text: Threat
  also make effective platforms for communications relay stations due to their potentially high
  mission endurance and ability to avoid (over-fly) terrain that ground-based vehicles with relay
  components would be unable to navigate.
  * The support element includes all logistical systems required to deploy, transport, recover, enable,
  and generally sustain the UAS.
  * The unmanned aircraft can manifest itself in a variety of types to include fixed-wing, rotary-wing,
  aerospace, and even balloons. Typically, the larger the aircraft the higher its endurance and the
  higher the altitude in which it can operate. Low, slow, and small UAS are particularly dangerous
  due to the challenges which they present to friendly sensor systems for detection and identification
  and for weapon systems to consistently defeat them given their low/slow kinematic profile. UASs
  are also easily obtained commercially and inexpensive, making them even more of a threat.
  3-33. UASs serve as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms for target detection,
  identification, and location; weapon targeting; target designation; and battle damage assessment. UASs can
  assist commanders with early warning to develop friendly courses of actions. State-of-the-art sensors and
  data links provide real-time targeting for fire support systems, maneuver forces, and aircraft. UASs equipped
  with laser designators provide immediate targeting assistance and terminal guidance of munitions. UAS
  platforms also can serve as a means for weapons delivery or may themselves serve as the weapon, and have
  been used extensively to attack high payoff targets without endangering pilots. Threat actors consider UASs
  expendable.
  3-34. UASs have relatively low radar cross sections, low speed, and low thermal signatures, thus making
  them difficult to detect, track, and engage. Mission-dictated flight profiles take full advantage of terrain,
  increasing system survivability and optimizing coverage. Flight altitudes for UASs vary by their size and
  mission and can range from meters to thousands of kilometers. UASs conducting intelligence, surveillance,
  and reconnaissance missions operate at altitudes consistent with their sensor systems. They normally fly at
  altitudes safe from small arms fire and can stand off and detect from up to 25 kilometers.
  3-35. UAS optical payloads consist of daylight television, infrared video, and recording cameras (for
  reconnaissance missions). Other major payload categories include electronic warfare (jammers), electronic
  intelligence, radar, communications relay and attack warheads. Several nations are developing and fielding
  anti-radiation homing UAS capabilities with the primary mission of attacking battlefield radio frequency
  emitters (radars and communications). These platforms have a variety of launch options and are usually fire-
  and-forget systems.
  MANNED ROTARY-WING AIRCRAFT
  3-36. Most countries maintain helicopter fleets to support military operations. While the majority of
  helicopters can be armed to perform a variety of roles, the attack helicopter poses the greatest threat to
  maneuver forces. The versatility of helicopters make them ideal for use in most combat areas.
  3-37. Threat ground force commanders rely primarily on helicopters to fulfill direct air support requirements.
  Helicopters can perform a variety of missions. Hovering and low-flying helicopters, taking full advantage of
  terrain masking, are difficult to acquire and target. An especially challenging ingress technique is nap-of-the-
  earth flying, in which a helicopter hovers at a masked point, dashes to the next mask point, and hovers again.
  This technique is challenging because of short exposure times and varying between near-zero Doppler and
  moderate Doppler velocities. Improvements in fire control and weapon capabilities enable helicopters to
  search, acquire, and fire at ground targets from longer standoff ranges, thus increasing their survivability and
  effectiveness.
  MANNED FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT
  3-38. Manned fixed-wing aircraft remain essential to virtually every type of military operation and despite
  the emergence of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, it will continue to play a role in future conflicts. There
  are more than 40,000 operational military aircraft today; of these, some 10,000, many produced during the
  Cold War era, are in third world inventories. Over 50 countries have an aviation industry of some kind, and
  over 20 countries design their own aircraft.