During the course of yesterday, the United States Army (US Army) announced the official retirement of its Beechcraft RC-12 Guardrail and Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL) intelligence aircraft after more than 50 years of service. The farewell ceremony was held between July 30 and 31 in South Korea. Over their extensive service history, the aircraft accumulated more than 120,000 flight hours across over 30,000 sorties, with more than 800 Army pilots having flown them.
It is worth recalling that the Guardrail system had been operational since 1975, when it was introduced to perform surveillance and intelligence tasks in support of the U.S. deployment on the Korean Peninsula, being used on multiple occasions to monitor movements in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Lieutenant Colonel Derrick J. Zantt, commander of the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, stated: “Guardrail is our longest-serving ISR asset in the U.S. Army within the Korea Theater of Operations, and our only aircraft acquired under a Program of Record.”
The ARL aircraft, on the other hand, entered service during the 1990s, joining the operations of the Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Specifically designed for surveillance missions as part of counter-narcotics operations, they focused on the Andes mountain region. They were quickly integrated into units operating under the U.S. Southern Command.
The ARL appeared following the retirement of the older OV-1D Mohawks, during which the Army evaluated several replacement candidates. Dr. Thomas Hauser, an INSCOM historian, noted: “The JSTARS couldn’t do it. The Air Force U-2 couldn’t do it. Not even satellites could do it. INSCOM stepped in at the last minute with a solution: the versatile ARL. Its constant surveillance remained throughout all these years. It was always in the air, ready to serve the Army.”
Looking ahead, it is important to highlight that the U.S. Army has already initiated the High-altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne (ATHENA) program as a temporary solution to replace the recently retired aircraft. ATHENA adds platforms capable of performing geospatial intelligence, signals intelligence, and electronic intelligence tasks. This reflects the new approach by which the Army seeks to identify and analyze targets across different theaters of operations, providing greater information to commanders coordinating missions from the base.
As Jordan Rubin, INSCOM’s ISR Operations Chief, put it: “These bridge aircraft will continue to inform the programmatic requirements of HADES, facilitate the early implementation of new training concepts and deployment strategies, and ultimately ensure a seamless start for the HADES program.”
Officially, the intention is for ATHENA to enable the transition to the new HADES program, which has been described on multiple occasions as the future of U.S. Army airborne intelligence. This will specifically involve a manned system built on Canadian Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft, a design selected by the Army in early 2024, and which will further enhance onboard data processing through integration with Artificial Intelligence models.
*Cover image: INSCOM
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