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Elistair and Rheinmetall Canada Partner on Unmanned ISR Solution for Military Users

Wednesday, January 17th, 2024

Partnership follows successful demonstration of KHRONOS tethered drone and Mission Master SP unmanned ground vehicle for military officials at Rheinmetall Canada’s facility

PARIS—January 16, 2024—Elistair, a leader in long-endurance, tethered unmanned aircraft systems, announced that it has partnered with Rheinmetall Canada Inc. to provide military customers with an on-the-move ISR solution that combines Elistair’s fully automated KHRONOS tethered drone with the Mission Master family of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

The new partnership follows closely on the heels of a successful demonstration of the KHRONOS and the Mission Master SP, an electric-powered UGV designed for resupply missions, overwatch, and payload carriage, before undisclosed European military officials at Rheinmetall Canada’s test track in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec.

“We are very excited to be collaborating with a major defense contractor like Rheinmetall Canada,” said Guilhem de Marliave, CEO of Elistair. “By combining their Mission Master family of UGVs with our push-button, long-endurance, automated KHRONOS drone, Rheinmetall Canada can provide customers with an advanced solution for unmanned reconnaissance and convoy escort.”

Elistair first unveiled KHRONOS last November. The tethered drone deploys from a transportable dronebox in under two minutes and can stay aloft, even when operating from a moving platform, for up to 24 hours at a stretch, providing continuous day/night coverage of an area 10 kilometers in radius.

The 66-pound KHRONOS can also fly in poor weather and in GPS/GNSS-Denied and RF-denied environments.

“And thanks to its advanced automated features, it is easy to control, saving customers the heavy investment in training drone operators,” de Marliave said.

“The Mission Master family of UGVs can carry a variety of ISR payloads,” said Alain Tremblay, VP of Business Development and Innovation at Rheinmetall Canada. “But KHRONOS definitely has its advantages, and we see international interest given its innovative capacity to adapt to current and future complex theatres of operation.”

First deliveries of the KHRONOS dronebox are set for March.

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Understanding AFSOC’s Adaptive Airborne Enterprise

Thursday, January 11th, 2024

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. —

The 27th Special Operation Wing’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) community and industry partners completed several capability demonstrations throughout December 2023 as part of Air Force Special Operations Command’s Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) development.

As directed in the 2022 U.S. National Defense Strategy, AFSOC has shifted its priority from Counter-Violent Extremist Organization operations to also being capable of countering near-peer and peer adversaries in contested or denied environments. A2E is a result of that shift, marking an evolution beyond using the MQ-9 exclusively for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and strike operations.

“Adaptive Airborne Enterprise is vital to thickening the Joint Force kill web throughout the spectrum of conflict and continues to be AFSOC’s #1 acquisition priority,” said Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC commander. “Our Air Commandos are incredibly innovative, capable, and driven…they are bringing A2E to life. We will continuously develop the concept to full capability through multiple demonstrations over the next few years.”

A2E is broken into five phases, with the first three phases currently underway.

In phase one, AFSOC aims to transition to a government-owned Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) command and control interface, replacing the stationary RPA control system. The new A2E interface will shrink a traditional RPA crew’s deployed footprint and provide operators with the flexibility and mobility to fly various aircraft from austere locations – whether operating from the back of an AC-130, home station, or even urban environments.

“In the future, we’d like to take this from where we’ve fought in the past, a more permissive environment, to contested and denied spaces,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Lindsay Scott, AFSOC Headquarters Rapid Capabilities Development Chief of Autonomous Capabilities. “Our goal is to ensure we are always bringing effects to the battle space.”

In phase two, AFSOC’s objective is creating the capability for a single crew to fly multiple MQ-9s. According to the director of the 27th Special Operations Group’s RPA Operations Center, U.S. Air Force Maj. Joshua Radford, AFSOC plans to evolve past the historical standard of one crew operating one aircraft, the status quo for MQ-9 operations.

“We’re moving towards a crew or a single operator controlling multiple aircraft,” Radford said. “And it doesn’t necessarily need to be the same platform.”

Phase three entails a single crew controlling multiple types of UASs, ranging from Group 1 small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS) like the RQ-11B Raven, to larger Group 5 UASs like the MQ-9A Reaper.

In phase four, a single crew will control formations of UASs from mobile and austere locations, leading into the final phase: creating new effects-based ISR units. These units could be comprised of UASs, forward deployed ground forces, cyber operators and space operators that can collaboratively employ UAS capabilities in permissive, contested or denied environments.

The A2E demonstrations conducted in 2023 at Cannon AFB successfully validated many of the capabilities described in phases one through three. In June, the 27th SOW hosted Exercise Talon Spear, AFSOC’s first A2E sUAS collaboration exercise.

“The goal of Talon Spear was to build a continuous improvement exercise,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Mitch, the exercise coordinator assigned to the 27th SOG. “Throughout the exercise, several industry and DOD partners integrated various systems, to include weapon systems, specific cameras, onboard computer systems and tactical situational awareness tools.”

During December’s demonstrations, a single 27th SOW RPA crew successfully exhibited two novel capabilities: controlling three MQ-9s utilizing a single common control interface and attaching and air-launching a Group 2 sUAS from an MQ-9A. The next A2E demonstration is planned for Summer 2024.

As the MQ-9 and its crews acquire the capability to direct sUASs carrying standoff sensor payloads, crews will be able to control swarms of air vehicles from anywhere. Additionally, AFSOC aims to continue developing and procuring A2E-compatible platforms, allowing the MQ-9 to act as a “mothership” for sUAS and loitering munition command and control, as well as a data transport node for mesh networks.

These mesh networks, in concert with Artificial Intelligence technologies and an advanced Human Machine Interface, will allow AFSOC crews to operate multiple large and small UASs simultaneously, covering more terrain and prosecuting more targets in environments that are not currently accessible.

“We depend on our innovative Air Commandos and industry experts to develop, experiment and grow this concept,” said Bauernfeind. “AFSOC is committed to advancing this capability and we appreciate the support of our defense partners and decision makers in prioritizing this acquisition.”

By collaboratively pathfinding alongside defense industry partners and innovative Air Commandos, A2E will transform the current AFSOC MQ-9 enterprise into the robust UAS architecture required to deliver specialized airpower to current and future fights: any place, anytime, anywhere.

By Senior Airman Alexcia Givens

27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Aviation, Press Release, SOF, UAS | Comments Off on Understanding AFSOC’s Adaptive Airborne Enterprise

GA-ASI Completes First Lifetime for Full-Scale Fatigues Test on MQ-9B

Friday, January 5th, 2024

SAN DIEGO – 03 January 2024 – On Dec. 5, 2023, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed a major milestone with the full-scale fatigue testing of an MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). The team completed the “first lifetime” of fatigue testing – which is equivalent to 40,000 operating hours – and represents an important step in validating the design of the airframe system. The testing is part of the aircraft certification to the NATO standard STANAG 4671, where the aircraft will be ultimately be tested through three lifetimes, thereby proving the 40,000 hour lifetime of the airframe.

The full-scale fatigue test simulates the aircraft’s design service through the application of repeated structural loading on the assembled airframe. The testing identifies any potential structural deficiencies ahead of fleet usage and assists in developing inspection and maintenance schedules for the airframe. The results of the test will be used as a part of the documentation for certification, as well as form the basis for in-service inspections of structural components.

MQ-9B is GA-ASI’s most advanced RPA and includes the SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian® models, as well as the new Protector RG Mk 1 that is currently being delivered to the U.K. Royal Air Force.

“Full-scale fatigue testing is an integral part of validating the airframe design and a key input to the certification of the airframe prior to going into service,” said Chris Dusseault, Vice President of MQ-9B in Europe. “The completion of the fatigue test builds confidence for our MQ-9B customers that the SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian airframe meets the stringent design rigor and is a mature system at Entry into Service.”

The testing is the validation of years of design and analysis efforts. This is the first of three lifetimes of testing for the airframe. Two of the lifetimes simulate the operation of an aircraft under normal conditions, and the third lifetime has intentional damage inflicted on the airframe’s critical components to demonstrate its resistance to operational damage that may occur in the lifetime of the air vehicle.

Testing was conducted Dec. 13, 2022-Dec. 5, 2023, at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita, Kan. The airframe tested is a production airframe purpose-built to support the test campaign.

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DroneShield Releases DroneSentry-C2 Tactical

Tuesday, December 26th, 2023

• DroneShield releases DroneSentry-C2 Tactical (DroneSentry-C2T) – an intuitive, tablet-based, command-and-control version of its DroneSentry-C2

• DroneSentry-C2T allows central command-and-control level capabilities for field-based operators to maintain awareness of multiple portable, on-the-move and fixed site systems in their area of interest

• DroneShield (“DroneShield” or “the Company”) is pleased to release DroneSentry-C2 Tactical (DroneSentry-C2T), in response to significant end user demand.

DroneSentry-C2T is a ruggedised, on-the-edge version of DroneShield’s main Command-and-Control solution DroneSentry-C2. The system provides operators with real-time C-UAS situational awareness from a single device or network of DroneShield and third-party devices, such as the RfPatrol body worn drone detector and the DroneSentry-X on-the-move and expeditionary fixed site drone detection and defeat system.

DroneSentry-C2T provides an intuitive satellite map-based display, with 2-way communication between the user and the distributed network of counter-drone devices, demonstrating drone detections from a network of sensors back to a central point anywhere to a rugged user tablet, as well as ability (where lawful) to activate drone defeat systems.

Image: DroneSentry-C2 Tactical deployment solution

The launch of the DroneSentry-C2 Tactical enables existing DroneShield end users to enhance their solutions as an ‘add-on’ capability. Additionally, the DroneSentry-C2 Tactical offers a new entry level C2 solution to customers who do not require the full DroneSentry solution.

Angus Bean, DroneShield’s CTO, commented “The release of the DroneSentry-C2 Tactical solution is in line with modern defence technology trends, pushing enhanced situational awareness and decision-making tools to the operator at ‘the edge’. It allows personnel on the ground to take a more strategic view of the area of operation.”

“DroneShield is both a sensor maker and a developer of C2/sensor integration systems, which enables us to provide an optimised experience for the end user. The release of the DroneSentry-C2T enables us to utilise our position as the global leader in the C-UAS handheld systems, and introduce world’s first command-and-control system for a hand-held C-UAS environment.”

“As we are seeing in Ukraine and other places around the world, handheld C-UAS devices enable cost-effective, mass-scale drone detection and defeat capability. DroneSentry-C2T enables to network these groups of devices together, without a limitation on size of the amount of devices, to provide central point of awareness and response, either in hands on a single master user, or distributing information amongst multiple users in the field.”

The product has recently completed successful trials with the US Department of Defense and is available for sale immediately.

Posted in Press Release, UAS | 1 Comment »

A Glimpse Into the Future of Warfare

Saturday, December 23rd, 2023

The world’s first hybrid electric jet aircraft, drones that fit in the palm of your hand and driverless vehicles were just some of latest equipment with new technology put to the test on the Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) 2023.

AWE has been the Army’s flagship innovation experimentation programme for the past six years, forging relationships with industry to identify technology that could be used in future warfare.

The focus of this year’s AWE was to identify current and emerging technologies that could provide solutions to the challenges faced by soldiers in urban warfare.

Over 40 systems from 35 suppliers; two thirds of which are from British industry, were tested and assessed by the Army’s Experimentation Battalion, 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment, during four weeks of combat trials on Salisbury Plain.

They were joined on the experiment by US, Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Italian troops, as well as observers from Canada, Australia, KSA and Turkey.

“We are looking towards the future battlespace and looking at lessons learned from countries like Ukraine. It’s important to learn the lessons from those conflicts and stay up-to-date and get ahead of the curve. This kit will help us do that or, at the very least, enable us to stay on par with a future enemy.”

PRIVATE DANIEL GONZALEZ

Among the products being tested was the Hydra 400 – the world’s first hybrid heavy lift drone, which is powered by eight electric motors and four jet engines with a maximum lift of 400kg. The jets take the weight of the cargo, and the rotors look after the navigation and flight symmetry.

The next generation drone can be assembled and ready for flight in six minutes and can carry the Brimstone missile that can engage a wide range of targets including fast moving vehicles and vessels at sea.

The results from the experiment will generate evidence to inform future investment decisions and drive the thinking on design and training decisions, ensuring the Army has the best solutions to meet the demands of modern warfare.

Private Daniel Gonzalez said: “We’ve been trialling everything from software to unmanned vehicles, and from ladders to an electric wheelbarrow that can be used to evacuate casualties or to carry kit.”

“You can see exactly where a lot of the kit slots into the battlespace. Some of the kit less so as it is still in development, and some is not fit for purpose.”

“We are looking towards the future battlespace and looking at lessons learned from countries like Ukraine. It’s important to learn the lessons from those conflicts and stay up-to-date and get ahead of the curve. This kit will help us do that or, at the very least, enable us to stay on par with a future enemy.”

“Our job role is incredibly exciting because we get to see the latest kit available first.”

The next generation of lightweight Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) were tested, including the Black Hornet 4. Small enough to fly into buildings and with a flying time of more than 30-minutes, it can provide situational awareness without putting lives at risk.

Private Gonzalez said: “We can send the Black Hornet 4 and similar drones through an open window to look inside a building, find out its layout and see who’s in there. That info can then be used to aid troops’ entry and approach once inside. With this information the survivability of soldiers is increased.”

“On the AWE we feedback directly to the defence industry whether the product is easy to set up and use and how feasible it is to use in a real-life situation. On past exercises we have given feedback and seen the results, whether it’s a software update or even entirely new hardware and when we see that, it makes it really worth it.”

The soldiers were also testing new software that could be added to existing kit to improve performance. This included Instant Connect Enterprise (ICE) software that, when added to existing headphones and software, automatically translated the sender’s language into the language of the receiver. This enabled easier and quicker communication between British and international troops.

Private Matthew Perkins said: “The translation works with hardly any delay and network interference. The idea is there, and it does work. The main issue is the delay and in a battle a lot of things can happen. Given a few tweaks to make it smoother, I would use it.”

Watch the video here.

Colonel Toby Till, Commander of the UK’s Experimentation Trials Group said: “This is the third iteration in the AWE urban focused series, held in close collaboration with industry, and is designed to make the Army more lethal.

“The driving force is the Land Operating Concept. It can be likened to the North Star for the Army and demonstrates how we are going to fight differently in the future and the capabilities we will need to do so.”

“Our collaboration with industry on this event is key – we couldn’t do without them. We are seeing different industries collaborating who wouldn’t normally do so, and military advice being provided to both of them.”

The evidence from the AWE will inform the Army and Defence as to the capabilities which should receive investment in order that the Army may become more lethally effective and remain competitive on the global stage.

Story published by British Army

All photos MOD Crown Copyright

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Government of Canada Orders the MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS from GA-ASI

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

SAN DIEGO – 19 December 2023 – The Government of Canada has signed a contract to purchase a fleet of MQ-9B SkyGuardian® Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI). The order includes the associated Certified Ground Control Stations and support equipment from GA-ASI. The first delivery is expected in 2028.

The SkyGuardian RPAS is interoperable with Canada’s domestic missions and its continental defence missions through NORAD, as well as with Canada’s closest allies – including the Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY) and NATO – for seamless integration with current and future Canadian defence, civil air, and ground assets.

“Canada’s vast territory and complex terrains, including in the Arctic, require a cost-effective multi-mission RPAS solution that can endure long periods on station, fly in harsh weather environments, and safely operate in all airspaces,” said Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI. “MQ-9B SkyGuardian delivers those critical capabilities. GA-ASI and Team SkyGuardian Canada are honored by this opportunity to become a key partner to Canada for the very long term in delivering these no-fail defence and security outcomes.”

Team SkyGuardian Canada is a coalition of leading Canadian businesses – including CAE, MDA Ltd., and L3Harris Technologies – that are working with GA-ASI on MQ-9B development, delivery, and sustainment. Canada’s investments in the RPAS Project and Team SkyGuardian Canada are a direct reflection of Canada’s vested domestic interest in pursuing leading-edge RPAS technologies.

GA-ASI has had a long, successful, and proud history with Canadian industry that continues to grow. Nearly every system that GA-ASI has delivered throughout its more than 30-year history has contained some level of Canadian content, including sensors, propulsion equipment, and training/simulation systems and services. CAE, MDA Ltd., L3Harris, and GA-ASI are committed to delivering the world’s premier RPAS capability to Canada while creating domestic economic benefits and work opportunities.

MQ-9B is the next generation of RPAS, delivering exceptionally long endurance and range, with auto takeoff and landing under SATCOM-only control, and will be able to operate in unsegregated airspace using the GA-ASI developed Detect and Avoid system. First customer deliveries of MQ-9B began in 2022 to the U.K. Royal Air Force, and contracts have been signed with Belgium and the U.S. Air Force, in support of Special Operations Command. The Japan Coast Guard is currently operating the MQ-9B for maritime operations, which the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) also selected for its Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) RPAS Trial Operation Project. MQ-9B has additionally supported various U.S. Navy exercises this year, including Northern Edge, Integrated Battle Problem, and Group Sail.

“We look forward to working with our Team SkyGuardian Canada partners to deliver our industry leading RPAS for Canada’s dynamic mission requirements. GA-ASI is the world leader in reliable, cost-efficient, and sustainable remotely piloted aircraft systems. These aircraft perform advanced interoperable and systems-of-systems operations for our valued customers around the world – all at a fraction of the carbon footprint impact as traditional manned systems performing similar missions,” added Blue.

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Tactical Resupply UAS Ready for the Fleet

Wednesday, December 13th, 2023

Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

—

The Navy and Marine Corps announced Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the TRV-150C Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) Oct. 27 at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The first six production systems arrived last week at the Marines Third Littoral Logistics Battalion (LLB-3) in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, which means that LLB-3 is sufficiently manned, trained and ready to deploy with the TRV-150C.

“This achievement means the fleet is ready and fully capable of deploying and using this game-changing system, which will enable Marines to perform forward deployed contested logistics missions,” said Gregg Skinner, Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program manager (PMA-263), whose Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A) team oversees the TRUAS program.

Prior to declaring IOC, support staff from the Air Test and Evaluations Squadron Two Four (UX-24) from Naval Air Warfare Center Webster Outlying Field in Maryland arrived at MCB Hawaii along with an instructor from the Training and Logistics Support Activity Pacific, to conduct final operator qualification with LLB-3. After reviewing the differences between prototype and production systems, the trainers and operators successfully completed 36 training flights to ensure that the unit was ready to deploy.

PMA-263 awarded the production contract for the TRV-150C in April 2023 following a rapid prototyping initiative that brought the system from inception to the fleet in less than four years.

“This was a total team effort in accomplishing this milestone in record time,” Skinner said. “Special thanks to the PMA263 Team, Training and Logistics Support Activity Pacific, Air Test and Evaluations Squadron Two Four (UX-24), and the Survice Engineering Company (TRUAS prime contractor) for their hard work and dedication aimed at getting this much needed Force Design 2023 capability in the hands of the Warfighter.”

TRUAS is a land based, autonomous UAS that provides organic logistics to Marine squads through automated launch, waypoint navigation, and automated landing and payload drop. The system provides battlefield logistics capability to distribute critical supplies at Expeditionary Advanced Bases, where the risk to manned aircraft would deny manned aviation resupply operations out to the last tactical mile.

“The contested logistics environment challenges the ability of our Marines to distribute necessary supplies to the right place at the time of need,” said Col. Aaron Angell, Logistics Combat Element Division director. “TRUAS gives a logistics unit the organic ability to immediately respond with a precision ground launched air delivery system. This is leap-ahead technology that we will learn to continue to shape future unmanned aerial logistics platforms.”

-NAVAIR News

Posted in Guest Post, UAS, USMC | 7 Comments »

Italian Air Force Flies New MQ-9A Block 5 RPA from GA-ASI

Wednesday, December 6th, 2023

Delivery of New Block 5 and GCS Part of Mid-Life Modernization of ItAF’s RPA Fleet

SAN DIEGO – 05 December 2023 – On Nov. 9, 2023, the Italian Air Force (ItAF) made its first flight of a new MQ-9A Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI). The new RPA was delivered to the ItAF, along with a new Mobile Ground Control Station (MGCS), as part of a Mid-Life Modernization (MLM) update to the ItAF fleet of RPAs from GA-ASI. The aircraft and MGCS are part of a Foreign Military Sale.

The Block 5 RPA provides a significant increase in electrical power generation, auto takeoff and landing capability with improved landing gear and datalinks, and the latest version of the GA-ASI Lynx® Multi-mode Radar.

“The Italian Air Force has long been a leader in using the MQ-9 Reaper to support a wide range of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions in Italy, over the Mediterranean, and in support of NATO operations,” said GA-ASI Vice President of International Strategic Development Jaime Walters. “The delivery of this new Block 5 and MGCS will help to update the Italian Air Force’s existing fleet.”

The ItAF’s current fleet of RPAs from GA-ASI consists of four Block 1s and two Block 15 MGCSs.

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