First Army Gray Eagle UAV flight from home base scheduled
- By Defense Systems Staff
- Oct 04, 2012
Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan., are preparing to launch the Army's largest unmanned aircraft system in an inaugural flight from their home base on Oct. 10, an Army news release said.
Although the division is the second unit to receive the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS, it will be the first to fly it from a home base in the United States.
The launch from Marshall Army Airfield will be conducted by Company F, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.
The Gray Eagle gives Army divisions the ability to conduct reconnaissance flights of up to 24 hours, carry out weapons targeting for ground strikes, sychronize with the service's new AH-64 Apache Block III.