Aerial drones going mainstream in naval special Warfare.

• Position: Special Ops

* To accommodate the growth of unmanned systems in the covert operations community, Naval Special Warfare Command this month will commission a new active-duty group that will concentrate the component's remotely piloted aircraft, underwater systems and robotic programs and personnel under a single entity.

The establishment of Naval Special Warfare Group 10 reflects the increasing importance of drones in the elite forces.

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"I can think of nowhere where SEALs are operating today where they're devoid of UAS support," said Cmdr. Robert Witzleb, the director of technical special reconnaissance at Naval Special Warfare Command.

Because frogmen are less likely to be swimming with fins than boating and ambling ashore, SEAL teams are relying heavily on unmanned aircraft more than underwater robots to accomplish their missions.

The Navy is developing a new robotic platform called small tactical unmanned aircraft system, or STUAS. The program intends to begin fielding the aircraft as early as next year.

The systems will complement the Insitu Inc.-made ScanEagle, a commercial technology that NSW procured as an interim solution for its intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance needs. Naval Special Warfare personnel who are not trained as SEALs fly that system.

STUAS, which is being developed by Insitu, will accommodate a 75-pound payload--a drastic improvement over its predecessor's 5-pound limit. It is also a rail-launched system with greater endurance and higher altitude capability.

"Acquiring STUAS allows us to fill a gap," said Witzleb. "The only option we have right now is to request a Predator or Reaper."

By design, the system will be operated by dedicated Naval Special Warfare personnel who are not SEALs, said Witzleb, who is also the commanding officer of the Naval Oceanography Special Warfare Center. He oversees about 100 personnel who provide meteorology and oceanography support to NSW. They also have a secondary function as unmanned systems operators.

"There's just no time to take a SEAL who has all these other responsibilities--being able to jump out of airplanes, being able to combat dive, all these other skills and then heap on UAS operations," explained Witzleb. "NSW has gotten smart over the past 10 years by bringing on folks who are not SEALs, not trained combat divers and parachutists, to do the work on behalf of SEALs."

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