UAVs for CSAR Missions

Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) missions are extremely important to all branches of the military. However, as important as they are, it is much harder to gather the resources needed to perform these operations. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are equipped and manned to perform these missions, but have been taking on the responsibility of a CSAR mission on a case-by-case basis only (Altieri, 2003). The United States Air Force (USAF) has an aging fleet of 105 MH-60G Pave Hawks that currently perform CSAR missions, but the manpower is not up to par.

One solution to this would be to employ more unmanned aerial systems (UASs) to alleviate the strain on the CSAR missions. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be modified to assume some of the roles of CSAR missions such as to include finding, fixing, supporting and recovering isolated personnel (Altieri, 2003). This could especially be helpful when a mission requires sending in personnel or equipment into hostile enemy environments, or other environments involving nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) hazards.

Lockheed Martin proposed the idea of an “immersible” UAV (Comorant) that would be capable of launch, recovery and re-launch from a submerged submarine or surface ship ( ). This platform would be capable of various tasks which would include aiding in SOF missions.  Northrop Grumman has developed the RQ-8A/B Fire Scout, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Tactical UAV (TUAV) for the Army and Navy. It is capable of providing reconnaissance, situational awareness and precision targeting support, all of which would be critical for supporting a CSAR mission. Early VTOL UAVs are paving the way for future platforms such as the unmanned Blackhawk helicopter being explored by Sikorsky Aircraft.