ISR UAV Trialed alongside Indo-Pacific Command

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems earned some bragging rights for its SeaGuardian's performance at the recent NORTHERN EDGE 2023 exercise, where flights brought out the full range of capabilities for communication, detection, networking, and targeting.

The training exercise took place in the Gulf of Alaska to further hone forces under the US Indo-Pacific Command (IPACOM) for their ability to react to crises throughout the greater Asian Pacific region.

The SeaGuardian is a maritime derivative of the land-based MQ-9B SkyGuardian, offering the same "multi-domain Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting" capabilities with an internal payload suite. Its internal storage allows it to make attacks on surface and subsurface targets supporting Fleet Operations.

During the exercise, the SeaGuardian provided real-time Maritime ISR data feeds to the various shore-based IPACOM operations centers including Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Exercise Control Group and various watch floors. Real-time sensor data and SIGINT was disseminated via the Minotaur Mission System, the latest and greatest in streamlined data collation from the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University. Minotaur links sensors, SIGINT, cameras, radar and communications equipment into a single, automated system that allows operators to more efficiently identify, track and target from a shared feed. While the spread of data transmissions carries with it a new host of concerns and weaknesses, GA-ASI said the "classified data was transmitted to the Joint Fires Network using new DoD technologies allowing for the smart routing of communications between widely distributed communications nodes", hand-waving away the possibility of eavesdropping with unspecified cryptographic means.

While General Atomics was happy to brag about the electronic capabilities of the SeaGuardian, reports seem to point to the aircraft taking off from land-based facilities. History buffs and equipment nerds are always invested in the "seagoing" variants of shore-based aircraft, but the STOL wing kit announced for the MQ-9 series last year doesn't appear to have been put to use in Northern Edge. In the future, the kits will allow SeaGuardians to be retrofitted while underway and launch from aircraft carriers at sea, unlocking an entire range of operational capability over land-based aircraft today. 

FMI: www.ga-asi.com