Just a few months after completing its farewell flight in South Korea, the U.S. Army has now announced the completion of the retirement of its A-ISR turboprop aircraft fleet, which had been in service with the institution for more than 50 years. In this way, a chapter that began in 1971 comes to an end, when the force deployed the “Guardrail” in Germany under the responsibility of the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion to conduct surveillance missions on troop movements carried out by the Soviet bloc in the region.
Briefly reviewing its long list of operational antecedentes, it is worth noting that following the Cold War, the aircraft took part in operations across various scenarios and regions. One of these was Operation Desert Storm, where they contributed to tracking Iraqi units in order to keep coalition troops informed of their movements, while also providing support to the U.S. Marines during their missions along the coasts of Kuwait. In Asia, the Guardrail aircraft remained deployed on the Korean Peninsula since the 1970s with the aim of monitoring the Demilitarized Zone separating the forces of Pyongyang and Seoul.
During the mid-1990s, these aircraft were also integrated alongside the ARL-M models to participate in operations under the then-USPACOM, replacing the aging OV-1D Mohawk aircraft that were being phased out at the time. Their main innovation was the introduction of new MTI/SAR systems, which provided capabilities for communications interception, imagery reconnaissance, and target identification. By 2016, the last aircraft of this type was introduced with the arrival of EMARSS, which was based on the Beechcraft King Air 350ER airframe and took part in missions across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Even though EMARSS was a platform that had entered service less than a decade ago, the decision to proceed with its retirement, along with the rest of the fleet, responds to a new approach adopted by the U.S. Army. This was explained by the Project Director for Sensors and Aerial Intelligence, Julie Isaac: “In 2022, the Army made a deliberate decision to prioritize aerial modernization to focus on deep-sensing capabilities, in line with the Army’s future strategies.” According to the institution itself, this concept requires aircraft capable of operating at higher altitudes and equipped with more powerful sensors, leading to the need to invest in new platforms.
In this regard, the U.S. Army has been advancing its program known as HADES since 2020, which is intended to replace the Guardrail, ARL, and EMARSS aircraft. One of the notable achievements of this process has been the partnership with the Fixed Wing Project Office (FWPO), aimed at developing an Aerial Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (known as ARES) and an Aerial Reconnaissance Target Exploitation Mission Intelligence System (also referred to as ARTEMIS). In addition, progress has been made in the design of a new platform known as ATHENA-R/S, which will facilitate the transition between both fleets.
In the words of Eric Hughes, current Product Manager for the Multi-Domain Sensing System: “ARTEMIS, ARES, and ATHENA will serve to demonstrate the value of new and existing sensor technologies in HADES-like packages and will provide similar-level sensing capabilities within the areas of responsibility of U.S. European and Pacific Commands. These ISR bridging systems allow the Army to rapidly innovate and achieve interim objectives, such as continuing to meet operational requirements, transforming intelligence formations and infrastructure to leverage HADES capability, and establishing an initial cadre of trained crews for the transition to HADES.”
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