The World’s Deadliest Drone: MQ-9 REAPER

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U.S. Predator C Avenger UAV. New member in the U.S. Predator UAV series after MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) drones:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/milita...-first-flight-predator-c-avenger-u-s-uav.html

 

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Raytheon's Expanded Mission Capability Radar Completes Flight Testing
UNITED STATES - 4 MAY 2010

(McKinney, Texas, May 4, 2010) -- Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTN) expanded mission capability SeaVue radar completed its flight testing on an MQ-9 Predator aircraft.

This expanded mission capability (XMC) version of SeaVue is an advanced maritime situational awareness suite that significantly reduces operator workload and improves mission efficiency.

"A solid partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the Johns Hopkins University and Raytheon has enabled us to develop and field this unique system to meet defense, civil and homeland security requirements," said Tim Carey, vice president for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems. "Raytheon is proud to offer another product that demonstrates our leadership in maritime surveillance and our commitment to providing advanced solutions for international and domestic customers."

The SeaVue XMC radar incorporates streaming digital video and next generation maritime situational awareness technology to meet the need for complete, persistent and accurate wide-area maritime surveillance. The technology was developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and funded by NAVSEA.

The SeaVue XMC radar is deployed on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's MQ-9 Predator and DHC-8 airframes.

The innovative, new features of the SeaVue XMC radar include the ability to automatically detect, track and sort thousands of maritime targets simultaneously; correlate radar tracks with automatic identification system contacts; provide optimal flight planning for data collection; integrate multiple real-time data sources; and reduce downlink bandwidth requirements via advanced data-compression techniques.


Source: Raytheon Company

 

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New Lynx Advanced Multi-channel Radar (AMR) Successfully Integrated and Flown on a Predator B UAS
UNITED STATES - 24 MAY 2010

SAN DIEGO – 24 May 2010 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), a leading manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and surveillance systems, today announced that it has successfully completed a set of flight tests of its next generation Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) radar, the Lynx® Advanced Multi-channel Radar (AMR), on the company’s capital Predator® B UAS. The flights were completed on May 7 at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., following software testing and aircraft payload integration. “This first flight of the Lynx AMR on Predator B marks the first time that radar dismount detection capability has been demonstrated on a Predator-class aircraft,” said Linden Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. “This critical milestone demonstrates the ‘plug-and-play’ attributes of the Lynx QRC [Quick Reaction Capability] AMR and is the last major objective we needed to achieve before offering this capability to various customers by the end of 2010.”

During the AMR flight tests, the radar was specifically evaluated for dismount (personnel walking or running) detection performance over its full field-of-regard. Lynx AMR achieves unmatched dismount detection performance using Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) and delivers compliant STANAG 4607 output to the Ground Control Station (GCS) and its dissemination channels. The GCS software also supports real-time cross-cueing to the aircraft’s Electro-Optical Infrared (EO/IR) payload.

The flight test campaign included evaluation of the currently operational Lynx SAR in nose-on geometry at Predator B loitering speeds. Using a typical route surveillance ‘push broom’ flight profile, Lynx was able to detect slow walking people without modifications to the currently operational software. This effectiveness was verified through several instrumented tests to characterize the performance envelope.

“The ability to detect and track dismounts and slow moving vehicles over large areas and to cross-cue the on-board video sensor to areas of interest is an emerging military and civilian surveillance requirement, added Blue. “The Lynx AMR provides this capability over its full field-of-regard in a low-cost, ‘plug-and-play’ configuration for Predator B and Sky Warrior® Alpha aircraft.”

GA-ASI initially demonstrated a low-cost dismount detection capable Lynx radar in early 2009 on the Dual Beam Development Program on manned aircraft flight tests. Since then, a series of software modifications and additional flight tests have been conducted on manned aircraft to improve and transition this capability from an engineering demonstration to a QRC configuration. These flight tests have demonstrated the ability to detect dismounts over the full field-of-regard and provide accurate cross-range position estimates for cross-cueing the EO/IR sensor in its narrow field-of-view. As a follow-on to this testing activity, the software-only development will continue through the end of the year to optimize the dismount detection performance.


Source: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

 

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U.S. Air Force Squadron Logs 250K UAV Flight Hours
UNITED STATES - 17 JUNE 2010

Members of the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here reached a significant milestone recently when the Air Force's remotely piloted aircraft flew their 250,000th hour in Afghanistan at the end of May.

The 62nd ERS is home to the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft at Kandahar Airfield. Over a five-year span, the unit has flown and supported these aircraft, beginning in 2005.

The squadron's operational tempo has increased tremendously in the past year, said Lt. Col. Morgan Curry, the 62nd ERS commander. "Forty-eight percent of our five-year total was flown in the past 12 months."

The crews use satellite uplinks that allow the transfer of control between the deployed local pilots who taxi, launch, land and recover the aircraft from trailers near the flight line and the crews based in the U.S. or U.K.

Teams from multiple units across the U.S. control the aircraft in flight, said Colonel Curry, another unique aspect of the remotely-piloted aircraft's mission.

"When I first arrived, this was different for me," Colonel Curry said. "I was part of the flight crew team at Creech (AFB) so it had been a while since I had landed the aircraft. But it's great to see both sides of the operations.

The primary mission of the 62nd ERS is to launch and recover all the Air Force RPAs in Afghanistan, Colonel Curry said.

A separate team of military and civilian members maintain and repair the aircraft, when necessary.

"Maintenance and inspections are performed on the aircraft just like manned aircraft. If we need to, we also replace the weapons and get it back in the air. "

The unit spans the gamut from strategic to tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from keeping an eye on large targets to performing tactical ISR, watching out for coalition and Afghan partners.

"The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities are a huge part of our strategy to keep an eye on everything, literally," he said.

Both aircraft can perform dual missions of close-air support and ISR taskings.

The Predator can stay airborne for more than 24 hours and although the Reaper does not fly as long as the Predator, it can fly at higher altitudes and can carry more weapons, squadron officials said.

Each aircraft is equipped with a full-motion video camera with various modes that can detect enemy movements.

The MQ-1 Predator carries the multi-spectral targeting system which integrates electro-optical, infrared, laser designator and laser illuminator into a single sensor package, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

The aircraft can employ two laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles.

Reapers provide the joint-force commander a persistent hunter-killer ability, able to strike emerging targets. The MQ-9 also acts as an ISR asset, employing sensors to provide real-time data to commanders and intelligence specialists at all levels.