Thu, Oct 13, 2011
Army Test Flights Conducted At Utah Proving Grounds
A Bell OH 58 Kiowa Warrior has successfully demonstrated several
capabilities that will enable interoperability among multiple
aviation platforms, such as manned and unmanned vehicles. The
exercise was conducted at the Manned Unmanned System Integration
Capability (MUSIC) demonstration, sponsored by the U.S. Army at
Dugway Proving Ground in Utah on September 15 & 16, 2011.
File Photo
The MUSIC exercise tested the moving of UAS and helicopter
sensor video and proved component interoperability between manned
and unmanned systems. The OH-58 Kiowa Warrior demonstrated its
capability to receive sensor video from a variety of the
Army’s large Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), such as SHADOW,
HUNTER, and GRAY EAGLE, legacy Raven and Puma.
During the MUSIC exercise, the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior demonstrated
its range of capabilities by:
- Receiving UAS sensor payload video and telemetry;
- Receiving and re-transmitting UAS sensor payload video
and telemetry to a UAS ground control station;
- Transmitting Kiowa Warrior sensor payload video and
telemetry to a UAS ground control station for target verification;
and
- Engaging a target with a live weapons firing.
“This exercise marked the first time both manned and
unmanned aircraft systems operated under a single commander,”
explained Mike Miller, Director of Army business development for
Bell Helicopter. He continued, “ The Kiowa Warrior
proved it’s flexibility and adaptability by
working with several major Army UAS platforms. We expect the
Kiowa Warrior will be fielding Level II manned/unmanned capability
in 2011”
The MUSIC exercise also tested the Army’s universal ground
control station (UGCS), designed by fellow Textron business AAI
Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which provides the ability to
command numerous types of unmanned aircraft systems from a
single ground control station. During the demonstration, soldiers
utilized the AAI-developed One System® Remote Video Terminal
(RVT) enhanced with bi-directional capabilities to control sensors
on the miniature UAS.
“This ground-breaking demonstration is important because
it proved inter-operability between geographically-dispersed ground
stations, including Universal Ground Control Station, the mini-UGCS
and the Bi-Directional One System Remote Video Terminal,”
said Charles Shepard, UAS Business Development manager for Bell
Helicopter. “The MUSIC exercise demonstrated the ability to
control various UAS and their associated sensors payload video
output and that each could be readily handed-off seamlessly from
one system to the next.”
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