Unmanned Uncertainty

With the drawdown of international forces in Afghanistan on the horizon, the RAAF is approaching a critical point in its unmanned aircraft capability.

The Heron medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) now operating in Afghanistan provides persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) for Australian ground forces.

The lease-agreement Heron was swiftly acquired and deployed on operations in 2010 to improve Australian forces’ intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR ) coverage. When our ground forces are withdrawn, the rationale for the RAAF’s only in-service RPA ostensibly disappears. The question is: what next for unmanned aircraft?