The U.S. Army's Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (CRS Report for Congress)
Release Date |
Revised Nov. 26, 2024 |
Report Number |
IF12668 |
Report Type |
In Focus |
Authors |
Daniel M. Gettinger |
Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The U.S. Army is acquiring a family of small uncrewed
aircraft systems (sUAS) for ground maneuver elements at
the battalion level and below to provide real-time
reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA)
capabilities. For the past two decades, this role was largely
filled by the AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven (Figure 1). On
February 8, 2024, Secretary of the Army Christine
Wormuth and General Randy George, Army Chief of Staff,
announced Army plans to phase the RQ-11 Raven out of
service as part of a broader “rebalance” of the Army’s
aviation investments. This product covers the Group 1 and
2 UAS—those that weigh less than 55 pounds and fly at or
below 3,500 feet above ground level—intended to serve as
successors to the Army’s legacy RSTA sUAS.
In 1988, the Department of Defense (DOD) Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle Joint Program Office (UAV JPO) published
its first “Master Plan” for uncrewed aircraft, which
established the requirements and acquisition strategy for
UAV systems. The Master Plan recommended a “close
range” UAS for “lower-level tactical units,” one that could
be acquired in large numbers and at low cost. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, the Military Operations in Urban
Terrain Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
(MOUT ACTD), an Army-led experimentation program,
showed how a man-portable sUAS could provide ground
units with enhanced situational awareness and force
protection. The MOUT ACTD led the Army and Special
Operations Command (SOCOM) to work with
AeroVironment to develop in 2002 the fixed-wing, 4-pound
RQ-11 Raven, a smaller, more advanced version of the Gulf
War-era AeroVironment FQM-151 Pointer. The Army
introduced the RQ-11 in 2003 and, by 2010, fielded close to
4,000 Raven aircraft. The Marine Corps, SOCOM, and the
Air Force also adopted the Raven.