Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA}

Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)

What is it?

Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) have been referred to as unmanned aircraft (UA), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and/or remotely piloted vehicles (RPV). However, RPA is the current and correct designation used to describe MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk systems. These RPA are flown either line-of-sight (LOS) or beyond line-of-sight via satellite from a ground control station (GCS). The BLOS concept minimizes the forward footprint of the RPA while allowing global combat missions to be flown from the U.S.

RPA provide ground commanders a persistent and highly capable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform capable of finding, fixing, targeting, tracking, engaging, and assessing almost any given target with the flexibility to be dynamically re-tasked. MQ-1/9 RPA provide real time full motion video (FMV) in both IR and DTV, have SIGINT capability, as well as strike capability with on board precision guided munitions. Mission sets for the MQ-1/9 include but are not limited to ISR, SIGINT, Close Air Support (CAS), and Air Interdiction (AI).

VideoSAR

Press release date: June 19, 2013

Latest Breakthrough Enables Continuous Target Tracking via HD-Quality Imagery

PARIS AIR SHOW – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems, today announced the successful integration and operational testing of its VideoSAR software system, which provides continuous, real-time, all-weather, day/night Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) surveillance, in full, High-definition (HD) video format (1080p).

“VideoSAR is an exciting follow-on development, building on the highly reliable, battle-proven Lynx® Multi-mode Radar, allowing users to see vehicles at-rest, moving fast, and everything in-between,” said Linden Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, GA-ASI. “While Lynx provides photographic-quality still imagery of targets, VideoSAR elevates that capability by delivering high-resolution SAR imagery in full-motion video format, further expanding the situational awareness of ground commanders.”

The prototype system was installed on a King Air 200 aircraft and flown successfully on March 25, 2013 in Ramona, Calif. During the company-funded test, VideoSAR imaged a wide variety of stationary and moving vehicles, marking the first real-time flight demonstration of the hi-resolution VideoSAR mode. Additionally, this new mode enables automatic Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) with very low minimum detectable velocity and precise SAR geo-location accuracy, enabling VideoSAR to detect both stationary and moving objects while maintaining non-stop, uninterrupted eyes on target.

The VideoSAR flight was conducted using a Lynx Block 20A radar, the most advanced variant in the Lynx family of radars. Lynx Block 20A is equipped with SAR/GMTI, Dismount Moving Target Indicator (DMTI), and Maritime Wide Area Search (MWAS) modes. The VideoSAR processors are currently being ruggedized for flight on RPA, including Predator® C Avenger®.

Featuring photographic-quality resolution, the Lynx Multi-mode Radar detects time-sensitive targets and offers a long-range, wide-area surveillance capability that can provide high-resolution SAR imagery slant ranges well beyond EO/IR sensor range. Lynx also incorporates a broad area GMTI scanning capability to detect moving vehicles, operating day and night. The radar is currently operational with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Army, Royal Air Force, Italian Air Force, and the Iraqi Air Force.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., an affiliate of General Atomics, delivers situational awareness by providing unmanned aircraft, radar, and electro-optic solutions for military and commercial applications worldwide. The company’s Aircraft Systems Group is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft, including Predator A, Predator B, Gray Eagle®, the new Predator C Avenger, and Predator XP. It also manufactures a variety of solid-state digital Ground Control Stations (GCS), including the next-generation Advanced Cockpit GCS, and provides pilot training and support services for RPA field operations. The Reconnaissance Systems Group designs, manufactures, and integrates the Lynx Multi-mode Radar and sophisticated Claw® sensor control and image analysis software into both manned and remotely piloted aircraft. It also develops and integrates other sensor and communication equipment into manned ISR aircraft and develops emerging technologies in solid-state lasers, electro-optic sensors, and ultra-wideband data links for government applications.

For more information, please visit www.ga-asi.com.

The APG-79 AESA radar system

The revolutionary APG-79 AESA radar provides F/A-18 aircrews with powerful capabilities

The APG-79 AESA radar system represents a significant advance in radar technology - from the front-end array to the back-end processor and operational software. This combat-proven AESA radar system substantially increases the power of the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, making it less vulnerable than ever before.

With its active electronic beam scanning — which allows the radar beam to be steered at nearly the speed of light — the APG-79 optimizes situational awareness and provides superior air-to-air and air-to-surface capability. The agile beam enables the multimode radar to interleave in near-real time, so that pilot and crew can use both modes simultaneously.

Now in full rate production for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, the APG-79 demonstrates reliability, image resolution, and targeting and tracking range significantly greater than that of the previous mechanically scanned array F/A-18 radar. With its open systems architecture and compact, commercial-off-the-shelf parts, it delivers dramatically increased capability in a smaller, lighter package. The array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules to virtually eliminate mechanical breakdown. Other system components include an advanced receiver/exciter, ruggedized COTS processor, and power supplies.

In addition to the APG-79, Raytheon supplies the F/A-18E/F aircraft with several other systems. Among these are the current APG-73 radar, ATFLIR forward-looking infrared targeting pod, ALR-67(V)3 digital radar warning receiver, ALE-50 towed decoy and a variety of missiles and bombs, including laser-guided weapons such as the Paveway and JSOW.

http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/apg79aesa/