During the recent iteration of the ‘Red Sands Exercise’ with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, US Army AH-64 Apache Helicopters were seen to be practising the downing of drone targets.
In footage posted earlier this week on the CENTCOM official X profile, soldiers aboard a US Army AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopter were seen to successfully engage and down UAS targets from an AH-64 fitted with an upgraded version of the Hellfire missile.
The third Red Sands Exercise was conducted by US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center. The exercise built on previous iterations and included training, operational demonstrations and the testing of 15 different systems employing various kinetic and non-kinetic techniques to destroy and disable unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Importantly, conducting the exercise at the Red Sands IEC allowed for the testing of various C-UAS systems under realistic environmental conditions, ensuring the selected systems are effective for deployment by US allies in the Middle East.
Apache helicopters, known for their advanced technology and combat effectiveness, are renowned as a valuable asset in various scenarios. With the increasing prevalence of malicious UAS in recent conflicts in the Middle East and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the US have included the training of Apache flight crew and equipped the platforms to defeat enemy UAS as part of Red Sands III.
With the conclusion of Red Sands III, CENTCOM has this week began executing its Desert Guardian exercise. According to Chief Technology Officer Schuyler Moore, the exercise will focus “on forcing different [C-UAS] systems to integrate and function together”.
Post Image Credit: U.S. Army Central
