On January 30th, Poway, CA-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) showcased an impressive suite of long range sensors on its Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) during flight operations at Yuma Proving Grounds. The second in a series of demonstrations, GA-ASI partnered with industry to integrate best-of-breed long-range ISR payloads and Air Launch Effects (ALEs) on the GE-ER. The aircraft showed a persistent stand-off capability with up to 40 hours of endurance that Commanders can leverage to orchestrate forces in the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) environment.
During the flight, the
GE-ER identified emitters with Communications Intelligence (COMINT) payload
while operating at 25,000 feet, cross-cueing the onboard Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) to produce precision coordinates sufficient for targeting within
minutes. L3Harris’ Rio Nino lightweight COMINT system, capable of detecting
emitters out to 250 km, was combined with GA-ASI’s Lynx® SAR to perform the task. The flight activities were all
controlled from a GA-ASI laptop-based Scalable Command and Control (SC2)
system. Additionally, the aircraft carried two Area-I Altius-600 ALEs. The ALEs
will be launched and controlled through the GE-ER for the next flight
demonstration this summer.
“We are excited to team with industry partners to demonstrate these capabilities on the Gray Eagle ER,” said David Alexander, president, GA-ASI. “The long-range radar, COMINT and ELINT packages, as well as launch and control of ALEs and the GBU-69B Small Glide Munition are all capabilities that are available today on the Gray Eagle ER.”
GE-ER is a long-range variant of the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS. It provides the U.S. Army with increased endurance, more payload capacity to support future mission tasking, and considerable improvements in system reliability and maintainability. The third in the series of MDO demos using GE-ER is set for this summer.
Source: GA-ASI
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