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Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll on Wednesday defended the service’s plans to downsize some legacy weapon systems, including cuts to the fleet of older model AH-64D Apache helicopters.
He told lawmakers at a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing that manned aircraft will have a role to play in the Army for decades to come.
“But in the world of very cheap, swarmable drones, it cannot be the only thing we invest in,” Mr. Driscoll said. “We need to overinvest in [unmanned aerial systems] and underinvest in manned systems going forward.”
Army brigades in Europe typically deploy with Apache helicopters, but one unit recently left them behind as part of a test without causing any problems in the field, Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, testified.
“It was 300% more effective. It had drones, it had loitering munitions [and] long-range fires,” Gen. George said. “We have all these systems that can come on right now.”
Drone technology is rapidly evolving, and the Army must quickly adapt to the changes. That means they must be deployed and controlled at the unit level, Gen. George said.
“We can’t afford to have a company set aside with 150 people to run drones from an airfield when we can have two or three run a drone right out of the back of a truck or one of our utility vehicles,” he said. “We can actually increase our lethality when we infuse our formations with this. That’s what we’re seeing with our experimentations.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat, pressed the Army leaders about the future of the Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters that are built in her district. She called it the Army’s “vertical lift platform par excellence” and cited its versatility and effectiveness on the battlefield.
“I would like to know more about your forward-looking vision for the Blackhawk. How will the Blackhawk’s utilization change and grow in the coming years?” she asked. “How does the Blackhawk factor into the Army’s new transformation initiative.”
Rep. DeLauro noted that Sikorsky is a major employer in Stratford, Connecticut, but said her interests in the safety of American military personnel and U.S. national security are as important as any concerns for her district.
“This is not just willy-nilly a ‘constituent question,’” Rep. DeLauro said.
With nearly 40 years in uniform, Gen. George told Rep. DeLauro that he has racked up a lot of frequent flier miles in Blackhawks, calling them “great helicopters.”
He said the plan is to phase out some of the older models and make improvements on the newer ones.
“We’re going to continue to have Blackhawks. We have to upgrade all of our aviation to make sure they can defend themselves [and] understand threats,” Gen. George said.
Artillery cannons have been transported in the past by everything from horses to Blackhawk helicopters. Gen. George said he can envision commanders relying on unmanned aircraft to ferry howitzers around a battlefield of the not-so-distant future.
“Blackhawks are going to be with us for a while, but I do think we’re going to have to adapt what we’re doing,” he said. “There just may be less Blackhawks.”
Rep. DeLauro was troubled by the less-than-full-throated support for the Blackhawk from the Army’s top civilian and military leadership.
“Folks who preceded you were very, very, clear about the role of the Blackhawk going forward in the future,” Rep. DeLauro said. “Your comments are not reassuring to those of us who have had this commitment about where the Blackhawk stands in our national security.?
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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