Recently, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked all four services to develop innovative methods to provide field commanders with more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every day, U.S. Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operators stare at monitors displaying real-time video of vehicles known to carry hunted terrorists. Days can pass without the vehicle moving an inch, but the airmen keep staring, afraid to blink and risk losing a targeted pickup truck or Mercedes sedan as it drives out of the UAV's field of view.

However, soon, they may be able to stop staring. Because there is a software program in the works that would follow ground movement or track vehicles.

In April, Gates created an ISR task force dedicated to finding quick answers. Task force officials told Gates in May that its main focus would be to find new methods to use currently deployed ISR assets, instead of fielding new aircraft. That is why the Find, Fix, Track and ID branch of the sensors directorate at the lab is working to bolster the ISR fleet of aircraft, said Terry Wilson, a technical adviser for the branch.

"We're trying to take the burden off the human and provide the software tools to allow one person to do multiple tasks," he said.

If it works, it will be good news for UAV pilots and sensor operators, who are stretched thin, working long hours at odd times to provide field commanders more ISR coverage.

Wilson said one of his priorities is to take sensors and technology designed for larger manned aircraft and transfer them to the smaller UAVs, adding that his team takes "millions of dollars that have been spent doing things in the past with manned systems and modifying them to work with unmanned systems."

Now, the team also is working to provide a more accurate geo-location capability so airmen can know exactly where a full-motion video feed originates. A UAV can be miles away from the targets it is watching, making it vital for airmen exploiting the data to understand where they are looking, Wilson said.

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