The Sky Warrior also has a separate payload computer independent of the flight computer. The different cable arrangement and electronic unit, for example, require payload tray modifications.
BIG APERTURE CAMERA RAYTHEON SOFTWARE
(Raytheon is completing 17 interim payloads.) The newer CSP drives hardware and software changes in the Sky Warrior. The MQ-1C first flew at the end of March with the AN/DAS-2 interim payload. Payload integration starts before hardware is delivered, with an Interface Control Document from the payload supplier, an emulator for the software interface, and 3D computer aided design drawings.
"We do all of the electronic and software integration." "We have a hardware-in-the-loop-capability," said Don Cattell, director of Army programs with the General Atomics Aircraft Systems Group. MQ-1C prime contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, of San Diego, is integrating the payloads into the UAS under a System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract awarded in 2005. With a wing one foot longer and payload bay 30 percent larger than found on the Air Force Predator, the Army Sky Warrior can carry the CSP and the Northrop Grumman STARLite synthetic aperture radar. CECOM believes the smart, flexible design should also minimize integration risk on two very different platforms. Self-configuring software identifies, verifies and loads the command and control profile needed for the specific platform. Significantly, the CSP automatically recognizes the type of aircraft on which it is installed, allowing maintainers to pull a payload from a Sky Warrior and mount it on an Arapaho without adjustment. It’s the first time we’ve made a system they can boresight in flight." Raytheon expects the weight of the first CSP to be just under the 155-pound Army requirement. "We made producibility and reliability improvements, added a laser spot tracker, electro-optical counter-countermeasures and internal bore sighting. "It is a building block on what we did for the -A and -B," said Shofner. The CSP also inherits features of the bigger MTS-B on the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper and the interim AN/DAS-2 on the developmental Sky Warrior. With the same 6.5-inch aperture, the new 18-inch ball builds on the AN/AAS-52 Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS-A) proven on the Hellfire-armed Air Force MQ-1B Predator. The CSP awaited formal Army nomenclature, but its requirements were formulated by Training and Doctrine Command systems managers for UAVs, Reconnaissance and Attack and Aerial Common Sensor.
BIG APERTURE CAMERA RAYTHEON TV
Alternatively, operator commands can blend FLIR and TV to optimize a given scene. The CSP can fuse IR and E/O automatically, selecting the best pixel output without operator intervention. Raytheon makes its own mid-wave infrared (IR) detectors for the CSP and integrates the FLIR in a stabilized ball with lasers from Northrop Grumman and electro-optical (E/O) and image-intensified (I2) TV cameras from various manufacturers. It’s able to see better through the atmosphere as far as humidity goes with a smaller aperture." "It’s a very capable detector for those environments. "It flies at a high altitude in various missions over deserts, over coastal environments," explained Paul Shofner, Raytheon CSP manager. A life-cycle cost analysis in 2006 projected a $1.8 billion savings over 20 years using common UAS and ARH payloads rather than dedicated sensors.Ī second-generation 3-to-5 micron Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensor like that flying on the Predator UAV also has better range and resolution than the first-generation 8-to-12 micron FLIRs used on today’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter. Identical payloads with the same parts should trim the training, maintenance and repair footprint of the combat aviation brigade. Payloads for both aircraft will be maintained by the same Army and contractor personnel in a two-level (field and depot) maintenance scheme. It will give the networked UAS and ARH identical electro-optical performance to detect, identify and designate targets from survivable standoff ranges. Terrance Howard, product manager, Robotic and Unmanned Sensors, at the Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM), Fort Monmouth, N.J. The Army plans to buy 172 CSPs for the MQ-1C and 512 payloads for the ARH-70A by 2019.Ī common payload promises the Army operational, logistic and economic benefits, according to Lt. The same payload replaces the interim Target Acquisition Sensor Suite on the 39th production ARH-70A and enters service with the second Arapaho unit equipped in fiscal 2012.
The CSP will enter service with the Sky Warrior First Unit Equipped that year. Operational testing on both the Sky Warrior UAS and Arapaho ARH is scheduled for fiscal 2011. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif., expected to begin CSP deliveries in August or September for qualification testing in fiscal 2009.
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