Redstone celebrates unmanned aircraft milestone

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) –

The way the US Army fights is changing. Tuesday, officials at Redstone Arsenal celebrated 2-million flight hours from unmanned aircraft systems.

Army leaders said they are excited about the UAS systems. There are thousands of unmanned aircraft across the army’s various divisions.

Colonel Timothy Baxter has served 30 years in active duty. He said the UAS systems are saving the lives of our soldiers. “If you’ve got the choice of putting a manned pilot or an unmanned aircraft into harm’s way, really, you’re going to put the unmanned first,” he said.

Colonel Baxter said the Army will continue to work on the aircraft. The Army plans to make the aircraft smaller and improve the technology for payloads and propulsion and flight control systems.