Control of the British Army’s Watchkeeper UAVs is moving from the Force Troops Command to the Joint Helicopter Command in an effort to ease their entry into service. Source: British Army
The British Army is to transfer day-to-day command of the UK’s Thales WK450 Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) in a bid to smooth its entry into front-line service.
Army sources told IHS Jane’s that the switch would take place at the end of August with the aim of concentrating all the service’s large air assets under a single umbrella organisation.
The Andover-based JHC brings together Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and Army Air Corps transport, utility, and attack helicopters under a single command. The British Army’s Force Troops Command currently controls the units of Royal Artillery equipped with Watchkeeper. The Watchkeeper will continue to be operated by 32 and 47 Regiments of the Royal Artillery, both based at Larkhill. By moving the Watchkeeper to JHC it is hoped that the crews who operate it will benefit from exposure to “best practise” and “improved air mindedness”, said an army source familiar with the plans.
Some 32 Watchkeeper UAVs were in service with the British Army on 1 March, according to data released by the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act.
The change of command only affects the Watchkeeper programme, with the British Army’s other mini-UAVs – the Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk Mk. 3 and Prox Dynamics Black Hornet – remaining within 1 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade, which reports to Force Troops Command.
An army spokesperson told IHS Jane’s , “the operational command of Watchkeeper will be transferred to Joint Helicopter Command; bringing the army’s larger air assets into one organisation and improving the day-to-day efficiency of operational training and tasking.”
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