Flight Tests Begin For UAS Developed To Provide Long-Term
Coverage Over Any Spot On The Globe
The first aircraft developed under the Global Observer Joint
Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program has successfully
completed its first flight. AeroVironment, the system developer,
said Tuesday that Global Observer Aircraft 1001 took off from
runway 04L at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California on August
5th and climbed to an altitude of 4,000 feet where it performed a
series of maneuvers before landing successfully one hour later.
AeroVironment’s chief test pilot, Andy Thurling, a retired
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former USAF flight test
pilot, operated the aircraft remotely from the portable Launch and
Recovery Element (LRE). Thurling successfully guided the aircraft
through a pre-determined flight path as the first step in a flight
test campaign that will gradually demonstrate increasing flight
endurance and operating altitude.
The hybrid-electric aircraft flew for the first time under
battery power and will ultimately carry a liquid hydrogen-fueled
propulsion system to power it through high altitude, long endurance
joint operational utility assessment planned for later in 2010.
When flying in its battery-powered test configuration or in its
liquid hydrogen-fueled operational configuration the air
vehicle’s propulsion system produces no carbon emissions.
“This flight marks the beginning of an exciting new phase
in the Global Observer technology demonstration program, and it
represents a significant leap forward in the evolution of airborne
communications and sensor platforms,” said Tim Conver,
AV’s chairman and chief executive officer. “In the 20th
century conventional airplanes opened the lower atmosphere to
practical use, and satellites did the same for space. I believe
that Global Observer soon will establish the stratosphere as a
valuable and practical area of operation.”
Each aircraft in a Global Observer system is designed to fly at
an altitude of between 55,000 and 65,000 feet for 5 to 7 days. In
addition to flying above weather and above other conventional
aircraft, operation in this altitude regime permits communications
and sensor payloads on the aircraft to service an area on the
surface of the earth up to 600 miles in diameter, equivalent to
more than 280,000 square miles of coverage. Equipped with payloads
that are readily available today, two Global Observer aircraft
would alternate coverage over any location on the globe every 5 to
7 days, making this the first solution to provide customers with
practical, seamless coverage, wherever and whenever required.
The joint test team is preparing communications and
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads for
aircraft integration. Once development flight tests are complete,
payloads will be installed and joint operational utility flight
demonstrations will be performed at EAFB.
Global Observer is designed to address the need for affordable,
persistent coverage and to offer a means to satisfy high value
military and non-military applications. The system is intended to
provide mission capabilities that include persistent communications
relay, robust observation over areas with little or no existing
coverage, the ability to relocate the system as required by theater
commanders, dedicated communications support to other unmanned
aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical on-station weather monitoring
and data support.