GA-ASI Successfully Passes ATP Testing of 1st IqAF ISR Aircraft

Equipment to Increase Current ISR Collection Capabilities Significantly

(San Diego, September 23, 2008) -- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, today announced that under subcontract to Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) of Wichita, Kan., it has successfully passed acceptance test procedure (ATP) testing for the first of five Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and related ground stations to be supplied to the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) under the U.S. Government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The ISR aircraft and ground station met all requirements as witnessed by the U.S. Air Force FMS Program Office and HBC.

"The ISR package and fixed ground station met all technical specifications, with easy maintainability of the equipment also noted," said Linden P. Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. "Additionally, the ISR package is fully integrated and requires only one sensor operator onboard the aircraft to run the sensors and transmit the data to the fixed ground station."

The IqAF ISR ATP consisted of a series of test flights demonstrating the sensor and communications equipment aboard the modified Beechcraft King Air 350 Extended Range (ER) aircraft, including the L-3 Communications Wescam MX-15i electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) turret, L-3 Communications West mini-T series airborne data link, Exclusive Charter Services tailored sensor operator consoles, and GA-ASI CLAW(r) integrated sensor software. The GA-ASI Lynx(r) II synthetic aperture radar/ground moving target indicator (SAR/GMTI) was demonstrated and will be delivered this month after program modifications are made.

On the ground side, multiple man-transportable laptop video receivers and a fixed ground station (FGS) received real-time ISR data via data link communications from the aircraft from a considerable distance. The first ground station was shipped to Iraq immediately after testing, and the first aircraft departed for Iraq in late June.

Source : General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.

Events related to this topic

• Airborne Networks Conference [ISR; NCO; ATC] - Sep 29 - 30, 2008, Washington, DC, USA
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference - West [UAV; UAS; ISR] - Oct 1 - 2, 2008, Las Vegas, NV, USA
• Space-Based Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance... [ISR] - Oct 20 - 21, 2008, Arlington, VA, USA
• Maritime Reconnaissance and Surveillance 2008 [ISR; MPA] - Oct 20 - 21, 2008, Marseille, FR
• UAV Middle East [UAV; UAS; ISR] - Nov 16 - 18, 2008, Abu Dhabi,
• DGI Europe [GIS; Remote Sensing; Imagery and Analysis] - Jan 19 - 22, 2009, London, UK

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