UAVs

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) Sky Warrior unmanned air vehicle has completed automatic take-off and landings using the Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS).

Three automatic landings were completed at GA-ASI's El Mirage flight operations centre in Adelanto, California on 29 August followed by three take-offs on 26 September. The ER/MP OSGCS was developed by Textron Systems company AAI for GA-ASI.

"Control of Sky Warrior from the ER/MP OSGCS marks another successful milestone in the fielding of the aircraft system and in meeting the Army's requirement for increased autonomous operation. GA-ASI's prior automatic takeoff and landing system testing on our own Predator aircraft and ground control systems paved the way for [this]," says General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' aircraft systems group president, Thomas Cassidy.

The Sky Warrior was under line-of-sight command and control through the L-3 Communication Systems-West tactical common datalink during the ER/MP OSGCS controlled automatic take-off and landings.

General Atomics has also announced that the first successful flight of Sky Warrior using over-the-horizon Ku-Band satellite communications was achieved on 24 July, also at El Mirage.