Never underestimate the power of one person to make a difference:
Day in and day out, Harbin sat in front of five computer screens, scanning photographs and video sent by unmanned planes flying 1,200 miles away, over Iraq and Afghanistan.
His job was to take that information, along with reports from ground troops, and identify fresh targets — Taliban fighters or Iraqi insurgents.
But one thing puzzled him.
When regular units called for an attack by a Predator drone, the request went to Harbin, and then, if approved by a general, to “pilots” in Nevada, who fired the missile by remote control. The process often took as long as 45 minutes.
By contrast, special operations forces could call in attacks by unmanned Predator aircraft in less than a minute.
The difference, Harbin learned, was that a handful of special ops units were equipped with a device called the Rover, which gave them the same view as the pilots in Nevada. This greatly simplified communications.
Why don’t all American fighting units have the Rover? he asked himself.
Great question. Pursuing the answer ended perversely ended up costing Harbin his flying career but saving his life when he got the bureaucracy off top-dead-center to move Rover to conventional forces: Not content with merely fielding an existing capability across the broader force, Harbin personally demonstrated the system to commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the way home from Mosul, Harbin stopped by Fallujah to show the capability to a Marine friend:
Harbin accepted an invitation to join a Marine patrol, an opportunity to demonstrate the Rover. Not long after the patrol rolled out of the camp, a rocket-propelled grenade flashed by with a whoosh, and a mortar shell landed with a crack. As the Marines around him scrambled to return fire, Harbin sat mesmerized.
Through the din, Harbin heard a radio crackle and a voice report that a Predator was flying overhead. Through the dust of the battle, Harbin looked out the window of the Humvee for a place to work his Rover kit. This would be no demonstration; this would be survival.
He jumped from his vehicle and sprinted across the road toward another Humvee. The laptop’s battery was dead, and the Humvee had no power outlet. Undeterred, Harbin cut off the electrical cord and hot-wired the laptop to the Humvee’s battery.
As the laptop powered up, another rocket-propelled grenade burst nearby. Harbin reeled. His ears rang from the force of the explosion. He turned back to the Rover. The kit worked, linking with the Predator overhead. The plane’s camera sent an image of the surrounding area to the laptop’s screen.
Harbin searched the video, and pinpointed the insurgents, about 100 yards away. He yelled for the Marine captain and pointed to the enemy mortar position on the screen. The captain called in a strike. The Predator fired a Hellfire missile at the insurgents, killing them.
Rover has saved American lives not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but here at home during the rescue efforts subsequent to Hurricane Katrina. A good story.
And a good man.
What a story!
“We found them, tracked them, then picked the time and the place to strike in order to minimize collateral damage,” Harbin said. “We were so precise that the dog got away.”
This is the future.
But like every innovation that turns into a weapon, we will not be the only ones using it…
Rover III is out there- on deck- in numbers. The unit price has come down to less than 1/3 the original price. I can attest to that.
The story was USAF centric o’course.
BTW, the key to having a “picture” on Rover is the L-band transmitter on an ISR /NTISR aircraft…In the Navy airwing the F-14 Toms had it ‘first” on their last cruise (2005), followed by the the S-3 (still out there) and finally (if it ain’t our idea it ain’t good..) the F-18′s (all types)..2006. This system-It’s both cheap and effective. Don’t know this guy in the story but it sounds about right I reckon…..
All have used it effectively– IF they are not constrained by service politics or because they could be called “persistent”.
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More Here [pay atention to the part about the Tomcat]
And more here
Impressive guy – post reminds me of the response/success rates of “spontaneous” Joint Air Attack Teams (Ftr/Atk Helo/Arty) vice the “planned” ones…
Improvise, adapt, and overcome.
I am glad I have lived long enough for to see (big) model airplanes bring down the pwning IRL on our country’s enemies. It just warms my nerdy cockles.
I still want me one of those Pointer things the Marines have; that would be fun, though I imagine civilians would not be allowed enough bandwidth by the FCC to usefully employ it in anti-neighbor intelligence activities.
To continue on the Tomcat theme and INNOVATION.
All S-3Bs still left in service and on deployment have both the Rover III downlink capability AND the F-14D LANTIRN..it’s real Persistent too. Just what DoD and Sec Gates wants/ needs over the beach (5th fleet notwithstanding)….Use your imagination.
Today, all Hornets now can do it too..Sorta “shamed” into it by the Turkeys “Swan Song” with VF-31, to be blunt.
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One more BTW-
Marine Prowlers will also have the capability soon to send video to Rover operators and JTACs on the ground because they are close to deploying the Lightning Target Pod capablity..
All of these innovations can be used for NTISR and force multiply our hunt for IEDs and the terrorist scum….
Note- only Marine Prowlers have this.
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It was only thirty years ago that I was shivering on the side of a hill while the FAC tried to get the RABFAC working. It didn’t happen that night.