Aerial Targets (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Aug. 14, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12738 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Daniel M. Gettinger |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Congress has required the U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD) to conduct realistic testing of certain weapon
systems. The U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy have
acquired a portfolio of subscale and full-scale “aerial
targets” in part to meet this requirement. Aerial targets
simulate real world aerial threats, such as crewed fixed- and
rotary-wing aircraft, missiles, and uncrewed aircraft
systems (UAS). Congress could consider whether or not to
require DOD to continue modernizing its existing portfolio
of aerial targets or to invest in new aerial target systems.
Congress could assess whether DOD-proposed systems are
sufficiently realistic to represent the range of current and
future aerial threats.
The origins of the U.S. military’s aerial targets are
intertwined with those of uncrewed aerial systems,
sometimes referred to as “drones.” In the 1930s, the U.S.
Navy launched a program to use drones to evaluate the
effectiveness of antiaircraft weapons on ships. According to
one analysis of this program, the use of target drones
exposed weaknesses in the Navy’s defenses and gunnery
training and convinced the Navy to make several
improvements to the antiaircraft weapons on ships.
Beginning in the early the 1960s and continuing through the
Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force used modified target
drones to gather intelligence. These operations constituted
the first large-scale use of drones in combat operations and
contributed to a broader adoption of uncrewed aircraft.
In Section 2366 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 1987 (P.L. 99-661), Congress required that
DOD evaluate the survivability of certain systems and the
lethality of certain munitions before proceeding beyond
low-rate initial production. This requirement is codified as
Title 10, United States Code, Section 4172. Consequently,
the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy are developing,
acquiring, and deploying aerial targets for survivability and
lethality testing—and for training military personnel—that
are designed to represent a variety of aerial threats, ranging
from UAS to sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles.
