Baquaba, Iraq - Attack helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade partnered with an unmanned aircraft, remotely piloted by a crew over one hundred kilometers away, teamed up to kill seven insurgents and wound two others during two engagements July 25, in the Diyala Province.

An attack weapons team was performing a reconnaissance mission when they observed five insurgents placing an IED along a roadside. At the same time, a team over one hundred kilometers away, in the tactical operations center on Contingency Operating Base Speicher (Tikrit, Iraq), monitored the radio traffic and directed an unmanned aircraft near the engagement to assist. The crew of the unmanned aircraft was also on COB Speicher. After the team coordinated with ground forces, they engaged the enemy with a Hellfire missile and 30 millimeter cannon fire, killing five insurgents and wounding one.

These new techniques apply new technologies, require less soldiers and defeat terrorists in the contemporary operating environment in large numbers.

Capitalizing on these innovative technologies, the 25th CAB uses manned-unmanned teaming for an increasing number of their engagements. An unmanned aircraft surveilled and observed another six insurgents moving to the engagement site.

Read the full story from the Multi-National Force