Army aviation suite adapted for Marine Huey: Naval Research Laboratory uses existing technology to develop command post.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Brief Article

The Marine Corps plans to field a lighter, smaller version of the Army's new airborne command post. A suite of digital radios and computers would be installed on Huey helicopters to replace outdated Vietnam-era consoles.

A prototype of the system--called the improved airborne command and control capability (IAC3)--recently passed a critical design review and continues to be tested at the Naval Research Laboratory, in Washington, D.C. The NRL was the original designer of the Army's helicopter-based command post, called the A2C2S (Army airborne command and control system). The host platform for the A2C2S is the UH-60L Blackhawk.

The Marines, however, were not interested in the A2C2S, because that system requires a dedicated helicopter platform to serve in that role. Instead, the Marines wanted a removable bolt-in kit that could be installed by Marine mechanics on any Huey, right on the flight line. With a small inventory of Hueys (about 107), the Corps is reluctant to assign any of them as dedicated airborne command posts, officials said.

The weight of the A2C2S also was a problem, at about 1,500 pounds. The Marine IAC3 is expected to weigh 250 pounds.

The command-and-control console currently in the Huey, the ASC-26, was designed 30 years ago. It only provides line-of-sight voice communications, so aircrews have to rely on maps and other devices to navigate and obtain battlefield intelligence. According to an internal Marine Corps memo, the "ASC-26 is unreliable, cumbersome, and not compatible with the current generation of frequency-hopping tactical radios. It has no provisions for receiving or transmitting digital data."

Lt. Col. Lloyd Wright, coordinator of Marine Corps aviation programs, is a Huey pilot and knows first-hand how limiting it can be to fly missions when the only means of communication is a single-frequency voice radio.

Wright said he believes that the IAC3 is ideally suited for Marine missions. "We want to upgrade our aviation command-and-control capabilities," he told National Defense. In addition to over-the-horizon communications and high-speed data links, IAC3 will have a tactical display, so aircrews can locate and track friendly forces on the ground. "This gives the commander a mobile command and control platform," Wright said. "The mission would not be disrupted by the absence of information."

What makes this program attractive, he added, is that much of the technology already had been developed at NRL for the A2C2S...