With the US strategic focus shifting from Europe to the Pacific and the Western Hemisphere, the future of the Cold War-era, Eurocentric military structure of heavy mechanised brigades has become a subject of debate. Benjamin Jensen of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC proposes the creation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based expeditionary units as a solution. According to Jensen, these mobile UAV units would offer a more economical and faster alternative to maintaining large garrisons overseas.
Hybrid UAV Troops Instead of Traditional Forces
In his analysis, Jensen argues that US forward-deployed armoured vehicle-centric rotational force packages in Europe should be replaced by mixed drone units. In this new approach, the European members of NATO would provide conventional combat arms such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, while the United States would supply a mix of attack, reconnaissance and electronic warfare UAVs.
Jensen explains this change with a striking example: “Instead of a 1,000-man battalion, imagine a 250-man rotation battalion of 500 FPV [first-person view] UAVs and octocopters.” These mobile units can conduct missions with European partners and can quickly enter, operate and withdraw.
“Substitution” Strategy in Defence Industry
Jensen bases his idea on the concept of “substitution” borrowed from economics. Just as consumers can substitute a cheaper brand of soup at the supermarket, UAVs can in some cases replace conventional ground platforms. An Army Launch Effects battalion equipped with attack, surveillance and electronic warfare UAVs could patrol a large area and deploy swarms of UAVs to thwart a Russian invasion.
The concept of substitution can also be applied to UAV design; drones that can be quickly reconfigured for different payloads (intelligence, electronic warfare, attack) can be as effective as expensive mission-specific systems.
Role and Future of MALE UAVs
Although the US Army is moving in this direction with the Army Transformation Initiative, which envisages the rapid development of small UAVs, Jensen opposes plans to phase out medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones, which critics argue are expensive and vulnerable. Although MALE drones such as the Turkish TB-2 Bayraktar and the US MQ-9 Reaper have recently been vulnerable to Russian and Houthi fire, Jensen says they provide versatility, 24-hour endurance and high payload capacity (carrying more than eight Hellfire missiles) that smaller systems cannot offer.
Jensen argues that insufficient attention has been paid to how best to realise this new vision, suggesting that the Army aviation units planned for abolition be converted into UAV units. This would minimise costs and allow NATO to act quickly in emergencies.
