Long Range Surveillance Scout System (LRAS3)

Long Range Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3)

The ground scout platoon’s primary missions are reconnaissance and security in support of its parent unit. It can perform its missions mounted or dismounted, day or night, in various terrain conditions, and under all weather and visibility conditions. Currently 19D MOS scouts use the M1025/26 HMMWV and the M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV). Both of these vehicles were designed for other functions. The M3 Bradley is an infantry fighting vehicle that was modified for the scouts to carry more TOW missiles. The HMMWV is a logistics support vehicle that was adopted by the heavy task force units in 1992 because it is stealthier than the large M3 CFV. The HMMWV’s reduced size and noise signatures allowed it to penetrate deeper into the enemy area of operations without detection. Based on a USAARMC analysis conducted by the Directorate of Combat Development, November 1992, the CFV and the HMMWV were both adopted and modified to meet some of the scout mission requirements. Neither one of these platforms by itself meets all the required sensor, mobility, survivability, or lethality capabilities required for scout missions.

The Long Range Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) will partially fill a critical capabilities gap in tactical information dominance until the fielding of the Future Scout and Cavalry System (FSCS). Until then, the LRAS3-equipped scouts will provide the tactical commander with the ability to identify the enemy at greater ranges to achieve decisive results during operations.

Today’s Capability

Imagine you are a scout for an armor or mechanized task force. You are the eyes and ears of the commander. The best night observation device you have can only detect out to 2500 meters. At 2500 meters you cannot confirm if an enemy is tracked or wheeled. A blurb of white starts moving across your sight picture. In the dark you look at your map and start figuring out the location of this moving target in your sector. Finally, success! You have a six-digit grid coordinate of where the enemy is located. Unfortunately, when you look for him again, he is no longer in your sight picture. All you hear in your radio hand mike is the voice of your platoon leader asking for a spot report to follow up the initial contact report that you gave him. As you start to reply you see a flash and hear a boom in the distance... Not only does the scout fail to get the needed information to the commander, but most important, another scout squad dies. The cost tonight is a scout crew; however, the price may be higher tomorrow if the commander stumbles into a fight because he has no eyes forward.

Current Scout Target Acquisition Deficiencies

The high correlation between scout mission success and BN/TF success is fully recognized. The Armor Center has examined scout capability shortfalls and mission effectiveness for many years. NTC rotation historical data clearly show that BN/TF scouts sustain a nearly 50% attrition rate in every battle they fight. A 1995 RAND study suggests scouts require a better sensor in order to survive and increase mission success. Adjustments in materiel, doctrine, training, and organizational design have all resulted in only limited success in addressing the scout survivability issue.

The Armor Center concluded that in order to make our HMMWV-equipped scout platoons more survivable, we must provide them with a target detection and identification system that has a significant capability improvement over the current and evolving threat. The LRAS3 is that system.

A study conducted, February 1998, at the Mounted Maneuver Battle Lab, Fort Knox, Ky., using Southwest Asia and European terrain, reinforces this conclusion. This study concluded that a six-HMMWV-equipped scout platoon1 with six LRAS3 systems would:

• Provide 20-40% improvement in artillery kills (Photo courtesy of Raytheon) 22 ARMOR — November-December 1998