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»Silver Fox UAV Flies In The Philippines For The 31st MEU
~ the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, III Marine Expeditionary Force, launched the Silver Fox unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time
~ to conduct an operational evaluation during Amphibious Landing Exercise '08
~ the Silver Fox UAV system provided to the 31st MEU by Advanced Ceramics Research based out of Tucson, Az. and the Office of Naval Research
~ in order to conduct an extended user evaluation of the system in support of 31st MEU operations
~ the four-man operator team comprised of Marines from the MEU's intelligence section,
~ conducted flights and supported the actions of the MEU's Battalion Landing Team at Fort Magsaysay
~ it has primarily been used in desert environments where the terrain and vegetation are rather benign
~ the MEU's area of operation in the Asia-Pacific is completely opposite from the desert
~ the environment consists of weather that is less than favorable
~ there are additional planning considerations with terrain and vegetation
~ that typically are not encountered in locations such as Iraq
~ these aspects can affect flight and the ability of the sensor to operate properly
~ flying the Silver Fox UAV in an "all weather environment" with heavy rain and high humidity
~ provided very valuable learning experiences for the pilots who were trained in the dry
~ it can be used in the forward battle space
~ a forward deployed unit operates in a self-sufficient environment where anything that is a force-multiplier becomes a valuable tool
~ weighing 25 pounds with a wing-span of eight feet
~ a small, lightweight, rapidly deployable short-range ISR system
~ designed to provide commanders with day and night surveillance capabilities
~ can support a wide variety of missions, ranging anywhere from route reconnaissance, rear-area security, search and rescue, to battle-damage assessment
~ provides the MEU information on intelligence gaps that other assets may not be able to provide in a time-sensitive fashion
~ as a maritime contingency force, the MEU requires a system that is quickly deployable, flexible, mobile and compact
~ you can set it up on a Humvee, be completely mobile and miles away from the objective area, which makes it a great ISR asset