Using a company-owned Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) UAS, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) completed the first in a series of internally-funded Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) demonstrations on Nov. 19, 2019, the company has announced.

The flight series will continue in 2020, and is expected to showcase that a GE-ER UAS equipped with long-range sensors and Air Launched Effects (ALE) is able to Detect, Identify, Locate and Report (DILR) targetable data to support Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) systems.

“Gray Eagle ER is a critical tool, along with the Army’s manned platforms, for operations in an MDO environment,” says David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI.

“We’re excited to show the capability Gray Eagle ER provides due to its increased endurance and range, with the addition of high Technology Readiness Level [TLR] long range sensors and ALE.”

The GE-ER UAS was able to detect military targets out to a range of 75 kilometers thanks to being equipped with the combat-proven Lynx Block 30A Long Range Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI). Precise coordinates with every image are produced with the Lynx SAR imagery, which cues to aviation assets or enables direct engagement with LRPF.

The Lynx SAR has modes for Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI), Dismount Detection on the Dismount Moving Target Indicator (DMTI), Maritime Detection and Maritime Identification with Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR). MDO operations over land or sea in the Pacific and European theatres are supported by this combination of modes.

GA-ASI Scalable Command & Control (SC2) software hosted on a laptop computer will be used to exclusively control all flights and future demonstrations. According to GA-ASI, this will significantly reduce the system’s logistical footprint and support the Army’s vision for interfaces to the aircraft from across the battlefield without the need for a Ground Control Station shelter or vehicle.

Several demonstrations are planned for 2020, including integration of additional long range and MDO relevant sensors, communications packages, and launching of ALE from the aircraft. The GE-ER will serve as an “ALE mothership,” and will carry multiple ALEs with a variety of capabilities.

According to GA-ASI, the launching and controlling of ALEs from GE-ER could “potentially increase the survivability and effectiveness of current and future manned aviation systems with intelligence, targeting, communications, jammers, decoys and kinetic effects.”