The use of unmanned aircraft for surveillance has becomean integral and necessary asset of militaries worldwide
	GDR reviews a number of recent developments in the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc UAV programmes				Taking UAVs into the 21st century
					As the leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft surveillance systems, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) has led the industry to new levels of performance, reliability and operational capability. As the sole manufacturer of the highly successful and fully operational Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), GA-ASI has spearheaded acceptance of unmanned aircraft surveillance systems for military and commercial use. GA-ASI has a broad range of UAV systems packaged to meet customer needs. Predator, an evolution of the GNAT system, uses common avionics and mechanical systems and incorporates a Rotax 4-cylinder engine. It is equipped with a satellite data link system, an EO/IR stabilised gimble containing two colour video cameras, an FLIR and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Predator has remained airborne for over 40 hours. Deployed to south-west Asia and providing reconnaissance on its fourth combat-area deployment in Kosovo, Predators have logged over 900 missions and 6,000 combat area flight hours since deployment in 1995. The US Department of Defense transitioned the Predator programme to production in August 1997, the first advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) programme designated acquisition category II (ACTII). Predators are now in production for USAF. To meet surveillance requirements worldwide, GA-ASI is developing Predator B, a prop jet-powered solution to expand the performance and capability of Predator. Based on Predator’s airframe, avionics, mechanical systems, datalink and flight control technology, Predator B will have 50 per cent more payload capacity, up to 24 hours’ endurance and speeds over 220 knots operating to an altitude of 45,000ft MSL. Pelican On 10 December the Pelican unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flew under the control of a pilot in a ground control station. Pelican is a heavily modified Cessna 337 Skymaster integrated with GA-ASI’s proven UAV avionics to enable it to fly manned or unmanned. It took off from GA-ASI’s flight operations centre in El Mirage, CA, controlled by the onboard pilot and was then passed to the pilot in the GA-ASI-supplied ground control centre where system monitoring and flight control were maintained. It was landed by the onboard pilot. Managed by the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, the Pelican programme is operated through the centre for interdisciplinary remotely piloted aircraft studies (CIRPAS). JSTARS link up In February 1999 USAF successfully demonstrated the transmission of Predator UAV imagery and targeting data to a JSTARS platform, and on to a JSTARS common ground station. This showed the capability of Joint Stars’ positive target identification by the use of Predator video imagery, thereby decreasing reporting and response time for critical targets. The demonstration involved the detection of two potential targets by the JSTARS aircraft. The target position was passed to the Predator ground station over VHF radio that provided EO/IR imagery of both targets from its ground station via a direct broadcast satellite system back to the JSTARS platform. The imagery included target location and exploitation support data necessary to confirm specific target parameters, this was then passed via data link to the JSTARS ground station where targets were correctly identified as one legitimate target and one decoy. The demonstration showed the high value of using Predator to provide near real time video to support and improve the JSTARS sensor fusion requirements. LYNX SAR on the IGNAT UAV The Lynx synthetic aperture radar (SAR), designed by GA-ASI’s sister company General Atomics in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, flew a series of flight tests on GA-ASI’s IGNAT unmanned air vehicle (UAV). Weighing only 115lbs (52 kgs), the Lynx SAR is the lightest, most capable all-weather imaging sensor available to GA-ASI’s unmanned aircraft. The flight tests demonstrated a breakthrough four-inch (0.1m) resolution, surpassing current industry SAR resolution standards of one foot (0.3m) resolution. Incorporating state-of-the-art technology, the Lynx SAR is the most advanced imaging radar available in its class for military, civil and commercial aircraft required to fly in adverse weather. As a commercial off-the-shelf sensor, the Lynx SAR will soon be ready for production by General Atomics. The Lynx SAR operates in three modes: stripmap, spotlight, and coherent change detection. The former allows users to obtain a moving display of a swath along the ground. The Lynx SAR is being upgraded to include a ground moving target indicator (GMTI) mode to detect targets moving with line-of-sight velocities of six knots plus; an essential mode for surveillance aircraft seeking to identify armoured vehicles or truck convoys. Self-illuminating from a radar transmitter, the Lynx SAR is capable of seeing through clouds, allowing unmanned and manned aircraft to provide imagery when adverse weather prevents the use of daylight TV sensors. Production contract In August 1999 GA-ASI was awarded a $47.06m contract from USAF’s aeronautical systems centre at Wright-Patterson Air Force, Ohio. The contract calls for seven Predator aircraft, a ground control station, a batch of spares, a batch of ground support equipment and a ground data terminal. For the first time, GA-ASI has sold six ice-protection kits as part of this contract. Options include between four and nine extra aircraft, a ground control station and further ice protection kits within a year. To date 60 Predator aircraft have been purchased. “After five deployment successes of the Predator system over Iraq and the Balkans, the use of unmanned aircraft for surveillance activities has become an integral and necessary asset of militaries throughout the world,” says Mr. Thomas J. Cassidy Jr, President and CEO of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. “We are continuing to refine and modify the Predator system so that the travesties of war might be minimised and our soldiers remain out of harm’s way.” With over 8,500 combat flight hours and almost 1,000 sorties, Predator is a sophisticated, unmanned aircraft system for a range of dull, dirty and dangerous missions. Since its acquisition in 1994, GA-ASI has developed performance capabilities for Predator based on real-world elements. In late 1998 GA-ASI reduced Predator’s EMI-signature so that specialised SIGINT payloads could be integrated. It was also integrated with a voice relay/IFF capability allowing direct communication with air traffic control centres, both capabilities added under the $47.06m contract. ©
					Predator configured with a de-icing/anti-icing system
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