Tag: Philippines

  • US Army buys long-flying solar drones to watch over Pacific units

    US Army buys long-flying solar drones to watch over Pacific units

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    The Army’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force has used a small number of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace K1000 Ultra Long-Endurance, solar-powered unmanned aircraft system across the Pacific theater in places like the Philippines and Guam in recent years. Now the Pentagon has ordered $20 million worth of the systems for the unit as well as special operators.

    The Pentagon made the award through the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program, one of the largest awards since the fund’s 2022 creation.

    The K1000ULE is designed to “mimic nature by utilizing onboard artificial intelligence to silently glide through the air like a bird and generate clean onboard energy,” an Oct. 30 company statement reads. “The K1000ULE is the longest-endurance, fully electric, zero-emissions autonomous aircraft in its size and weight category.”

    The K1000 will provide Aerial Tier Network Extension for communications, Electronic Warfare and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities, the statement lists.

    “Over time, we have matured our technology in line with the requirements of the U.S. Army and continue to align the K1000ULE to meet the needs of the warfighter in a dynamically changing environment,” Fatema Hamdani, Kraus Hamdani Aerospace CEO and co-founder, said.

    Defense News witnessed the 1st MDTF’s Extended Range Sensing and Effects Company use the K1000 on a remote island airfield in the Philippines during an annual bilateral drill called Balikatan this spring. The aircraft spent its days flying above the South China Sea collecting data for the company.

    The Army has also been using the aircraft in a variety of other experiments over the past several years like the Edge exercise and Project Convergence.

    The lightweight K1000, which features solar panels on its wings, previously broke the endurance record for class 2 unmanned aerial systems by flying for 76 hours. That category currently applies to drones weighing between 21 and 55 lbs.

    The aircraft does not have landing gear and relies on 3D-printed skids that can be swapped out after they wear down.

    The K1000 is difficult to detect, with most sensors and radars mistaking it for a bird, according to Kraus engineers on site in the Philippines.

    The aircraft fits inside a standard case, and it takes users roughly 10 minutes to unload, assemble and launch. The drone takes off from a moving vehicle as it catches the wind. In the Philippines, it took off from the roof of a black SUV.

    The Army is retiring its Shadow UAS program, and Kraus believes the K1000 is a good candidate to fill both small and large UAS capabilities with a logistics footprint of smaller drones, the statement notes.

    Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

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  • US Army Pacific to absorb new units under ‘transformation’ mantra

    US Army Pacific to absorb new units under ‘transformation’ mantra

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    The U.S. Army command for the Indo-Pacific finds itself at the front of the service’s transformation initiative, incorporating new unit types created to facilitate rapid adaptation to adversary tactics, according to U.S. Army Pacific Command chief Gen. Charles Flynn.

    Several units in the Pacific, from Hawaii to Alaska, were chosen as part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s initiative, dubbed “Transforming in Contact,” Flynn said in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

    “But there’s a whole other transformation in contact that’s going on out here at the operational and theater level.”

    That transformation has to do with absorbing new organizations and capabilities designed to facilitate the quick incorporation of new tactics and technologies in the field.

    “In my view, that is where the connective tissue occurs between tactical forces and operational and strategic forces that exist in the joint world,” Flynn said.

    For example, the Army in the Pacific is the first to get a Theater Information Advantage Detachment, Flynn said. The TIAD is meant to keep its finger on the pulse of how adversarial nations like China and Russia are conducting information warfare.

    The service has deployed a Security Force Assistance Brigade, a Theater Fires Element and the TIAD into areas near China, Flynn added.

    The Army has already created two of three Multidomain Task Forces in the Pacific theater, which have been heavily involved in exercises throughout 2024.

    The service is planning to build five MDTFs total. Another is based in Europe, while one more will be based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and designed to align with global rapid responses.

    The units will operate across all domains — land, air, sea, space and cyberspace — and are equipped with the Army’s growing capabilities, including long-range precision fires.

    The MDTFs will take on game-changing capabilities like the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, the Mid-Range Capability missile system and the delayed Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon as part of a Long-Range Fires Battalion.

    The Army in June fired two PrSM missiles in Palau as part of a ship sinking exercise during Valiant Shield. The service also deployed the MRC missile to the Philippines during the Balikatan exercise in May. The MRC missile system, for the time being, will remain in the Philippines, Flynn said.

    The Pacific Army has also established a Theater Strike Effects Group, Flynn added.

    “This theater-level Army space formation is integral for today’s battlefield,” Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, then the head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in January. “It will allow us to leverage the experience of its command team and staff to ensure success at every echelon, ensuring that all our capabilities are being employed when and where they’re needed best.”

    The group will coordinate with the MDTFs that will use Army space interdiction forces with cyber and electronic warfare capabilities to block adversary defenses, according to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.

    As it works through the deployment of these major new capabilities like long-range precision fires, it’s imperative, Flynn said, that the Army is organized properly at the theater level in order to effectively coordinate the right engagement authorities.

    “This extra capacity at the Theater Army level is transformational and its organizational changes are in front of the arrival of new technologies, new capabilities and new platforms,” he said. “It’s tailored to the region.”

    Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

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  • US Army Pacific to absorb new units under ‘transformation’ mantra

    US Army Pacific to absorb new units under ‘transformation’ mantra

    [ad_1]

    The U.S. Army command for the Indo-Pacific finds itself at the front of the service’s transformation initiative, incorporating new unit types created to facilitate rapid adaptation to adversary tactics, according to U.S. Army Pacific Command chief Gen. Charles Flynn.

    Several units in the Pacific, from Hawaii to Alaska, were chosen as part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s initiative, dubbed “Transforming in Contact,” Flynn said in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

    “But there’s a whole other transformation in contact that’s going on out here at the operational and theater level.”

    That transformation has to do with absorbing new organizations and capabilities designed to facilitate the quick incorporation of new tactics and technologies in the field.

    “In my view, that is where the connective tissue occurs between tactical forces and operational and strategic forces that exist in the joint world,” Flynn said.

    For example, the Army in the Pacific is the first to get a Theater Information Advantage Detachment, Flynn said. The TIAD is meant to keep its finger on the pulse of how adversarial nations like China and Russia are conducting information warfare.

    The service has deployed a Security Force Assistance Brigade, a Theater Fires Element and the TIAD into areas near China, Flynn added.

    The Army has already created two of three Multidomain Task Forces in the Pacific theater, which have been heavily involved in exercises throughout 2024.

    The service is planning to build five MDTFs total. Another is based in Europe, while one more will be based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and designed to align with global rapid responses.

    The units will operate across all domains — land, air, sea, space and cyberspace — and are equipped with the Army’s growing capabilities, including long-range precision fires.

    The MDTFs will take on game-changing capabilities like the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, the Mid-Range Capability missile system and the delayed Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon as part of a Long-Range Fires Battalion.

    The Army in June fired two PrSM missiles in Palau as part of a ship sinking exercise during Valiant Shield. The service also deployed the MRC missile to the Philippines during the Balikatan exercise in May. The MRC missile system, for the time being, will remain in the Philippines, Flynn said.

    The Pacific Army has also established a Theater Strike Effects Group, Flynn added.

    “This theater-level Army space formation is integral for today’s battlefield,” Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, then the head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in January. “It will allow us to leverage the experience of its command team and staff to ensure success at every echelon, ensuring that all our capabilities are being employed when and where they’re needed best.”

    The group will coordinate with the MDTFs that will use Army space interdiction forces with cyber and electronic warfare capabilities to block adversary defenses, according to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.

    As it works through the deployment of these major new capabilities like long-range precision fires, it’s imperative, Flynn said, that the Army is organized properly at the theater level in order to effectively coordinate the right engagement authorities.

    “This extra capacity at the Theater Army level is transformational and its organizational changes are in front of the arrival of new technologies, new capabilities and new platforms,” he said. “It’s tailored to the region.”

    Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

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