned the "Gray Eagle" drone, stating: "Yesterday's weapons cannot win tomorrow's wars."
A report from IHS Jane's, an international military analysis company, noted that the Future Tactical UAS program had sought to develop a successor for Textron Systems' RQ-7 Shadow drone to "provide brigade-level intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance."
It is difficult to call the Future Tactical UAS a weapon of yesterday, but the Army does not view it as a future platform either.
However, last September, the program reached two milestones. The Army explained last year that developing this drone system was to "provide organic capability for brigade combat teams to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance operations that collect, develop, and report actionable intelligence, enabling brigade commanders to maintain an advantage in multi-domain operations."
At the time, the Army stated that the Future Tactical UAS would provide "transformational capabilities," including achieving vertical takeoff and landing independent of runways, mobile command and control, and "soldier-led field maintenance." Its "modular open systems approach allows the system to stay synchronized with rapid capability insertions and technology developments."
But none of this was enough to ensure continued funding and development for the program.
The Army told Jane's: "We are changing the way we integrate unmanned aerial systems into our forces based on the evolving battlefield. In the face of rapid technological advancements, we cannot be tied to long-term projects; we need to introduce technologies that solve current problems."
The Army also said: "We will first equip each division with 1,000 drones, then test these systems to see if we should expand their scale."
Two competitors participated in the Army's Modular Open Systems Approach "Consistency Assessment and Flight Demonstration" held last year at the Army Redstone Test Center near Huntsville, Alabama - Textron Systems' "AeroVironment" Mk 4.8 HQ drone and Griffon Aerospace's "Warrior" drone. The Army previously announced it would select a winner by the end of the fourth quarter of the 2025 fiscal year.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507436811023630875/
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