ROVER aids in search and rescue

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ken Hall
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
New Orleans (ACCNS) --  When authorities conducting recovery operations following Hurricane Katrina needed help seeing what was happening on the ground here, Air Force personnel brought combat technology to bear in supporting rescue operations.

The system is called ROVER -- short for Remote Operations Video Enhanced Receiver. By using the system, Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controller teams were able to pull down real-time video from specially equipped aircraft flying over the devastated Gulf region to aid military and civilian leaders conducting house-to-house search and rescue missions.

Using this latest technology, full-motion imagery streams in real time were provided to ground troops and local authorities just like they do in combat operations in Iraq. The Air Force used 10 ROVER platforms dedicated to Katrina operations.

Three specialized Air Force control teams from the 9th Air Force, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., as well as a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle team, deployed to support search and rescue operations being conducted by the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

“We’re honored to have provided this capability to the effort,” said Lt. Col. Greg Harbin. The colonel headed up the ROVER teams of active-duty JTAC members, retired combat controllers from Coastal Defense, Inc., and civilian technicians, providing “right now” imagery to relief workers on the ground.

ROVER basically consists of a laptop computer configured with a specialized radio and antenna system. Prior to its development, video images from unmanned aerial vehicles and other reconnaissance aircraft were only available to command centers and the pilots flying the aircraft. Through the use of ROVER, officials on the ground are able to have an additional set of eyes to help them see what is happening at that moment.

“This gear exponentially boosts the amount of work that can be done by Soldiers on the ground,” Colonel Harbin said. The melding of Air Force, Army and civilian assets represented a true force multiplier for rescue operations in the city.

As an aerial capability in New Orleans relief operations, Colonel Harbin said ROVER received a variety of video downlinks from Navy P-3 Orions, Air Force A-10 Warthogs and Air National Guard C-130 Scathe Views. Combined, they provided 24-hour high-resolution, real-time streaming video to those who needed it most … responders.

“My team provided a very specialized military and civilian asset to the overall effort,” said Colonel Harbin.

Additionally, ROVER systems pull video images from unmanned aerial vehicles. Although the Federal Aviation Administration currently bans UAV flights inside the area of operations around New Orleans, the colonel’s team developed a “work around” – by mounting a UAV camera on a pedestal atop the 30th-floor roof of the Hilton hotel in downtown New Orleans – the highest vantage point in the area. From this position, ROVER was able to provide authorities a constant overview of the area for miles around.

“In essence, it provided (additional) eyes-on capability to the 82nd,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Cry, a joint terminal attack controller deployed here. Despite the thousands of people conducting rescue operations, they couldn’t be everywhere and see everything. ROVER helped fill the void.

Colonel Harbin felt it’s the perfect system for the work being done in Louisiana.

“I can’t imagine a more fitting use of technology to aid our fellow Americans in New Orleans."

9th Air Force Public Affairs contributed to this story.