AAI To Expand One System Ground Control Equipment To Additional UAV's

UAV NEWS

Fielded originally with the Army's Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) system, One System GCE consists of a state-of-the-art ground control station, a portable ground control station, and remote video terminals.

Anaheim CA (SPX) Aug 05, 2004
AAI Corporation announced Wednesday that it is expanding the capabilities of its exclusive One System Ground Control Equipment (GCE) for use among an array of unmanned aerial vehicles.

AAI is the designer, developer, and manufacturer of One System GCE for the U.S. Army.

One System GCE has recently been configured to control flights of the Hunter UAV. In addition, AAI recently received a contract to integrate operations of the Pioneer UAV into One System GCE for the U.S. Marine Corps, the first system to incorporate NATO standardization agreement 4685 for the interoperability of UAVs.

In addition to Shadow, Hunter, and Pioneer UAVs, AAI foresees use of One System GCE elements with other unmanned aerial vehicles such as Raven, EagleEye, and unmanned combat air vehicles currently under development.

AAI also plans to adapt its One System GCE for on-the-move command and control, enabling commanders in tactical ground vehicles maneuvering on the battlefield to control UAVs and receive data from their sensors. Ultimately, elements from One System GCE will be incorporated in manned helicopters such as the Apache Longbow so they can utilize UAVs to extend their line of site.

The One System GCE expansion announcement was made during an industry brief at the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) North America 2004 Symposium and Exhibition taking place in Anaheim, California.

Pete Mullowney, deputy general manager of AAI's Unmanned Systems sector responsible for technology and systems development, said that the in addition to the advantage of a being able to control more than one type of UAV from a single ground station, the One System GCE will:

reduce training time for soldiers operating a variety of unmanned vehicles on the battlefield,

streamline maintenance and logistics on the battlefield and at training locations, and

promote interoperability to improve warfighting capability among UAV users across the services.

The first One System GCE is scheduled to be delivered to the Army this summer as part of the fiscal 2004 Shadow TUAV system production order.

First deployed by the Army in April 2003, Shadow TUAV systems in Operation Iraqi Freedom have flown more than 2,240 missions and accumulated nearly 9,000 flight hours. Since the Shadow TUAV program started in December 1999, Shadow TUAV systems have recorded more than 4,000 sorties and 15,000 flight hours.

The Pioneer Product Improvement Program for the Marine Corps will use One System to modernize its ground control equipment. AAI is under contract to upgrade the Pioneer ground control system. One System GCE will address maintenance and obsolescence issues in Pioneer ground control station hardware and software originally created in the 1980s and used in the early 1990s in Operation Desert Storm.

AAI recently announced its partnership on Team EagleEye in which the company will provide One System GCE to operate the Eagle Eye tiltrotor UAV. A near-term opportunity for Team EagleEye is the Marine Corp VTOL UAV competition anticipated to begin in 2005.

Also, AAI is a subcontractor to Rockwell Collins for Phase III of the Modular Common Architecture Program (MCAP III) being conducted by the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate to enable manned-unmanned teaming. AAI's One System GCE is a critical element of Rockwell Collins' MCAP III offering.

AAI Corporation is a company focused on the design and production of defense and training systems. In addition to unmanned aerial vehicle systems, its products include training and simulation systems, automated aircraft test and maintenance equipment, and logistical/engineering services for government- owned equipment.

UAV NEWS

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