Air-Launched Effects Are the Second Step in U.S. Army Aviation’s Transformation
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By Dan Gouré
December 09, 2021
U.S. Army Aviation is poised for a transformation even more profound than that which introduced the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters four decades ago. The focus of attention has rightly been on the products of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort: the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) and the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).
But equally important for the future of Army Aviation is the development of advanced unmanned aerial systems (UASs) or drones and long-range precision munitions to equip both FVL platforms and legacy aircraft. These small drones, called Air-Launched Effects (ALE), will be an essential component of the revolution occurring in Army Aviation. These low-cost, relatively long-range drones extend the speed, reach, vision, and lethality of the Army’s aerial fleets.
A future high-end conflict with Russia or China will be a fast, intensive, and highly lethal combat environment. Our adversaries have built an integrated anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) infrastructure designed largely to counter areas of U.S. advantages, deny U.S. forces the ability to operate within their adversaries’ weapons engagement zone, and threaten those U.S. platforms and systems that seek to close within range of their opponent.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/12/09/air-launched_effects_are_the_second_step_in_us_army_aviations_transformation_807105.html
