Coming Soon to a MSR Near You

Task Force ODIN

Task Force ODIN brings together a fleet of U.S. Army Beech/Raytheon C-12 Hurons fitted with special sensors and the General Atomics Warrior and AAI Corp. Shadow unmanned aerial systems with Boeing AH-64 Apaches and other helicopters. The fixed-wing manned and unmanned aircraft give the Army what Cody called “persistent stare,” which allows combat commanders to observe insurgents as they scout positions in which to place IEDs and then conceal them. At the Army Aviation Assn. of America annual gathering in Atlanta, Cody showed reporters declassified infrared video of a mission in which an Apache crew spotted a handful of people at a road intersection on the ground. The crew handed off the targets to the fixed-wing assets operating “well above 3,500 ft” and undetected by those on the ground; they maintained surveillance of the suspects while the Apache returned to base to refuel and re-arm, Cody said. “When the Apache left, they thought no one was watching them any more,” he said. Upon the Apache’s return, the fixed-wing assets provided targeting information for a Hellfire missile launched from the AH-64 against the insurgents.

If this works out then maybe the USAF will quit having to "waste" all their flight time on the counter IED fight.

The rest of the article can be read HERE