REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND MODERN WARFARE Lieutenant Colonel Özhan Özvural JCSP 46 PCEMI 46 Solo Flight Solo Flight Disclaimer Avertissement Opinions expressed remain those of the author and do Les opinons exprimées n’engagent que leurs auteurs not represent Department of National Defence or et ne reflètent aucunement des politiques du Ministère Canadian Forces policy. This paper may not be used de la Défense nationale ou des Forces canadiennes. Ce without written permission. papier ne peut être reproduit sans autorisation écrite. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by © Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, représentée par le the Minister of National Defence, 2020. ministre de la Défense nationale, 2020. CANADIAN FORCES COLLEGE – COLLÈGE DES FORCES CANADIENNES JCSP 46 – PCEMI 46 2019 - 2020 SOLO FLIGHT REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND MODERN WARFARE Lieutenant Colonel Özhan Özvural “This paper was written by a student “La présente étude a été rédigée par attending the Canadian Forces College un stagiaire du Collège des Forces in fulfilment of one of the requirements canadiennes pour satisfaire à l'une des of the Course of Studies. The paper is exigences du cours. L'étude est un a scholastic document, and thus document qui se rapporte au cours et contains facts and opinions, which the contient donc des faits et des opinions author alone considered appropriate que seul l'auteur considère appropriés and correct for the subject. It does not et convenables au sujet. Elle ne reflète necessarily reflect the policy or the pas nécessairement la politique ou opinion of any agency, including the l'opinion d'un organisme quelconque, y Government of Canada and the compris le gouvernement du Canada et Canadian Department of National le ministère de la Défense nationale du Defence. This paper may not be Canada. Il est défendu de diffuser, de released, quoted or copied, except with citer ou de reproduire cette étude sans the express permission of the Canadian la permission expresse du ministère de Department of National Defence.” la Défense nationale.” Word Count: 4,778 Compte de mots : 4.778 1 REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND MODERN WARFARE INTRODUCTION The first recorded organized military structure stretched back to Sumer and Egypt in the 3rd millennium BC.1 Armed forces have evolved since then. The main driver for this evolution is technology and ideas. Radical changes in technology together with new doctrines have transformed the military and caused new phases in conducting war. For instance, the Blitzkrieg which depended on the extensive use of tanks during World War II tore down the old concepts of the prior world war.2 Similarly, the widespread use of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) on the battlefield has created a new era. The latest example of this proposal is the conflict sought in Syria. The Syrian conflict is one of the latest multi-actor conflicts in the world. It is also an arena for testing the most recent military technology. A group of Turkish armed RPAS destroyed Russian made air defence systems in the first days of March 2020 in Idlib province, Syria.3 It was an example of how a prey hunted its hunter. It was also one of the first examples of a simultaneous armed RPAS group attack. RPAS was used instead of air force because of the restrictions against manned aircraft in Syrian airspace. As in that example, improved technology together with an original doctrine creates a new dynamic on the battlefield. In this context, this paper will demonstrate how RPAS has affected modern warfare as a result of its novel qualifications. 1 Richard A. Gabriel and Karen S. Metz, From Sumer to Rome: The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies (London: Greenwood Press, 1991), 2. 2 William S. Lind et al, “The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation,ˮ Marine Corps Gazette, 73,10, (October 1989): 23. 3 Bloomberg, “Turkey’s Killer Drone Swarm Poses Syria Air Challenge to Putin,ˮ last accessed 19 March 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-01/turkey-s-killer-drone-swarm-poses- syria-air-challenge-to-putin. 2 With this in mind, this paper will first provide background information on the historical development of RPAS. Second, it will demonstrate how RPAS changed the joint planning process (JPP) by using the United States (U.S.) example. Lastly, the paper will show how RPAS can be utilized as a force multiplier on the battlefield. Rapid renewal of scientific knowledge in the last decades has affected all parts of social life. Every development has triggered another one to create a new solution to human needs. Inevitably, RPAS has been exposed to the same change process which led to emerging of an increased number of new type platforms. Hence, RPAS has become a multi-purpose system. It serves both the military and industry. RPAS supports particularly combat, stabilization, and domestic operations with regards to military use. Yet, RPAS has some limitations since it depends on operators and logistical support. It is difficult to cover all these dimensions on this paper. As such, the paper will focus on combat operations, leaving others to future studies. Further, it will encompass only the Western doctrine and practices for better analysis. A BRIEF HISTORY OF RPAS Pilotless aircraft (PA) was defined as an aircraft that was “capable of being flown without a pilotˮ according to the convention on international civil aviation on 7 December 1944.4 There is still a disagreement on the definition of that aircraft, although more than 70 years passed over that convention. While some use drone and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) terms, others prefer to use Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and RPAS. UAS is more common than RPAS both in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (UK) However, the International Civil Aviation Organization decisions and publications should 4 International Civil Aviation Organization, The Convention on International Civil Aviation, (Chicago: 1944), 5. 3 be taken as guides to solve this ambiguity. Therefore, this study adopted a more formal and international approach by defining all remotely piloted aircraft as RPAS. The history of RPAS dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. The U.S. Navy’s interest for the aerial torpedoes helped the development of radio control after 1909. Nonetheless, the level of gyroscopic devices and radio control was not enough to develop a guided weapon in that period. Notwithstanding, the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) succeeded in testing RAE 1921 target aircraft in 1922. Thus, aerial automated system projects focused on building target aircraft.5 Both the UK and the U.S. Armed Forces were the pioneers for the target RPAS in the 1930s and 1940s. On one hand, the Royal Navy acquired more than 400 DH 82B Queen Bee target RPAS between 1934 and 1943. On the other hand, the U.S. armed forces were enthusiastic about remote-controlled model airplanes manufactured by the Radioplane Company (RC) during World War II. Northrop’s acquisition of RC was the most important development in that period6 because Northrop became one of the leading companies later in the RPAS industry. The RPAS trend turned from target airplanes into reconnaissance platforms during the Cold War. Equipped with a camera to take photos, the SD-1 had a rocket- assisted takeoff capability and a radar tracking system. That was the first tactical RPAS of the U.S. Army. That model inspired the production of contemporary surveillance RPAS.7 The Vietnam war was a breaking point for RPAS. The United States Air Force used the Teledyne-Ryan AQM series widely to have real-time and infrared images 5 Steven J. Zaloga and Ian Palmer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Robotic Air Warfare 1917–2007, (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008), 6. 6 Ibid, 7. 7 Ibid, 10. 4 together with electronic warfare capability from 1964 to 1975. DC-130 airplanes were platforms to launch and direct these systems. The AQM series relied on its parachute to have a safe landing.8 These systems not only conducted risky missions without human casualties, but they also proved to be a force multiplier on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Canadair Limited started building CL-89 (The Midge) in 1963 both for the Canadian and British Armed Forces. Later, West Germany, Italy, and France bought this system too. The midge even operated during the Desert Storm in 1991 for surveillance purposes.9 Tadiran Electronic Systems and Israeli Aircraft Industries came up with the idea of small and low-cost RPAS to neutralize air-defence systems after Vietnam and Yom Kippur Wars. In this regard, those companies manufactured the Mastiff and Scout models respectively.10 Mastiff was smaller and lighter than AQM-34G/H. The Israel Armed Forces (IAF) used both Mastiff and Scout together with decoy RAPS to neutralize air- defence systems during the 1982 Lebanon war. That kind of inexpensive and simple solution shaped the RPAS doctrine and encouraged other countries like Iran to start working on RAPS.11 Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom operations constituted a milestone for RPAS because of the unprecedented number and types of RPAS use in combat missions as shown in Table 1. These operations also showed how the RPAS technology advanced. Innovations in material management, global positioning and communication systems paved the way for the production of smaller, durable, and effective platforms. These 8 Ian G. R. Shaw, Predator Empire Drone Warfare and Full Spectrum Dominance, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016), 102. 9 Gary Schaub Jr. and Kristian Søby Kristensen, “But Who’s Flying the Plane? Integrating UAVs Into the Canadian and Danish Armed Forces,ˮ International Journal, 70, (2015): 256, https://www.jstor.