AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare (ILW) has recently released a new publication.

"These Are the Drones You Are Looking For: Manned–Unmanned Teaming and the U.S. Army" (National Security Watch 15-4, Dec. 21, 2015) examines the Army’s efforts to develop enduring technological superiority through Manned–Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T).

The Department of Defense (DoD) has initiated a third offset strategy to ensure that the U.S. military remains the most technologically advanced fighting force in the world.

However, the faster pace of the diffusion of technology, fueled in part by cyber intrusion, could reduce the duration of America’s resulting technical ascendancy.

In response, DoD is identifying leap-ahead technologies that not only restore but also prolong the duration of the U.S. military’s preeminence. MUM-T will help create an enduring technological advantage by combining the revolutionary potential of unmanned systems with the indispensable human dimension of warfare.

The Total Army – active, Army National Guard and Army Reserve – is a leader in MUM-T capability.

Since 2007, Army manned systems have logged 5.85 million flight hours with UASs, both in training and on the battlefield.

The Army is successfully teaming the Apache A-64D/E helicopters with the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and RQ-7B Shadow unmanned systems.

The Army is also developing an MUM-T capabilities through the Manned/ Unmanned Resupply Aerial Lifter (MURAL) project and the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative.

Through MUM-T, the Total Army is combining revolutionary technology with indispensable capabilities that only humans can bring to the battlefield to ensure the ultimate goal of the third offset: a U.S. military that endures as the most advanced fighting force in the world.

This and other ILW publications are available online at http://www.ausa.org/ilw and can also be obtained by calling (800) 336-4570, Ext. 4630, or e-mailing a request to ilwpublications@ausa.org.

Richard Lim

Institute of Land Warfare