Quick response and armed MQ-1C UAV's

[GOOSE]

From Aviation Week

Weapons clearance tests of the U.S. Army's MQ-1C unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will accelerate this week with live firing of several Hellfire missiles from an aircraft destined for an Afghanistan-bound Quick Reaction Capability unit.

Arming of the MQ-1C Sky Warrior, a substantially advanced derivative of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) Predator, comes as the U.S. Army pushes toward a milestone 'C' decision, widely expected in February, which will clear the way for low-rate initial production (LRIP). The soon to be re-designated Gray Eagle UAV, currently called the extended range/multi-purpose (ERMP) unmanned aircraft system by the Army, is being rushed into service with newly-formed quick reaction capability (QRC) units in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Created as part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance surge, the initial QRC-1 unit is now deployed in Iraq with four unarmed aircraft providing long-endurance, wide-area reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and communications relay capability. The current weapons tests, which began at the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Center at China Lake, Calif., with two successful initial Hellfire shots in late November and on Dec. 1, form part of preparations to arm QRC-2 aircraft which will be deployed to Afghanistan in July.

The busy test phase, expected to include up to as many as eight more missile firings, will wrap up by Dec. 18, says Army UAS project manager Col. Gregory Gonzalez. The first shot in November hit a target that was illuminated by an off-board laser designator while the Dec 1. shot was targeted by a designator mounted on the MQ-1C itself, says Gonzalez. "The purpose of firing at China Lake is to make sure Hellfire integration and the working of that is on track for QRC-2, which will have the first real weaponized system," he adds.

Gonzalez was commenting as the class of UAS operators who will deploy with QRC-2 unit toured GA-ASI's Poway production facility in California. The 16 soldiers, many of whom have extensive experience operating other UAVs, are being trained at the Army's Ft. Huachuca, Ariz, from where the first QRC-2 made its initial 1-hr. test flight on Oct 20. Unlike the first set of operators who trained at GA-ASI's El Mirage, Calif., flight test and development site, the class going through school at Ft. Huachuca will pioneer the syllabus for a continuous rotation of follow-on UAS operators. Following QRC-2, the next group to train there will be replacements for the QRC-1 unit.

After this, training will start for additional soldiers to staff up the first Gray Eagle company-strength unit of 12 aircraft and five ground stations for "the next big event" says Gonzalez, referring to the upcoming initial operational test and evaluation phase set for 2011. Unlike the small force supporting the QRCs, which consists of four aircraft and two ground stations, the program will have to be expanded to train the 128 soldiers required to operate and maintain a 12-aircraft company on a 24-hr. basis, he adds.

The eight MQ-1C aircraft making up the QRC-1 and 2 units are built to the same Block 1 production standard, with the exception that the four QRC2 versions will be qualified to carry the Hellfire so commanders to take on precision strike missions at short notice. "We want to have the capability to be able to fire when we locate targets and there are no other assets available to react," says Gonzalez. The QRC-1 aircraft can be similarly equipped, but no decision on that has yet been taken, he adds.

Block 1 aircraft are powered by a heavy-fuel, 160-hp. Thielert 2.0-liter engine that has now been cleared for operations to 30,000 ft. says Tim Owings, deputy project manager for unmanned aircraft systems for the Army's aviation program executive office. Clearance follows the resolution of "issues" with the full-authority digital engine control that cropped up during high-altitude missions with an initial batch of Block 0 standard Sky Warrior 'Alpha' vehicles deployed to provide operators with hands-on experience with the MQ-1C and its German-built engine. "We've tested the 2.0-liter engine to 31,000 ft.," adds GA-ASI army programs director Don Cattell. Fitted with this engine, the Block 1 aircraft demonstrates "an extremely good climb rate up to 500-ft./min.," he says.

Unlike the Block 0 and QRC-1 Block 1, the latter equipped with the Army "One System" compatible data link, the QRC2 aircraft will be deployed with the GAASI-built Lynx Block 30 synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This augments the Common Sensor Payload electro-optical/infrared system to give all-weather moving target indication to 23 km. (14 mi.) at coverage rates of up to 5 km./sec., and at imaging resolutions down to 4 in. at 20 km. and 1 ft. at 50 km. range, says the manufacturer.

Follow-on production aircraft, however, will be equipped with Northrop Grumman's STARLite SAR, the first unit of which is expected to be delivered to the Poway site by year-endsays Cattell. "Following delivery we'll put it into the systems integration laboratory and start the software integration effort," he adds. Cable checks and integration work with the airframe are already underway using mock-up units provided by Northrop Grumman, while tests of the radar itself are currently ongoing in Yuma.

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