Milestone Achieved, New Ground Covered

A historic limitation of long-endurance UAS has been their inability to operate at extreme northern or southern latitudes. Many legacy SATCOM datalinks can become less reliable above the Arctic or below the Antarctic Circle – approximately 66 degrees north. 

In a flight that originated from its Flight Test and Training Center near Grand Forks, ND, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems flew a company-owned MQ-9A “Big Wing” configured Unmanned Aircraft System north through Canadian airspace past the 78th parallel.

At those latitudes, the low-look angle to geostationary Ku-band satellites begins to compromise the link. GA-ASI has demonstrated a new capability for effective ISR operations by performing a loiter at 78.31° North, using Inmarsat’s L-band Airborne ISR Service (LAISR).  

The flight, which took place between September 7 and September  8, was a cooperation between the Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Canada and Nav Canada.

The flight was one of the longest range flights ever flown by a company MQ-9, and it covered 4,550 miles in 25.5 hours. 

“As the global leader in UAS, we have enabled our UAS to operate in Arctic regions, over land and sea, where effective C2 and ISR-data transfer was previously not feasible,” said Linden Blue, GA-ASI CEO. “As new customers come online, we want our aircraft to be able to provide them with the high data rate surveillance and high endurance that our aircraft are known for, and be able to do so in any environment.”

“At Inmarsat Government, we take pride in delivering SATCOM solutions that empower our customers’ current and future UAS missions around the world, even in the most challenging environments,” said Tom Costello, Chief Commercial Officer, Inmarsat Government. “We are proud to partner with organizations like GA-ASI that enable the government and military to enhance their use of UAS and deliver the SATCOM required for full situational awareness and mission success.”

FMI: https://www.ga-asi.com