Considerations for the Maneuver Commander: Could the Emergence of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Spell the Demise of the Army's RAH-66 Comanche in the Armed

The U.S. Army finds itself at a crossroad in the development and fielding of both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter to fulfill the armed reconnaissance role for its future Objective Force (OF). Ever-increasing UAV capabilities, especially the ability to arm these platforms with Hellfire missiles, is forcing a blending of roles that were once solely the domain of manned platforms. This paper attempts to answer the thesis question posed above by using the OF characteristics of survivability, lethality, and responsiveness and comparing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Army's Class IV UAV systems (Hunter TUAV, Shadow 200, the Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP), the Hummingbird 160 UCAR, and the Air Force's Predator A and B) against similar capabilities found in the Comanche. The analysis also highlights what the maneuver commander should consider in employing these future combat systems. The author concludes, based on the above criteria, that future UAV capabilities (up to the 2009 year timeframe) should not preclude the need for the Army to field the Comanche.

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David Jake Barnes is the Seton Hall University Distinguished Research Professor Law. Professor Barnes began teaching at Seton Hall in 1999 after being the Charles W. Delaney Professor of Law at the University of Denver and teaching with the economics and the law faculties at Syracuse University. Professor Barnes educational background includes undergraduate study at Dartmouth College and Wellesley College, an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His casebooks and treatises include THE LAW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; BASIC TORT LAW: CASES, PROBLEMS, STATUTES, AND MATERIALS; CASES AND MATERIALS ON LAW AND ECONOMICS; STATISTICAL EVIDENCE IN LITIGATION: METHODOLOGY, PROCEDURE, AND PRACTICE; AND STATISTICS AS PROOF: FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE. He has written dozens of articles in various areas of law including torts, intellectual property, contracts, antitrust, environmental law, evidence, remedies, and the use of statistical and scientific methods in court.